The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility provides tailored datastreams known as ARM Best Estimate (ARMBE) data products for use in the evaluation of global earth system models. Two ARMBE data sets have been extended for ARM’s North Slope of Alaska (NSA) atmospheric observatory:
- ARM Best Estimate Atmospheric Measurements (ARMBEATM) for the years 2013 to 2018.
- ARM Best Estimate Cloud Radiation (ARMBECLDRAD) for the years 2004 to 2018.
These data sets contain best estimates of several cloud, radiation, and atmospheric quantities that are often used in model evaluation. Data are averaged over a one-hour time interval comparable to a typical resolution used in model output. A more detailed description of the ARMBE data is provided in Xie et al. (2010).
Scientists can use the extended data sets now. NSA data are currently available for the following date ranges:
- January 1, 2001, to December 30, 2018, for ARMBEATM
- January 1, 1998, to September 30, 2018, for ARMBECLDRAD.
Work continues to expand the data sets to the most recent year(s). An earlier release of ARMBE data can be found in this announcement. Find more information about ARMBE data products on the ARMBE web page.
Feedback and use of the data are always welcome. To ask questions or offer suggestions, contact Qi Tang or Shaocheng Xie.
To access the NSA data sets for ARMBEATM and ARMBECLDRAD, log in to the ARM Data Center. (Go here to create an account to download the data.).
Data can be referenced as doi:10.5439/1039931 for ARMBEATM and doi:10.5439/1039926 for ARMBECLDRAD.
Reference: Xie S, RB McCoy, SA Klein, RT Cederwall, WJ Wiscombe, EE Clothiaux, KL Gaustad, J Golaz, S Hall, MP Jensen, KL Johnson, Y Lin, CN Long, JH Mather, RA McCord, SA McFarlane, G Palanisamy, Y Shi, and DD Turner. 2010. “ARM Climate Modeling Best Estimate Data – A new data product for climate studies.” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 91, 10.1175/2009bams2891.1.
# # #ARM is a DOE Office of Science user facility operated by nine DOE national laboratories.