Research Themes
The ARM Climate Research Facility’s fixed sites, Southern Great Plains, North Slope of Alaska, and Tropical Western Pacific, supplemented by aerial and mobile facilities, continuously collect massive amounts of atmospheric measurements needed to create climate data. ARM scientists and infrastructure staff provide additional processing to create data products that can be used by researchers all over the world.
Aerosol Life Cycle
ARM’s heavily instrumented sites provide data to help scientists in determining the characteristics and properties of aerosols throughout their life cycle. Improved observation of aerosol particles results in more
accurate projections of how aerosols affect the global climate.
Cloud Life Cycle
ARM data collections assist scientists who are studying the various stages of cloud evolution in order to relate cloud observation to climate model development and evaluation. These data provide information to improve cloud parameterizations in global climate models.
Cloud Aerosol Interactions
Data from ARM’s fixed, mobile, and aerial facilities provide information to help quantify the impact of aerosols on the radiative balance of Earth's climate system, both directly and indirectly, through their influence on clouds.
Radiative Processes
To help improve and test radiation parameterizations at the accuracy required for climate studies, ARM contributes to this research with continuous data collections of longwave to shortwave radiation. ARM has made significant contributions in improving climate prediction models through its work on radiative heat transfer and radiation absorption.
