Solid Precipitation Measurements at the NSA Observatory
Poster PDF
Authors
Matthew Sturm — University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Jennifer S. Delamere — University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Lily Cohen — University of Alaska, Fairbanks
Category
High-latitude clouds and aerosols
Description
Precipitation is one of the most significant processes in the Arctic atmosphere yet one of the most challenging to measure. Solid precipitation measurements on the North Slope of Alaska (NSA) are complicated by the inherent nature of snow, sleet, graupel, hail, rime, and coastal wind. To achieve a greater understanding of solid precipitation at the NSA, the ARM program has installed snow-depth sensors, laser precipitation monitors (LPMs), and a weighing bucket precipitation gauge (Geonor) at the Barrow (known officially as Utqiaġvik) and Oliktok Point facilities. Through the ARM instrument mentor program, our team at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) has undertaken an initial assessment of this data and implemented modest reconfigurations and upgrades to the instrumentation at both sites. This poster will provide not only a status report of the flow of this data through the ARM archive but also a first-look at the data collected by these instruments. In addition, the UAF mentor team is establishing a similarly instrumented site on our Fairbanks campus. With the ability to monitor instruments locally, we will gain a better understanding of how the instruments operate under extreme winter conditions and can provide improved quality controls on the data collected at the NSA observatory.
