ARM North Slope of Alaska Research Facilities and Field Campaigns Support

Description

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program (ARM) has provided scientific infrastructure and data to the international Arctic research community via its sites on the North Slope of Alaska (NSA) since 1997. These facilities are operated by Sandia National Labs to maintain systems and protect instruments for continuous measurements of clouds, aerosols, precipitation, energy, and typical meteorological variables; as well as coordination and support of research field campaigns. The earliest site began operations at Barrow (1998), followed by a small facility in Atqasuk (1999-2010), with operation of the third ARM Mobile Facility (AMF3) at Oliktok Point begun in October 2013. Instruments maintained at both Barrow and Oliktok include: scanning precipitation radars, doppler radars, eddy correlation flux systems, radiometers, ceilometers, manual balloon sounding systems, atmospheric emitted radiance interferometers (AERI), micro-pulse lidars, aerosol observing systems, precipitation sensors, particle counters, and standard meteorological measurement systems. In addition to these instruments, the AMF3 operates a Raman lidar, snow cameras, a CO analyzer, and an upgraded ceilometer; while Barrow additionally operates a scanning cloud radar, millimeter cloud radar, an automatic balloon sounding system, an aethalometer, and a high spectral resolution lidar (HSRL). The infrastructure at Oliktok is designed to be mobile and it may be relocated in the future to support other ARM science missions. Currently, unmanned aerial system (UAS) and tethered balloon system (TBS) operations near Oliktok are enabled by FAA-designated restricted (R2204) and international warning (W220) air spaces activated by Sandia for DOE. UAS operations out of Barrow are also possible with FAA approval. The ARM facilities at Barrow have provided valuable datasets that cover over 20 years. Data from these ground-based and in-flight instruments is placed in the ARM data archives for use by the international research community for modeling and analysis. Located 70 miles south of Barrow, Atqasuk is adjacent to the Meade River. While not currently active, it could be available for researchers to observe an Arctic climate that is more terrestrial than that of Barrow or Oliktok Point. This poster will introduce the instruments at the ARM NSA facilities, and support of field campaigns in the Arctic.