Victor R. Morris — Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Category
General topics – Clouds
Description
ARM Total Sky Imager
To obtain retrievals of fractional sky cover over its atmospheric observatories, the ARM user facility uses Total Sky Imagers (TSI), which provide real-time processing of hemispheric visible images of daytime sky conditions. For a continuous representation of cloud life-cycles, an Infrared Sky Imager is also operating at the Southern Great Plains facility that captures infrared images of the sky, during both the day and night.
TSIs were initially installed at the ARM sites from 2000 to 2003. The instruments were re-engineered to increase their performance in the harsh environments of the remote sites and later modified to increase imager resolution, provide site-specific imager calibration, and improve autonomous control. However, many of the parts have become unserviceable and/or are no-longer in production.
This presentation will assess the current status of the ARM TSIs, consider options for the possible replacement of the TSIs with newer technology, and solicit response from the science community on requirements for image-based fractional sky cover measurements.
