ARM Overview
To get climate data to continually improve earth system models, the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility operates observation sites around the world for the U.S. Department of Energy.
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North Slope of Alaska
In 1997, the ARM user facility established research sites on the North Slope of Alaska to provide data about cloud and radiative processes in cold environments and high latitudes.
Southern Great Plains
The Southern Great Plains in Oklahoma was the first field measurement site established by the ARM user facility in 1992 and is the world’s largest and most extensive climate research field site.
Eastern North Atlantic
As ARM’s newest observation facility, the Eastern North Atlantic began operations in September 2013 and mirrors ARM’s other long-term atmospheric measurement facilities around the world.
Heavily instrumented ARM facilities are strategically located at the Southern Great Plains in Oklahoma and on the North Slope of Alaska in the United States, and in the Eastern North Atlantic at Graciosa Island in the Azores off the coast of Portugal.
Continuous measurements from these fixed sites are supplemented with data from field research campaigns in underexplored climate regimes around the globe. ARM Mobile Facilities can be deployed for up to 12 months in any environment, from the cold of the Arctic to the heat of the Amazon.
There’s no better way to learn about the atmosphere than being up in the air. Acting as a research site in the sky, the ARM Aerial Facility uses aircraft outfitted with cutting-edge instruments to obtain data for validating, testing, and complementing ground-based measurements.