AOS

aos: Aerosol Observing System

The aerosol observing system (AOS) is the primary platform for in situ aerosol measurements at Earth’s surface. Each AOS has a different complement of instruments, which are selected to ensure the best measurements at each deployment site.

The AOS measures aerosol optical properties to better understand how particles interact with solar radiation and influence the Earth’s radiation balance. These measurements are useful for calculating parameters used in radiative forcing calculations, such as the aerosol single scattering albedo, asymmetry parameter, mass scattering efficiency, and hygroscopic growth. Measurements made with the AOS form a long-term record at the ARM fixed sites. Shorter measurement records are available from mobile deployments at a wide variety of geographical regions. These measurements are valuable for:

identifying long-term changes in aerosol properties
identifying atmospheric processes controlling aerosol life cycle and their influence on clouds
providing experimental data for developing and testing atmospheric climate models.

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Measurements

Aerosol absorption	Atmospheric moisture	Methane concentration
Aerosol backscattered radiation	Backscattered radiation	Ozone
Aerosol concentration	Carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration	Ozone Concentration
Aerosol particle size	Cloud condensation nuclei	Particle number concentration
Aerosol particle size distribution	Hygroscopic growth	Particle size distribution
Aerosol scattering	Inorganic chemical composition

Locations

Fixed
AMF1
AMF2
AMF3

Components

acsm: Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor	aeth: Aethalometer
aosmet: Meteorological Measurements associated with the Aerosol Observing System	aps: Aerodynamic Particle Sizer
caps-pmex: Cavity Attenuated Phase Shift Extinction Monitor	ccn: Cloud Condensation Nuclei Particle Counter
clap: Continuous Light Absorption Photometer	co-analyzer: Carbon Monoxide Analyzer
cpc: Condensation Particle Counter	ghg: Greenhouse Gas Monitor
htdma: Humidified Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer	nephelometer: Nephelometer
nox: Nitrogen Oxides Monitor	ozone: Ozone Monitor
pass: Photoacoustic Soot Spectrometer	pils: Particle Into Liquid Sampler
psap: Particle Soot Absorption Photometer	ptr-ms: Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer
smps: Scanning mobility particle sizer	so2: Sulfur Dioxide Monitor
sp2: Single Particle Soot Photometer	tap: Tricolor Absorption Photometer
tracegas: Trace gas concentrations	uhsas: Ultra-High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer

Active Instrument Locations

Facility Name	Instrument Start Date
Graciosa Island, Azores, Portugal	2013-08-15
Oliktok Point, Alaska; AMF3	2016-06-21
MOSAIC (Drifting Obs - Study of Arctic Climate); AMF2	2019-02-28
Lamont, OK (Extended and Co-located with C1)	2016-10-24

Related Publications

2019

Aiken AC, F Gallo, J Uin, SR Springston, J Wang, G Zheng, C Kuang, A McComiskey, R Wood, C Flynn, A Theisen, E Azevedo, P Ortega, and H Powers. 2019. Eastern North Atlantic (ENA) Aerosol Supplementary Site (S1) Data Analysis Report. Ed. by Robert Stafford, ARM user facility. DOE/SC-ARM-TR-229.

Liu J and Z Li. 2019. "Aerosol properties and their influences on low warm clouds during the Two-Column Aerosol Project." Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 19(14), 10.5194/acp-19-9515-2019.

Jensen M, E Bruning, D Collins, A Fridlind, P Kollias, C Kuang, D Rosenfeld, A Ryzhkov, A Varble, SD Brooks, S Collis, E Defer, J Fan, J Flynn, S Giangrande, R Griffin, J Hu, R Jackson, M Kumjian, T Logan, T Matsui, G McFarquhar, C Nowotarski, J Quaas, M Oue, R Sheesley, J Snyder, P Stier, S Usenko, S van den Heever, M van Lier Walqui, Y Wang, Y Xu, and G Zhang. 2019. Tracking Aerosol Convection Interactions ExpeRiment (TRACER) Science Plan. Ed. by Robert Stafford, DOE/SC-ARM-19-017.

McFarquhar G, R Marchand, C Bretherton, S Alexander, A Protat, S Siems, R Wood, and P DeMott. 2019. Measurements of Aerosols, Radiation, and Clouds over the Southern Ocean (MARCUS) Field Campaign Report. Ed. by Robert Stafford, ARM user facility. DOE/SC-ARM-19-008.

Schiro K and J Neelin. 2019. "Deep Convective Organization, Moisture Vertical Structure and Convective Transition using Deep-Inflow Mixing." Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 76(4), 10.1175/JAS-D-18-0122.1.

2018

Brown H, X Liu, Y Feng, Y Jiang, M Wu, Z Lu, C Wu, S Murphy, and R Pokhrel. 2018. "Radiative effect and climate impacts of brown carbon with the Community Atmosphere Model (CAM5)." Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 18(24), doi: 10.5194/acp-18-17745-2018.

Zheng G, Y Wang, A Aiken, F Gallo, M Jensen, P Kollias, C Kuang, E Luke, S Springston, J Uin, R Wood, and J Wang. 2018. "Marine boundary layer aerosol in the eastern North Atlantic: seasonal variations and key controlling processes." Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 18(23), doi:10.5194/acp-18-17615-2018.
Research Highlight

DeMott PJ, TC Hill, and G McFarquhar. 2018. Measurements of Aerosols, Radiation, and Clouds over the Southern Ocean (MARCUS) Ice Nucleating Particle Measurements Field Campaign Report. Ed. by Robert Stafford, ARM user facility. DOE/SC-ARM-18-031.

Cirino G, J Brito, H Barbosa, L Rizzo, P Tunved, S de Sá, J Jimenez, B Palm, S Carbone, J Lavric, R Souza, S Wolff, D Walter, J Tota, M Oliveira, S Martin, and P Artaxo. 2018. "Observations of Manaus urban plume evolution and interaction with biogenic emissions in GoAmazon 2014/5." Atmospheric Environment, 191, 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.08.031.

Wimmer D, S Buenrostro Mazon, H Manninen, J Kangasluoma, A Franchin, T Nieminen, J Backman, J Wang, C Kuang, R Krejci, J Brito, F Goncalves Morais, S Martin, P Artaxo, M Kulmala, V Kerminen, and T Petäjä. 2018. "Ground-based observation of clusters and nucleation-mode particles in the Amazon." Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 18(17), 10.5194/acp-18-13245-2018.

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