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Jump: ARM, CLAMS, CRYSTAL-FACE, CAR, Earth Observatory, IDS-AeroSys, I3RC, EOS-MODIS, PRiDE, SORCE, SAFARI 2000, SMART-COMMIT, THOR, TRMM/GPM 
ARM — Atmospheric Radiation MeasurementsProject Homepage — http://www.arm.gov Project Science Contact — Warren Wiscombe The Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurements Program (ARM) complements NASA's satellite observations of the Earth. ARM employs sophisticated arrays of surface-based sensors to study shortwave and longwave radiation and cloud physics and dynamics. The first of fie projected ARM sites was installed in Oklahoma in July, 1992. One of the most vexing and difficult problems ARM will face is the interpretation of high-temporal-resolution radiation data in terms of properties of the cloud field overhead. Under a grant from ARM, our Branch is engaged in modeling the fractal-statistical character of cloud fields, using observed data from cloud field programs, with Monte Carlo computations of radiation emerging from simulated fractal cloud fields. This work has ramifications for satellite as well as surface radiation measurements.
 
CLAMS — Chesapeake Lighthouse & Aircraft Measurements for SatellitesProject Homepage — http://www-clams.larc.nasa.gov/clams/index.html Project Science Contact — Lorraine Remer The Chesapeake Lighthouse and Aircraft Measurements for Satellites (CLAMS) field campaign is a shortwave closure experiment designed to make a detailed characterization of atmospheric aerosols while simultaneously characterizing the lower boundary condition with measurements of ocean optical properties and radiative fluxes under cloud-free conditions, and coincident with satellite overpasses (e.g. NASAÕs Terra satellite). The experiment, based from NASA Wallops Flight Facility, was successfully carried out over the middle Atlantic eastern seaboard of the U.S. from 10 JulyÐ2 August, 2001.
CRYSTAL-FACE — Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers-Florida Area Cirrus ExperimentProject Homepage — http://cloud1.arc.nasa.gov/crystalface Project Science Contact — Si-Chee Tsay CRYSTAL-FACE, Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers-Florida Area Cirrus Experiment, is a measurement campaign designed to investigate tropical cirrus cloud physical properties and formation processes. Understanding the production of upper tropospheric cirrus clouds is essential for the successful modeling of the EarthÕs climate. The CRYSTAL-FACE mission took place during the month of July 2002 in the south Florida region. Measurements from ground sites, aircraft, and satellites were conducted, and the vast majority of aircraft flights were coordinated with NASA's Terra, Aqua, and/or TRMM satellites.
CAR — Cloud Absorption RadiometerProject Homepage — http://car.gsfc.nasa.gov Project Science Contact — Michael King The Cloud Absorption Radiometer (CAR) was conceived and developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to study cloud radiative properties at selected wavelengths in the visible and near-infrared, and to acquire imagery of cloud and Earth surface features. In the early years the focus was on measurements of the angular distribution of scattered radiation deep within a cloud layer. In later years, the focus shifted to the bidirectional reflectance properties of various surfaces (ocean, sea ice, vegetation, etc.).
Earth ObservatoryProject Homepage — http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov Project Science Contact — Unkonwn NASA's Earth Observatory is an interactive Web-based magazine where the science-attentive public can obtain new satellite imagery and scientific information about our home planet. The focus is on Earth's climatic and environmental change. The site is also designed to be useful to public media and educators. Any and all materials published on the Earth Observatory are freely available for re-publication, re-use, or re-broadcast (except in rare cases where copyright is indicated).
IDS-AeroSys — IDS - The Global Aerosol SystemProject Homepage — Unknown Project Science Contact — Unkonwn The project seeks to characterize the Global Aerosol System using a combination of satellite observations and chemical transport models. The end goal is to understand and quantify aerosol effects and aerosol forcing on global and regional climate. This will include:
I3RC — Intercomparison of 3D Radiation CodesProject Homepage — http://i3rc.gsfc.nasa.gov Project Science Contact — Robert Cahalan Whenever a scattering medium, such as clouds or sea ice, is highly inhomogeneous and optically thick, then 3-dimensional radiative transfer (3DRT) techniques are required. These can be based on Monte Carlo, discrete ordinates, and/or finite volume methodologies. I3RC has defined various baseline cloud cases and coordinated the application of a wide variety of codes to these cases, as a means of certifying the accuracy of codes, and enhancing the ability of codes to handle a variety of cases, and produce the variety of outputs needed for the modeling and remote sensing of clouds and other inhomogeneous scattering media. I3RC is one activity of the 3DRT Working Group of the International Radiation Commission (IRC), and is jointly funded by the NASA Radiation Sciences Program and the DoE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program.
EOS-MODIS — Moderate Resolution Imaging SpectroradiometerProject Homepage — http://modis-atmos.gsfc.nasa.gov Project Science Contact — Michael King The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is an earth-viewing sensor that flies on the Earth Observing System (EOS) Terra and Aqua satellites, launched in 1999 and 2002, respectively. MODIS scans a swath width of 2330 km that is sufficiently wide to provide nearly complete global coverage every two days from a polar-orbiting, sun-synchronous, platform at an altitude of 705 km. MODIS provides images in 36 spectral channels between 0.414 and 14.235 µm with spatial resolutions of 250 m (two bands), 500 m (five bands) and 1000 m (29 bands). These bands have been carefully selected to enable advanced studies of land, ocean, and atmospheric properties, including state-of-the-art global measurements of precipitable water, aerosol particles, and clouds. Branch scientists participate as members of the MODIS science team, both in algorithm development and in science investigations, including validation. An aircraft spectrometer—the MODIS Airborne Simulator—was developed in collaboration with NASA Ames Research Center.
PRiDE — Puerto Rico Dust ExperimentProject Homepage — http://modis-atmos.gsfc.nasa.gov/PRIDE/index.html Project Science Contact — Lorraine Remer The Puerto Rico Dust Experiment (PRiDE) took place out of Roosevelt Roads Naval Base, Puerto Rico, from 26 June to 24 July 2000. A group of Navy, NASA, and university scientists came together to study the radiative, microphyiscal, chemical and transport properties of Saharan Dust transported into the region. This unique campaign combined measurements from surface, airborne and satellite platforms, that increased knowledge of dust transport and distribution. Results from PRiDE were published in a JGR special issue, published 16 October 2003.
SORCE — Solar Radiation and Climate ExperimentProject Homepage — http://lasp.colorado.edu/sorce Project Science Contact — Robert Cahalan SORCE, the SOlar Radiation and Climate Experiment, was launched January 25, 2003 from Kennedy Space Center, onboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus, and has a 5 year design lifetime. SORCE orbits Earth about every 90 minutes, and when on the sunlit side observes the Sun with 4 instruments: TIM, that measures the Total Solar Irradiance (TSI); SIM, that measures the Spectral Solar Irradiance (SSI) from 200 nanometers to 2000 nanometers (2 microns); SOLSTICE, that measures the SSI from 115 to 320 nanometers (overlapping SIM's coverage); and XPS, that measures SSI from 1 to 34 nanometers, as well as the important Lyman alpha spectral emission line at 121 nanometers, due to transitions between the hydrogen atom's ground state and the first excited state. When on the dark side of Earth, SOLSTICE monitors the SSI from 18 stable early-type blue stars, as a way of determining its varying transmission. SIM measures its own transmission internally. Data from any of these instruments can be obtained from the Goddard DAAC. SORCE observed several of the largest sunspots ever recorded, that appeared and moved across the solar disk during the week of October 27, 2004.
SAFARI 2000 — Southern African Regional Science Initiative 2000Project Homepage — http://www.daac.ornl.gov/S2K/safari.html Project Science Contact — Steven Platnick The Southern African Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI 2000) was a major surface, airborne and spaceborne field campaign carried out in southern Africa in 2000 and 2001, that addressed a broad range of phenomena, related to land-atmosphere interactions and the biogeochemical functioning of the southern African system. The integrating themes of this experiment deal with surface emissions characterization, airborne characterization of aerosols and trace gases, regional haze and trace gas characterization, and radiant measurements by surface, aircraft and remote sensing platforms. Enhanced regional fuel loads associated with the moist La Niña phase of the ENSO cycle produced above average biomass burning emissions, which consequently dominated all other aerosol and trace gas emissions during the dry season. The overall conclusion is that SAFARI 2000, as an integrating theme, has been able to give significant new insights into the regional scale biogeochemical cycling of southern Africa, and contributed in important ways to the validation of remote sensing instruments on board the NASA Terra spacecraft.
SMART-COMMIT — Surface-sensing Measurements for Atmospheric Radiative Transfer/Chemical, Optical, & Microphysical Measurements of In-situ TroposphereProject Homepage — http://smart-commit.gsfc.nasa.gov Project Science Contact — Si-Chee Tsay Surface-sensing Measurements for Atmospheric Radiative Transfer (SMART)-Chemical, Optical, & Microphysical Measurements of In-situ Troposphere (COMMIT) is a suite of instruments that take measurements (both in-situ and by remote sensing) to characterize, as completely as possible, the atmosphere at a given location. SMART and COMMIT are both mobile, which allows them to be sent to locations that exhibit interesting atmospheric phenomena and to participate in coordinated measurement campaigns.
THOR — THickness from Offbeam ReturnsProject Homepage — http://climate.gsfc.nasa.gov/thor/ Project Science Contact — Robert Cahalan THOR, THickness from Offbeam Returns, is a laser system with 10 multiple fields-of-view (FoVs) photon counting detector channels. Channel 1 FoV is seen by a single 200 micron optical fiber, which has the usual narrow field-of-view of most lidar systems, typically dominated by single-scattering backscatter from the cloud, water, or ice target. Each succeeding FoV for channels 2, 3, .., 8 is 2 X wider, so that Channel 8 sees 128 X the central (Ch 1) FoV. To get 10 channels instead of 8, the Channel 8 FoV is subdivided into 3 equal sectors, Channels 8, 9, and 10, each of which sees a 120¡ azimuthal sector of the outermost annulus. The outer FoVs are seen by bundles of 50 micron optical fibers, and the 3 outermost channels each consist of about 50,000 such fibers, entering a single photon counting detector. These outer channels are dominated by multiple scattering, and are typically not sensitive to single scattering properties, but only to the macroproperties such as layer thickness. A "THOR Validation Campaign" over the DOE/ARM/CART site in Oklahoma, with THOR flying on the NASA P-3B at an altitude of 8.5 km, showed that THOR can "see through" a thick low-level cloud, more than 750 meters thick, with optical thickness exceeding 20, and determine not only cloud top height (as can most lidars) but also cloud
TRMM/GPM — Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission/Global Precipitation MeasurementProject Homepage — http://trmm.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Project Science Contact — Thomas Bell The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) is jointly managed by the United States and Japanese space agencies. Its primary objective is to measure precipitation and related quantities between latitudes 35N and 35S. The orbit altitude is low enough to ensure unusually good instrument resolution, and the orbit inclination (35¡) causes the satellite's observation times to cover all hours of the day over a period of about a month and a half. The satellite is special in that it carries the only precipitation radar in orbit, as well as a multichannel microwave radiometer, a visible-infrared scanner, a lightning imager, and an instrument designed to monitor the earth's "radiative energy budget". The satellite was launched in November 1997 and has been providing data virtually flawlessly since then.
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