Author: Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 3
Book Description
This Monthly newsletter discusses the following three topics: (1) Representative Lucas and Senator Myers Support SGP Site; (2) Broadband Outdoor Radiometer Calibration (BORCAL) Takes Place at SGP; and (3) ARM Program Research Featured in ''Science'' Magazine.
Author: Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 3
Book Description
This Monthly newsletter discusses the following topic: New Atmospheric Profiling Instrument Added to SGP CART Suite--A new atmospheric profiling instrument at the SGP CART site is giving researchers an additional useful data stream. The new instrument is a microwave radiometer profiler (MWRP) developed by Radiometrics Corporation.
Author: Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 4
Book Description
This issue continues the discussion on lightning begun with the last issue. It reviews briefly what lightning is, then discusses protecting buildings and structures, personal protection, and protecting ARM structures. Five sources for more information are listed.
Author: Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 5
Book Description
This issue of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program (ARM Program) monthly newsletter is about the ARM Program goal to improve scientific understanding of the interactions of sunlight (solar radiation) with the atmosphere, then incorporate this understanding into computer models of climate change. To model climate accurately all around the globe, a variety of data must be collected from many locations on Earth. For its Cloud and Radiation Testbed (CART) sites, ARM chose locations in the US Southern Great Plains, the North Slope of Alaska, and the Tropical Western Pacific Ocean to represent different climate types around the world. In this newsletter they consider the North Slope of Alaska site, with locations at Barrow and Atqasuk, Alaska.
Author: Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 2
Book Description
For improved safety in and around the ARM SGP CART site, the ARM Program recently purchased and installed an aircraft detection radar system at the central facility near Lamont, Oklahoma. The new system will enhance safety measures already in place at the central facility. The SGP CART site, especially the central facility, houses several instruments employing laser technology. These instruments are designed to be eye-safe and are not a hazard to personnel at the site or pilots of low-flying aircraft over the site. However, some of the specialized equipment brought to the central facility by visiting scientists during scheduled intensive observation periods (IOPs) might use higher-power laser beams that point skyward to make measurements of clouds or aerosols in the atmosphere. If these beams were to strike the eye of a person in an aircraft flying above the instrument, damage to the person's eyesight could result. During IOPs, CART site personnel have obtained Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval to temporarily close the airspace directly over the central facility and keep aircraft from flying into the path of the instrument's laser beam. Information about the blocked airspace is easily transmitted to commercial aircraft, but that does not guarantee that the airspace remains completely plane-free. For this reason, during IOPs in which non-eye-safe lasers were in use in the past, ARM technicians watched for low-flying aircraft in and around the airspace over the central facility. If the technicians spotted such an aircraft, they would manually trigger a safety shutter to block the laser beam's path skyward until the plane had cleared the area.
Author: Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 5
Book Description
This Atmospheric radiation measurement program facilities newsletter covers the following topics: The Raman lidar at the SGP central facility is receiving upgrades to its environmental controls; The instrument tower at Okmulgee State Park is receiving upgrades to prevent Turkey Vultures from roosting on the booms.
Author: Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 3
Book Description
Cloudiness Inter-comparison IOP--Clouds are an important part of Earth's energy system. We take clouds for granted, but their role in weather and climate is considerable. Without clouds, life on Earth would be impossible. By helping to regulate surface temperatures, clouds establish livable conditions on the planet. Clouds produced by water vapor condensation play a complicated role in our climate system. Clouds decrease the amount of sunlight received by Earth's surface. Decreased sunlight reduces evaporation driven by sunlight and thus reduces cloud formation. With fewer clouds, Earth receives more sunlight, which eventually increases evaporation and cloud production. On the other hand, clouds also trap longwave (infrared) radiation emitted by Earth, as does water vapor. This heating effect increases evaporation. In summary, cloud formation is a complex, self-regulating, cyclic process. The SGP CART site is conducting a Cloudiness Inter-comparison IOP (intensive operational period) from mid-February through mid-April. The central facility near Lamont, Oklahoma, currently is home to several cloud-measuring instruments. The process of measuring cloudiness has always been somewhat subjective. Cloud measurements were once made by solely human observation, but new technology enables instruments to view the sky and make the more objective cloud measurements needed by both operational and research meteorologists. The SGP site currently operates eight different instruments that make cloud-related measurements. Data are collected on cloud cover, cloud top and base location, cloud water vapor and liquid water, sunshine duration and amount, and cloud number and area. During the Cloudiness Inter-comparison IOP, three additional cloud-measuring instruments are being brought to the CART site to be tested and assessed against the current instruments. Researchers are interested in testing whether the additional instruments can collect better data during nighttime hours, when visible light is not available for measurements. One of the three additional instruments is a commercially produced analyzer called the Nephelo. The Nephelo uses a series of infrared detectors to yield estimates of fractional sky cover. A second instrument to be tested is an infrared cloud imager. This instrument was previously deployed for testing at ARM's North Slope CART site in Barrow, Alaska. The third system to be tested will be a narrow-field-of-view infrared thermometer, operated in scanning mode rather than in the fixed vertical orientation. Scanning with the instrument and analyzing high-frequency samples of its data will increase the sky area covered. Collection of cloud data is not straightforward, because determination of actual cloud cover is subject to the definition of what is and is not a cloud. An instrument's determinations and calculations depend on its ability to detect a cloud either via collection of backscatter from a directed signal or by computer analysis of digital photographs. Verification of the data is restricted by the difficulty of the establishing a ''ground truth'' value. Thus, the emphasis in this IOP has to be on comparing measurements from the different instruments. Earth's climate is directly affected by the presence and absence of clouds. However, the accuracy of computer depictions and prognostications of future climate is limited by inadequacies in the parameterization of clouds in global climate models. A high-priority ARM Program goal is to increase our understanding of the interactions between clouds and solar radiation in the atmosphere, so that this complicated duo can be incorporated accurately into computer climate models.
Author: Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 3
Book Description
This newletter begins a discussion on Lightning--Natures's light show. This issue explains what lightning is. Fortunately, lightning strikes on ARM's instruments occurs infrequently. Next month's issue will explain lightning safety and how ARM has dealt with lightning safety.
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