Highlights from DOE Scientific User Facility at AGU Fall Meeting 2009

 
Published: 10 December 2009

Scientists from around the world use data from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility to study the interactions between clouds, aerosol, and radiation. At this year’s American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting, scientists will present oral and poster sessions of their research using these data for long-term analyses, model comparisons, and measurement validation efforts. A few items of note at AGU this year:

Town Hall: ARM Climate Research Facility – New Measurement Capabilities for Climate Research. This session will familiarize the audience with the capabilities of this scientific user facility and summarize recent field campaigns, including the current deployment in the Azores. New investments from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—such as scanning cloud and precipitation radars—and how they can dramatically improve climate model forecasts will be discussed. Attendees will be invited to suggest new applications for the instrumentation and to submit proposals to use the facility.

  • Chair: Dr. Jim Mather, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
  • Thursday, December 17, 6:15-7:15 pm – Moscone West 202
Dr. Steven Ghan and Dr. Greg McFarquhar
Dr. Steven Ghan and Dr. Greg McFarquhar

Composition of the Arctic Atmosphere (A31G). This session includes results from the Indirect and Semi-direct Aerosol Campaign, which occurred in April 2008 in Alaska. Researchers used a Convair research aircraft equipped with 42 instruments to obtain in situ measurements of clouds and aerosols over ARM’s North Slope of Alaska site in Barrow. Data from this campaign reveal complications in scientists’ conception of the aerosol indirect effect related to the ice phase in Arctic stratiform clouds.

  • Chairs: Dr. Steven Ghan, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Dr. Greg McFarquhar, University of Illinois
  • Wednesday, December 16, 8-10 am – Moscone West 3004

Breaking News: Small Particles in Cirrus – SPARTICUS. In January, scientists start a 4-month aircraft campaign using an instrumented Learjet 25 to obtain measurements of ice crystals from cirrus clouds over the ARM Southern Great Plains site in Oklahoma. Led by Dr. Gerald Mace from the University of Utah, scientists will use the data to study the role of small ice particles in cirrus, and to evaluate measurements obtained in previous field campaigns.

  • Dr. Mace is at AGU all week; see Lynne for an interview.

User Facility Exhibit: The ARM exhibit showcases streaming data from our research sites across the globe and highlights other key features of this scientific user facility. Visit the display to talk with scientists who use the facility for their research, or pick up the 2009 Annual Report and other fact sheets to learn about ARM data collections and field campaigns.

  • Exhibit Hall, Space 625, Tuesday-Friday