Submitting Proposals: Guideline Overview

Proposals are welcome from all members of the scientific community for conducting field campaigns using the ARM user facility. ARM provides operational and logistical resources to conduct field campaigns at the fixed ARM sites or to deploy one of the ARM Mobile Facilities (AMF) and/or ARM Aerial Facility (AAF).

ARM provides use of its resources for campaigns, but does not provide research funding associated with the campaign. Principal investigators should demonstrate in their preproposal that funding for research is secured already or that a research grant is being submitted.

Proposed campaigns should focus on research that addresses the ARM mission of improving the understanding and representation of clouds and aerosols in climate and earth system models, as well as their interactions and coupling with Earth’s surface. Priority will be given to proposals that make comprehensive use of ARM facilities, focus on strategic goals (published in 2018) of the DOE Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program, and have the ability to improve regional or global earth system models.

Proposals that coordinate with other BER community capabilities (e.g., Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory [EMSL], AmeriFlux Network, Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments in the Arctic and Tropics, Energy Exascale Earth System Model) or that support the goals of the Global Energy and Water cycle Exchanges (GEWEX) project are encouraged.

• Annual Facility Call – Deployment of an ARM Mobile Facility, ARM Aerial Facility, or complex campaign at a fixed site will be accepted and reviewed once per year.
• Small Campaigns – Deployment of guest instruments, instruments for offsite deployments, or special operations, such as enhanced radiosondes or special scanning strategies at a fixed site with cost to ARM, will be accepted anytime* and reviewed on a quarterly basis.
• Tethered Balloon System (TBS) Missions – Requests for missions may be made through TBS calls, which will be held near the beginning of and midway through the calendar year. TBS mission requests may include guest instruments to supplement ARM TBS baseline instruments (or, in limited cases, to replace the ARM instruments). In addition, requests may be made to fly guest instruments as part of previously approved TBS missions through the Small Campaign proposal process.

*Note: Please give ample lead time for your campaign proposal submissions. The timing for submitting a proposal depends on the size and complexity of the proposal and the timing of the request relative to the review cycle. For example, a small (level 1) campaign may take approximately 3 to 6 months from submission to implementation depending on those factors. Use the proposal deadlines calendar below to estimate when you should submit a proposal to begin a campaign by a particular date.

More information on the ARM field campaign process is also available in the ARM Field Campaign Guidelines. For information on radar and aerosol instrument operations in fiscal year 2024 (FY2024), please see the ARM FY2024 Radar Plan and ARM FY2024 Aerosol Operations Plan.