ARM Aerial Facility
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory manages the structure, processes, and operations of the ARM Aerial Facility (AAF) for the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility. The AAF collects airborne atmospheric measurements to support research on clouds and the climate. The AAF enhances the utility and information content of the ARM Climate Research Facility’s long-term, ground-based measurements by providing
- in situ measurements of cloud properties for evaluating and improving remote sensing retrievals
- sampling not possible from the ground (for example, ice crystal habit or aerosol size distributions)
- context for and extending the ground-based measurements
- data sets for testing and evaluating high-resolution models and model parameterizations.
The AAF is funded by the Climate and Environmental Sciences Division of the Department of Energy's Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research program.
PNNL also deploys the Gulfstream-1 (G1) aircraft in projects funded by other research agencies. An example of this type of deployment is a field campaign to study the impact of aerosols on clouds and precipitation in the Sierra Nevada Mountains which collected data while flying in and around the clouds.
Contact: Beat Schmid