ARMACMEIV

ARM Airborne Carbon Measurements IV (ARM-ACME IV)

1 October 2013 - 30 September 2015

Lead Scientist: Sebastien Biraud

Observatory: AAF, SGP

ARM ACME observations and analysis of atmospheric trace gases in the Southern Great Plains contribute to research on regional carbon budgets, atmospheric dynamics, and satellite validation, including seven publications in the past two years. In the past year, the ACME project achieved the World Meteorological Organization precision goal of validated 0.1 ppm for carbon dioxide, a first for airborne measurements. We continued our long-term airborne study of atmospheric composition and carbon cycling in the Southern Great Plains by flying total of 600 flight hours over the period October 1, 2013 through September 30, 2015 from the ARM Aerial Facility. Our main goals were to quantify trends and variability in atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in North America and to improve understanding of the influence of convective processes, advection, and boundary layer-free troposphere exchanges on atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. We conducted campaigns to characterize regional ecosystem fluxes and fossil fuel emissions and to study the application of COS as a tracer of gross primary productivity. We coordinated flights with the NASA Tropospheric Emission Sounder for testing of carbon dioxide retrievals.