ARM was created to help resolve scientific uncertainties related
to global climate change, with a specific focus on the crucial role of clouds
and their influence on radiative feedback processes in the atmosphere. The
primary goal of the ARM Program is to improve the treatment of cloud and
radiation physics in global climate models in order to improve the climate
simulation capabilities of these models. ARM's scientists research a broad
range of issues that span remote sensing, physical process investigation
and modeling on all scales.
ARM's climate research sites serve as a national scientific user facility
for collaborative research primarily with university, government agency,
and national laboratory researchers. These sites provide significant research
capability for the global scientific community. The resulting new
ARM Climate Research Facility (ACRF)
has been designated a national user facility for the purpose of providing
this unique asset for the study of global change to a broader national and
international research community. Proposed projects at the ACRF are reviewed
by the
ACRF Science Board,
a highly respected group of scientists who assist with reviewing proposals
for use of the facility.
The ACRF sites were located to represent different climatic conditions.
The three locations are the Southern Great Plains, the Tropical Western
Pacific, and the North Slope of Alaska. Each site has been heavily instrumented
to gather massive amounts of climate data. Using these data, scientists
are studying the effects and interactions of sunlight, radiant energy,
and clouds to understand their impact on temperatures, weather, and climate.
In addition to the fixed sites, the ARM Mobile Facility will provide the
Program with the capability of performing atmospheric measurements similar
to those at the other ARM sites for periods up to a year at a time anywhere
in the world.
ACRF operations focus on obtaining continuous field measurements and providing
data products to promote the advancement of climate models. Data from the
sites are are readily available in near-real-time to the scientific community
through the
data archive established
at ORNL.
Research Questions. The research involves a network of ground-based
remote-sensing instruments along with campaign studies that use manned
and unmanned aircraft. Measurements include vertical profiles of temperature,
water vapor, trace gases, aerosols, and solar and infrared radiation. The
ARM data provide the testbed for the process models representing the cloud-climate
feedbacks in the currently available GCMs as well as in the future climate-change-prediction
models of regional-scale resolution.
Additional programmatic information is available via the
ARM
homepage.
Program Managers
Dr. Wanda R. Ferrell
ARM Climate Research Facility Program Director
Climate and Environmental Sciences Division, SC-23.1
Department of Energy GTN Bldg
1000 Independence Ave, SW
Washington, DC 20585-1290
(301) 903-0043
Fax: (301) 903-8519
Internet:wanda.ferrell@science.doe.gov
Dr. Kiran Alapaty
ARM Science Director
Climate and Environmental Sciences Division, SC-23.1
Department of Energy GTN Bldg
1000 Independence Ave, SW
Washington, DC 20585-1290
(301) 903-3175
Fax: (301) 903-8519
Internet:kiran.alapaty@science.doe.gov
Mr. Rick Petty
Program Manager
ARM Aerial Vehicles
Climate and Environmental Sciences Division, SC-23.1
Department of Energy GTN Bldg
1000 Independence Ave, SW
Washington, DC 20585-1290
(301) 903-5548
Fax: (301) 903-8519
Internet:rick.petty@science.doe.gov