Submitting Proposals : Guidelines
Proposals are welcome from all members of the scientific community for conducting field campaigns and scientific research using the ARM Climate Research Facility sites at the Southern Great Plains (SGP), North Slope of Alaska (NSA), Tropical Western Pacific (TWP), one of the ARM Mobile Facilities (AMF), and/or ARM Aerial Facility (AAF). Proposals should focus on research that improves understanding of the interactions between clouds and atmospheric radiative fluxes and that have the potential to lead to improved climate models. Priority will be given to proposals that make comprehensive use of the ARM facilities and focus on long-term goals of the DOE Office of Biological and Environmental Research.
Announcements
Process Overview
The first step in proposing a field campaign is to submit a preproposal, a short summary of the proposed campaign. Preproposals can originate with any scientist proposing research directly related to the ARM Climate Research Facility Mission Statement. The preproposal should be submitted as soon as an idea is well enough developed to undergo a preliminary feasibility and science review.
After submission, the preproposal is reviewed by the Infrastructure Management Board (IMB) and/or the ARM Science Board. Some preproposals are accepted without further requirements. Researchers proposing more complex field campaigns, involving the AMF, AAF, or multiple funding sources, may be invited to submit a full proposal.
To be invited to submit a full proposal, the principal investigators should demonstrate in the preproposal that funding for research is secured already or that a research grant from the Atmospheric System Research (ASR) program is requested. Grant requests from ASR should be for the analysis and/or process modeling supporting the science goals and objectives of the proposal. Successful proposals will be supplied all operational and logistical resources (provided at no cost to the principal investigator).
Available Facilities
ARM Mobile Facilities – Requests for use of an AMF should include a deployment time of at least 6-10 months. Preference will be given to AMF deployments in which the AMF is embedded in a large field campaign. ARM may consider proposals to participate in a major international field campaign in 2015 or beyond, if the principal investigators can demonstrate the need for substantial preparation time (more than 18 months).
- AMF1 availability – Deployments are scheduled for 2013 and 2014; AMF1 instrumentation is available for deployments beginning in March 2015.
- AMF2 availability – AMF2 instrumentation is available for deployments beginning in December 2013.
ARM Aerial Facility – The AAF will consider intensive or routine flights above ARM fixed sites or mobile facilities. Requested aircraft can include the DOE-supported G-1 or aerial platforms operated outside the DOE. Instrumentation can include existing AAF instrumentation and guest instruments. The G-1 operated by the AAF is available for a domestic deployment between June and October 2013. The deployment could be short-term or up to 5 months of routine flying above an ARM fixed site or mobile facility. Due to the short lead planning time, any G-1 payload proposed for 2013 should not require substantial new engineering. See the AAF website, for possible instruments and configurations. Complex and/or international deployment proposals for January 2015 should also be submitted during this open call.
Fixed Sites – Campaign proposals to augment routine observations at our fixed sites—SGP, NSA, TWP—follow the same schedule for proposing as the AMF. Examples of these type campaigns include enhanced radiosonde launch schedules or significant augmentation of the instrument suite. Proposals for FY2013 are now being accepted.
Exceptions to these guidelines must be approved by the DOE Program Director.
Data
As a general condition for use of ARM facilities, users are required to include their data in the ARM Data Archive. The data policy for the ARM Climate Research Facility is derived from the policies of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, which encourages "free and open" access to data and research results from government-sponsored research.
Proposal Schedule
Field campaign requests for any of the fixed ARM sites will be considered at any time. For field campaigns that are larger and more complex (such as those involving an AMF, AAF, or multiple funding organizations), request for preproposals for two years out are published in journals in the fall of each year. Preproposals are due February 1 for these campaigns, with invited full proposals due May 1.
Proposals are reviewed by the ARM Science Board in the summer and ranked on scientific merit, feasibility, and costs associated with using the Facility. The IMB and ARM Science Board consider proposals in a timely manner.
Selections will be announced in the fall.
For more about the scientific review process and how you can propose a field campaign, please see the Field Campaign Guidelines (PDF).
