Atmospheric Sciences & Global Change Division
Research Highlights
November 2006
PNNL Wins Contract to Manage DOE Aerial Vehicles Program
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has won a three-year, $6.4 million contract from the Department of Energy's Office of Science to manage aircraft resources for the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility. The ARM Aerial Vehicles Program (AVP) obtains airborne, or in situ, atmospheric measurements in support of cloud and climate research.
Through its Atmospheric Science and Global Change Division, the Laboratory will manage AVP structure, processes and operations. Jimmy Voyles, technical director for the ARM Climate Research Facility, will also lead the AVP team in operating a "virtual hangar" that brings together the right aircraft and instruments for data collection activities associated with Facility scientific field campaigns. "The aircraft, instruments, and scientists we work with will originate from federal agencies, other national laboratories, universities and commercial providers, as well as PNNL," Voyles noted in explaining the scope of the program.
DOE's science requirements and the availability of research aircraft will dictate what planes fly and which instruments are used. Campaigns may collect data from focused, short-term field experiments or long-term, routine flights. The AVP team also will evaluate and recommend alternative platforms, such as unmanned aerial vehicles or balloons, that best support each DOE-approved campaign.
In situ measurements enhance ground-based measurements, especially as scientists look at the effects of clouds and aerosol particulates on climate and ultimately climate change models. "In situ measurements of the atmosphere are required to improve our fundamental understanding of the physical state of the atmosphere. This information is used to improve the spatial representation, physical retrievals, and model performance of ground and remotely sensed measurements," said Voyles. "Our goal is to manage the ARM AVP to meet the science objectives of DOE. We also will advance the science of aerial measurements and instrumentation and provide timely, quality assured scientific data sets in a safe, cost-effective manner using an agile planning framework."
The AVP work is funded by the DOE Office of Science, Office Biological and Environmental Research's Climate Change Research Division.