Operations Updates
ARM Climate Research Facility Operations Update - February 15, 2006
This bimonthly report provides a brief summary of significant accomplishments and activities in the operations area of the ARM Climate Research Facility (ACRF).
School Visits and New Kiosk Promote Science Education at ACRF Darwin Site
Titled Climate Change: Science and Traditional Knowledge, ACRF's latest education kiosk is now on permanent display at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin.
A handful of ARM scientists involved in the Tropical Warm Pool - International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE) field campaign took time out from their research for a very important purpose—to talk to students about climate change. During the week of February 6, they accompanied ACRF Education and Outreach (EO) staff to Darwin area schools as a preview to the new interactive climate education kiosk recently installed at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in Darwin. Six separate classes were involved, and younger students received stickers and ARM activity books with puzzles, coloring pages, and mazes. All teachers were given packets with ARM lesson plans, newsletters, and a copy of the kiosk program on DVD. Only two weeks into the Australian school year, the presentations provided useful information for students who will do research projects on weather and climate later in the year.
Lis Cohen, a grad student from the University of Utah participating in the TWP-ICE experiment, talks about weather and climate with kids at Woolaning School.
To kick off each visit, ACRF EO staff gave an introduction to the ARM Program and provided information about climate education resources in their area. This was followed with a presentation about clouds, radiosondes, solar radiation, TWP-ICE, ARM instruments, and the ARM Data archive by ARM scientists and graduate students involved in the field campaign. A highlight of the school visits was a trip to Woolaning School, a remote school about an hour from Darwin. Aboriginal students ranging in age from 5 to 9 years old listened to a presentation about the water cycle, clouds, and satellites before heading outside to identify the current cloud conditions. After the presentation, students drew colorful pictures illustrating the water cycle. Also, an elder from the Aboriginal community presented a beautiful painting about the changing wet and dry seasons in Darwin, and one of the younger students read a story to go along with the painting. The art work was on display at the museum after the ARM kiosk opening ceremony the following week.
ACRF Exhibit Just Peachy in Atlanta
The ACRF exhibit traveled to the "Peach State" to participate in the 86th Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society (AMS).
Billed as the largest international meeting of atmospheric scientists, the American Meteorological Society's 86th Annual Meeting ventured south this year to the Peach State. Held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this year's meeting drew more than 2,200 academics, government officials, private researchers, and leading atmospheric scientists, who participated in 1500 scientific sessions. These sessions, held January 29 through February 2, covered a broad range of weather and climate-related topics including climate change, space weather, drought, flash floods, aviation weather, wildfires, and meteorological history.
Joining more than 100 exhibitors demonstrating the latest products and services, ACRF exhibit staff shared ARM science with interested attendees and answered questions about using the ACRF in between sessions. Visitors to the booth were interested in learning about the latest ARM Mobile Facility deployment, the ongoing field campaign Tropical Warm Pool - International Cloud Experiment (TWP-ICE), ordering ARM data, how to submit a proposal to conduct their own field campaign, and the 2005 Annual Report.
ACRF staff provided background information about the ARM science program and the ARM Climate Research Facility to booth visitors at the 86th Annual Meeting of the AMS.
To kick off the meeting, representatives for the ACRF Education and Outreach Program participated in the 5th Annual WeatherFest, a public science fair sponsored by the AMS. Throughout the 4-hour event, visitors to the ACRF Education and Outreach booth inquired about the ACRF's online Education Center, and viewed a copy of the North Slope of Alaska kiosk. In addition, more than 400 information packets were handed out to teachers and students.
Mother Nature Tests Emergency Preparedness at North Slope of Alaska
Vigilant facility personnel and hardy local utility workers helped avert what could have been a serious data and equipment loss at the Barrow site in ACRF's North Slope of Alaska locale. Wintry weather of 0°F and icing conditions began contributing to power problems throughout the Barrow area in early February. Consistent winds at 20-25 mph finally caused utilities lines to jump from their spools in three places, resulting in "line slap" that tripped a circuit breaker. Snow drifts on the way to the site were as deep as 2 to 2.5 feet, adding to the difficulty in accessing the site. While local utility crews began climbing utility poles, ACRF operations staff quickly implemented the site's emergency response plan for weather-related power failure.
Utility electrical power to the Great White Instrument Shelter, instruments, and the ACRF meteorological tower, was lost around midnight on February 7. When on-site ACRF staff discovered the power outage the following morning, they immediately implemented planned emergency response measures, which outline the steps required to resume instrument operation after a period of low-temperature storage and special concerns regarding instrument recovery. Finding an initial shelter temperature on arrival of about 15°F, they placed portable heaters and generators in the shelter to maintain the interior temperatures so that instruments, PCs, and other equipment would restart successfully. After just 15 hours, power was restored to the Barrow area, and only minor data gaps were reported at the ACRF Barrow site. Data losses were mainly limited to the period of the power outage itself, and no instrumentation was damaged.
