ARL Organization

ARL, part of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, is a distributed Laboratory with its headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland and divisions in Idaho Falls, Idaho, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Division	Location	Overview
Headquarters	Silver Spring, MD	Headquarters develops products to augment the operational product suites of the NOAA service-oriented line offices (particularly the National Weather Service). This includes the research and development of improved dispersion models for emergency response and air quality forecast models. Headquarters also improves the understanding of climate variability and trends, the exchange of pollutants between the air and land, and the sources of mercury that influence sensitive ecosystems.
Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division (ATDD)	Oak Ridge, TN	ATDD concentrates on air quality and climate-related research directed toward issues of national and global importance. In their air quality research, ATDD develops better methods for predicting transport, dispersion, and air-surface exchange of air pollutants; applies these methods to increasingly realistic situations including nighttime cases, complex terrain, and non-uniform surfaces; and tests these methods against data to determine the confidence limits and uncertainties which apply. ATDD's climate-related research includes reference-grade measurement of climate change and related physical and chemical processes.
Field Research Division (FRD)	Idaho Falls, ID	FRD conducts experiments to better understand atmospheric transport and dispersion, improves both the theory and models of air-surface exchange processes, and develops new technologies and instrumentation to carry out its mission. In a cooperative agreement with the Department of Energy, the Division supports the Idaho National Laboratory with meteorological forecasts and emergency response capabilities.
Special Operations and Research Division (SORD)	Las Vegas, NV	SORD conducts basic and applied research in atmospheric dispersion, particle re-suspension, particle deposition, and the effects of airborne particles on atmospheric opacity. The Division supports issues of mutual interest to NOAA and the Department of Energy that relate to the Nevada Test Site, its atmospheric environment, and its emergency preparedness and emergency response activities.