ARM and the Recovery Act

Customized enclosures for several new aerosols observation systems passed acceptance testing and were shipped to Brookhaven National Laboratory for instrument installation and integration. This is an important milestone in the completion of the overall systems. Read the full article in the ARM News Center.

Also in July, a newly upgraded micropulse lidar began sending routine data from the ARM Southern Great Plains site to the ARM Data Archive. By moving to the fast-switching dual polarization technology, the return signal is now recorded nearly simultaneously in two channels rather than the several second gap in the previous single polarization mode. Upgraded MPLs are planned for deployment throughout the user facility.

Additionally, a new ceilometer was installed with the ARM Mobile Facility on Graciosa Island, and footings and concrete pads were constructed for the three new X-band scanning ARM precipitation radars at the ARM Southern Great Plains site. For more photos of ARM's Recovery Act progress, see the image collection on the ARM flickr page.

With new and upgraded instruments throughout the user facility, the creation of large data sets will demand attention in many areas, such as data collections, transfer, processing, and storage. Upgrades and acceptance testing of new equipment for the ARM Data Management Facility were completed this month. The new Oracle computing and storage systems provide more than 5x increase in capacity, including more than 130 terabytes of useable storage. The new system will use Infiniband (a very high-speed network technology) to ensure maximum performance for the large amounts of data to be processed.

Also in June, a new ultra high sensitivity aerosol spectrometer, or UHSAS, completed testing and was installed on the Gulfstream-1 research aircraft to obtain data for the Carbonaceous Aerosol and Radiative Effects Study field campaign in California. This G-1 fact sheet provides an overview of the aircraft, including additional enhancements from the Recovery Act and other funding sources.

And a new ceilometer was installed at the ARM North Slope of Alaska site in Barrow, following the initial installation of the new ceilometer at the Southern Great Plains site in April.

Factory acceptance testing of a new Remote Balloon Launcher for the ARM North Slope of Alaska site was completed in late April and the self-contained “autosonde” unit is now on its way to Barrow; read the Facility Update article for more information. Aircraft infrastructure, data system, and instrument systems continue to be received, with integration tasks proceeding in parallel with field testing for the CARES field campaign, which begins in June. Construction at the ARM Southern Great Plains site is now underway for the new X-band radar, and equipment upgrades to the ARM Data Management Facility have been installed and are under acceptance testing.

In mid-April, a new ceilometer was deployed at the ARM Southern Great Plains site, representing the first ground-based instrument procured through the Recovery Act to begin collecting routine ARM data. Read the article in the ARM News Center for more information. Elsewhere throughout the user facility, instrumentation and equipment continue to be received, with 46 instrument systems received to date and site preparation and integration plans in process.

A critical design review with the vendor (ARC) for the C-Band radar was successfully completed on March 14, 2010. Soil sampling is complete at the Southern Great Plains site to begin infrastructure installation for the X-Band radars. Instrumentation and equipment for all instruments systems continue to be received for integration, with 44 instruments systems received to date.

Also in March, Jimmy Voyles and Jim Mather shared this informative poster (pdf, 10MB) about ARM's Recovery Act efforts at the DOE's Atmospheric System Research meeting in Bethesda, Maryland. During the meeting's poster sessions, ARM infrastructure staff presented 16 posters covering their efforts associated with the Recovery Act. For more information about ARM's participation at the meeting, read this article.

A preliminary design review for the High-Spectral Resolution Lidar was successfully conducted; other tasks are on track. Contracts are now in place for 100% of our instrument procurements for the full $60M funding allocation, and 36 instrument systems have been received to date.

Contracts have been placed for 98 percent of ARM's instrument procurements, with 27 instrument systems received. A number of critical design reviews were successfully completed: upgrades to ARM's Data Management Facility; MMCR Signal Processing Upgrades and Scanning Cloud Radar (ProSensing); and X-band Scanning ARM Precipitation Radars (Radtec). In addition, preliminary design reviews were completed for the C-band Scanning ARM Precipitation Radars (ARC) and the Shipborne Radar Wind Profiler (DeTect).

Many of the computing and networking components for the Data Archive have been received; installation and integration of equipment continues. Aircraft infrastructure, data systems and instrument systems are being received and integration tasks are proceeding.

This ARM feature article highlights the completion of successful preliminary design reviews held in November for an influx of new radars planned for deployment throughout the user facility. Kevin Widener, leader of ARM's radar group, led the reviews and provides some context about the importance of this key milestone in the Recovery Act deployment plan for the radars.

Also, Argonne National Laboratory published an article about the Recovery Act investments in ARM and their role in the overall effort. Their portion ($4.6 million) is primarily to provide infrastructure support for the cloud and precipitation radars that will be deployed at the ARM Southern Great Plains site, and the collection, processing, and dissemination of data from all the ARM sites.

A press release issued on November 12 by Communication and Power Industries describes their contracts for $4.8 million in Recovery Act funds from ARM that will provide key components for six new multi-frequency cloud radar systems. These radars are used for fundamental research on the effects of clouds and precipitation on climate.

A guest article about the Southern Great Plains site, written by site scientist Peter Lamb, appeared in News Oklahoma on October 25. The article describes the evolution of the site into the world's largest atmospheric observatory and mentions the coming enhancements from $12 million in Recovery Act funds.

Meanwhile, successful preliminary design reviews were successfully completed for a new solar spectrometer and for Data Management Facility infrastructure upgrades.

A press release from Sandia National Laboratories describes $5 million in enhancements coming to ARM sites in Barrow, Alaska; Darwin, Australia; and Oklahoma. The release features Mark Ivey, site manager for ARM North Slope of Alaska locale, and his colleague Jeff Goldsmith at Sandia/California.

Remaining 10 percent of funds released from DOE to PNNL. Designs for aerosol observing systems are progressing well.

All specifications, sole source justifications, requests for information, and statements of work are complete. Request for proposals for all major items of equipment have been issued and inter-laboratory contracts are in process, with three out of five complete. Procurement and development activities are on track.

Site survey in Barrow, Alaska for possible locations for new radars and radio-acoustic sounding system.

Initial funds released from DOE to PNNL. Project execution begins.