Operations Updates
ARM Climate Research Facility Operations Update - May 31, 2004
This bimonthly report provides a brief summary of significant accomplishments and activities in the operations area of the ARM Climate Research Facility (ACRF).
New Backup Software Improves Processing, Reliability at Data Management Facility
Real-time data from all three ACRF sites (North Slope of Alaska, Southern Great Plains, and Tropical Western Pacific) are collected and processed at the ACRF Data Management Facility (DMF) each day. Processing involves the application of algorithms for performing simple averaging routines, qualitative comparisons, or more complicated experimental calculations. With continual advances in computer technology, keeping up with the volume and pace of incoming data is a daunting challenge. And because the remote sites do not provide backups, reliable backups of these data at the DMF are critical. In addition, significant numbers of value-added datasets are constantly in development and represent significant scientific investment. The reliable backup of these sometimes large datasets is as important as the original data. In May, significant progress was made on upgrades to the data backup software in the DMF.
After a review of the requirements and design, NetVault backup software from BakBoneTM was selected to manage backups in the DMF, and the SpectraLogic T120 SAIT tape library was selected to soon replace the current library. Immediately upon upgrading to the NetVault software using the existing tape library, DMF staff realized a ten-fold increase in performance, and can now reliably maintain backups of 1 terabyte of data. When the T120 tape library is deployed, further performance increases are expected and will provide an online capacity of more than 15 terabytes.
In a program like ARM that relies on continuous data streams for long-term comparisons and analyses, the prospect of losing even one day worth of data is a bleak thought. The sleek new T120 tape library combined with the NetVault software is estimated to provide at least five years of scalability and performance, with a maximum capacity exceeding 60 terabytes of storage. The DMF now has the improved and much-needed capability to provide regular, reliable backups until the data are sent to the ARM Archive for distribution to the science community.
CIMEL Sunphotometer Helps Researchers See the Light in Australia
A CIMEL sunphotometer, similar to this one in Tinga Tingana, Australia, will be installed at the ACRF Darwin site. Photo courtesy of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Science collaborators at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) and the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industry Research Organization (CSIRO) are using the ACRF Darwin site in Australia to evaluate aerosol optical properties during the tropical dry season. As part of the Darwin Aerosol Intensive Operational Period (IOP), a CIMEL sunphotometer was installed by CSIRO staff in mid-April at Darwin. The CIMEL sunphotometer is a sun-and-sky scanning radiometer that measures direct solar irradiance and sky radiance at the Earth's surface. During the IOP, the CIMEL will allow intercomparison and validation of aerosol optical depths obtained from the multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer in routine operation at the ACRF Darwin site. In addition, sky radiance retrievals will be used to infer microphysical aerosol properties needed to evaluate aerosol radiative forcing.
In addition to the Darwin site, the ACRF Tropical Western Pacific locale includes sites at Nauru and Manus Islands. A CIMEL has been operating at the Nauru site since May 1999 as a part of NASA's Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET), but the ARM Program could not secure another CIMEL through AERONET for the Darwin site. The new CIMEL at Darwin is identical to the CIMEL at Nauru, but is owned by the CSIRO. Data derived from the CIMEL at Darwin is available on the AERONET at aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov. It is expected that the CIMEL will be extracted from Darwin at the end of the southern hemisphere wet season (December) and may be redeployed as part of the Tropical Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment the following year.
