From the Aerosol Measurement Science Group (AMSG) Co-Chairs

This is the second blog from AMSG Co-Chairs Gannet Hallar and Tim Onasch.

AMSG promotes ARM’s Fiscal Year 2024 Aerosol Operations Plan

Hello, and welcome to the AMSG blog! We are here to provide an update on ARM-related work based, in part, on recommendations from the AMSG.

As we wrote in our first blog, the AMSG is a constituent group tasked by ARM to enhance the scientific impacts of its aerosol measurements. Our specified actions to accomplish this goal include:

1. increasing outreach and coordination, specifically to and with external and international communities and networks
2. assisting ARM in developing a new Aerosol Measurement Plan (the last one was published in 2018)
3. organizing another strategic planning workshop to map out future AMSG activities.

In this blog, we highlight the release of a new ARM Aerosol Operations Plan (AOP). This plan, which ARM intends to update and publish yearly, represents the culmination of AMSG actions and recommendations (i.e., No. 2 in the list above). We are excited to see ARM activities driven, in part, by AMSG guidance.

The fiscal year 2024 (FY2024) AOP can be found here on ARM.gov.

Key Components of ARM’s New AOP

The FY2024 AOP is actually the second plan from ARM directly relating to aerosol measurements, with the 2018 Aerosol Measurement Plan being the first. The 2018 plan focused on capability development priorities, whereas the new plan covers both development and operational priorities.

We are very excited to see ARM develop such a detailed AOP and commit to generating updates every fiscal year. This plan will help communicate ARM operations and provide the science communities with a transparent schedule.

We highlight some of the main components of the FY2024 AOP here:

1. updates on progress relating to tasks from the 2018 ARM Aerosol Measurement Plan
2. alignment of ARM aerosol measurement needs with changing ARM-related science/technology, including new measurement capabilities, such as more robust and available ice nuclei and particle number flux measurements
3. creation of an ARM operations calendar for aerosol instrument calibrations and service, which provides the framework for providing “best-case” conditions for user-led campaigns or intensive operational periods (IOPs) at ARM sites (the calendar is a direct ARM response to the IOP framework introduced by us [Gannet and Tim] during the 2019 AMSG strategic planning workshop)
4. development of aerosol nodes (i.e., small, remote sites instrumented with inexpensive instruments to augment standard ARM Aerosol Observing System sites to address spatial and temporal variabilities in point source measurements)
5. introduction of the Brookhaven National Laboratory Center for Aerosol Measurement Science (CAMS), initial activities, and coordination with the World Calibration Centre for Aerosol Physics (WCCAP) to provide the basis for calibrating ARM in situ aerosol instruments
6. deployment of additional aerosol instrumentation to the North Slope of Alaska atmospheric observatory in partnership with NOAA, which has historically made aerosol measurements at the site and provided them to ARM.

Engage With Us

As members of various atmospheric science communities ourselves, we are always looking for scientific input, feedback, and suggestions for improvement. The DOE ARM infrastructure is a fantastic resource that seeks continual guidance from interested scientific communities, and the AMSG represents one way for aerosol scientists to interact and help build a successful future.

Please feel free to reach out to us or any member of the AMSG with your input and consider volunteering your time on the AMSG in the future.

Thanks,
Gannet and Tim, on behalf of the AMSG