In October 1997, the ARM Program entered into a contract with the University of Alaska-Fairbanks to obtain image data covering the ARM Climate Research Facility’s North Slope of Alaska (NSA) locale. Image data taken by an advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR) are collected by a satellite receiver at Fairbanks and, up until February 2004, were stored on 4mm tapes. These boxes were then shipped by the boxful to the ARM Climate Research Facility External Data Center every six months. Once at the External Data Center, the data was processed into standard “hierarchical data format” or HDF files and transferred to the ARM Climate Research Facility Data Archive for use by ARM researchers. All data from 1997 through 2003 is now available in the Archive, but the delay and logistics involved with the tape storage and transfer process led to a troublesome gap in providing timely information to ARM users.
Taking advantage of a pause in satellite data reception at the NSA, the ARM Climate Research Facility operations team put in place a strategy to upgrade the AVHRR data transfer process. With improvements to the internet connection in Alaska in recent years, it is now capable of transmitting the full complement of AVHRR data electronically. By changing the data delivery mode from labor-intensive and cumbersome tapes to near real-time (daily) delivery via a file server, both time and costs in this operations area have been significantly decreased.