MFRSR

mfrsr: Multifilter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer

The visible multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer (MFRSR) is a passive instrument that measures global and diffuse components of solar irradiance at six narrowband channels and one open, or broadband, channel. Direct irradiance is not a primary measurement, but is calculated using diffuse and global measurements.

To collect one data record, the MFRSR takes measurements at four different shadowband positions. The first measurement is taken with the shadowband in the nadir (home) position. The next three measurements are, in order, the first side-band, sun-blocked, and second side-band. The side-band measurements are used to correct for the portion of the sky obscured by the shadowband. The nominal wavelengths of the narrowband channels are 415, 500, 615, 673, 870, and 940 nm.

From such measurements, the atmosphere’s aerosol optical depth at each wavelength can be inferred. In turn, these optical depths may be used to derive information about the column abundances of ozone and water vapor, as well as aerosol and other atmospheric constituents.

Measurements

Aerosol optical depth	Shortwave broadband diffuse downwelling irradiance	Shortwave narrowband total downwelling irradiance
Aerosol particle size	Shortwave narrowband diffuse downwelling irradiance	Surface albedo
Cloud optical depth	Shortwave narrowband direct normal irradiance

Locations

Fixed
AMF1
AMF2
AMF3

Active Instrument Locations

Facility Name	Instrument Start Date
Central Facility, Lamont, OK	1997-01-08
Graciosa Island, Azores, Portugal	2014-04-10
Ashton, KS (Extended)	1998-02-06
Morrison, OK (Extended)	2015-11-12
Peckham, OK (Extended)	2016-04-07
Pawhuska, OK (Extended)	1997-11-06
Newkirk, OK (Extended)	2011-09-27
Tryon, OK (Extended)	2011-09-28
Omega, OK (Extended)	2011-11-01
Maple City, KS (Extended)	2011-09-28
Pawnee, OK (Extended)	2015-11-13
Anthony, KS (Extended)	2011-10-13
Lamont, OK (Extended and Co-located with C1)	1997-08-26
Marshall, OK (Extended)	2011-10-18
Waukomis, OK (Extended)	2011-11-02
Medford, OK (Extended)	2011-10-05

Related Publications

2019

Varble A, S Nesbitt, P Salio, E Avila, P Borque, P DeMott, G McFarquhar, S van den Heever, E Zipser, D Gochis, R Houze, M Jensen, P Kollias, S Kreidenweis, R Leung, K Rasmussen, D Romps, and C Williams. 2019. Cloud, Aerosol, and Complex Terrain Interactions (CACTI) Field Campaign Report. Ed. by Robert Stafford, ARM user facility. DOE/SC-ARM-19-028.

Lim K, L Riihimaki, Y Shi, D Flynn, J Kleiss, L Berg, W Gustafson, Y Zhang, and K Johnson. 2019. "Long-term retrievals of cloud type and fair-weather shallow cumulus events at the ARM SGP site." Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 36(10), 10.1175/JTECH-D-18-0215.1.

Yang W, A Marshak, and G Wen. 2019. "Cloud edge properties measured by the ARM shortwave spectrometer over ocean and land." Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124(15), doi: 10.1029/2019JD030622.
Research Highlight

Terai C, Y Zhang, S Klein, M Zelinka, J Chiu, and Q Min. 2019. "Mechanisms behind the extratropical stratiform low‐cloud optical depth response to temperature in ARM site observations." Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124(4), doi:10.1029/2018JD029359.
Research Highlight

2018

Kassianov E, J Monroe, L Riihimaki, C Flynn, E Cromwell, G Hodges, and A McComiskey. 2018. Climatology of aerosol optical depth at mid-continental US site: ground-based observations. In SPIE Remote Sensing, 2018, Berlin, Germany, .

Varble A, S Nesbit, P Salio, E Zipser, S van den Heever, G McFarquhar, P Kollias, S Kreidenweis, P DeMott, M Jensen, R Houze, Jr., K Rasmussen, R Leung, D Romps, D Gochis, E Avila, and C Williams. 2018. Cloud, Aerosol, and Complex Terrain Interactions (CACTI) Science Plan. Ed. by Robert Stafford, DOE ARM Climate Research Facility. DOE/SC-ARM-17-004.

PZ, M Alvarado, C Chiu, S DeSzoeke, C Fairall, G Feingold, A Freedman, S Ghan, J Haywood, P Kollias, E Lewis, G McFarquhar, A McComiskey, D Mechem, T Onasch, J Redemann, D Romps, D Turner, H Wang, R Wood, S Yuter, and P Zhu. 2018. Layered Atlantic Smoke Interactions with Clouds (LASIC) Field Campaign Report. Ed. by Robert Stafford, ARM Climate Research Facility. DOE/SC-ARM-18-018.