ARM Aerial Vehicles Program
Coordinated by the ARM Aerial Vehicles Program, numerous instrumented aircraft participated in CLASIC, a cross-disciplinary interagency research effort.
As an integral measurement capability of the ARM Climate Research Facility (ACRF), the ARM Aerial Vehicles Program (AVP) provides airborne measurements required to answer science questions proposed by the ARM Science Team and the external research community. Aircraft choice is dictated by science requirements—such as the required measurements and desired flight profile—and aircraft availability. Multiple aircraft are available to address the wide range of aircraft measurement requirements associated with atmospheric science issues. Data obtained from the aircraft are documented, checked for quality, integrated into the ARM Archive, and made available in a timely and consistent manner for use by the scientific community.
Established as the successor to the ARM Unmanned Aerospace Vehicle (UAV) Program in 2007, the AVP will continue to enhance the utility and information content of long-term ground-based measurements by providing:
- in situ measurements of cloud properties for evaluating and improving remote sensing retrievals
- spatial sampling not possible from the ground to provide context for and extend the ground-based measurements, for example, ice crystal habit or aerosol size distributions
- aircraft measurements in data sets for testing and evaluating high-resolution models and model parameterizations.
In its first field campaign, the AVP coordinated seven instrumented aircraft for the Cloud and Land Surface Interaction Campaign (CLASIC), a cross-disciplinary interagency research effort conducted in June 2007 at the ACRF Southern Great Plains (SGP) field measurement site. In 2008, the AVP obtained cloud and aerosol properties measurements during the Indirect and Semi-Direct Aerosol Campaign (ISDAC). The AVP will conduct routine flights in 2009 at the SGP site to sample low-altitude liquid-water clouds in the boundary layer supporting the Routine AVP Clouds with Low Optical Water Depths (CLOWD) Optical Radiative Observations (RACORO) field campaign.
For technical assistance related to measurements from aerial vehicles or possible aircraft, science, or mission profiles, please see the contacts.
