Meteorological data available in real time, worldwide

ARGONNE, Ill. (March 26, 2004) — Thanks to the installation of a satellite-based communications network by Argonne scientists, real time meteorological data from locations around the world are available to researchers quickly — and free — through the Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program.

The goal of the ARM Program is to provide quality data for the improvement of computer models used for climate forecasting. To accomplish this, data are continuously gathered at six observation facilities in climactically significant areas around the world. In July 2003, these sites were collectively designated as a national user facility by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research.

The ARM Program gathers huge amounts of data at climate research sites in three locales. The Southern Great Plains site extends across 55,000 square miles of Kansas and Oklahoma and is centered near Billings , Okla. The North Slope of Alaska site is centered in Barrow and has a second facility at Atqausk. The Tropical Western Pacific site has facilities on Manus Island , Papua New Guinea ; at Darwin , Australia ; and on the island republic of Nauru .

“Until recently, users had no continuous, reliable communications with sites in the Tropical Western Pacific,” said Dick Eagan (DIS), who coordinated the communications network's installation. While data from the North Slope and the Southern Great Plains were processed daily and sent to the Data Management Facility at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory each night, data from the Tropical Western Pacific sites were sent monthly on disks via regular mail. Consequently, Eagan said, observations could be six weeks old by the time the data became available to users. Now, raw data from all sites are sent via satellite to the Data Management Facility every hour.

Having data available in real time was always a goal of the program, said Argonne 's Doug Sisterson, ARM operations manager. “Now affordable technology has caught up. This is a major accomplishment.”

The ARM climate research sites are the world's largest collection of surface-based remote sensing instruments studying climate change. The 264 instrument systems at the combined sites contain more than 1,500 separate instrument sensors.

These sensors measure a variety of meteorological conditions from temperature and humidity to water vapor and the altitude of clouds. Several instruments are the only one of their kind or the first of their kind. Among the instruments gathering data are:

• The Microwave Water Radiometer estimates the cloud liquid water path over a five-minute interval. This instrument is tuned to measure the microwave emissions of water molecules (liquid and vapor) in the atmosphere at specific frequencies.
• The Micropulse Lidar is a ground-based optical sensing system that determines the altitude of clouds. Pulses of energy are transmitted to the cloud, and the time delay between the transmission of energy and the reception of the backscattered signal determines the altitude.
• The Millimeter Wave Cloud Radar locates cloud bases and tops.

“We have an incredible task keeping these instruments, scattered around the world, up and running 24 hours a day,” said Sisterson.

Data from the ARM climate research sites are sent not only to the Data Management Facility but also to the ARM Data Archive at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The ARM External Data Center at Brookhaven National Laboratory acquires additional data from other sources, such as the National Weather Service. The Data Management Facility receives more than 20 gigabytes of data per day. Users requests approximately 500 gigabytes of data each month.

Users can access ARM data for free. “The ARM Program is one of the few organizations in the world that does this,” said Sisterson. It's all part of the program's mission. “DOE's Office of Science funds the ARM Program to provide the best quality data for scientists to improve models that are used to develop consensus on the issue of global warming. We're not taking sides,” said Sisterson.

Since ARM's inception in 1992, the ARM climate research sites have hosted more than 4,500 visitors and conducted more than 125 experiments. These facilities have become an important part of international collaborations and of U.S. Government research programs sponsored by agencies such as NASA, the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Argonne National Laboratory brings the world's brightest scientists and engineers together to find exciting and creative new solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America 's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

For more information, please contact Steve McGregor (630/252-5580 or media@anl.gov) at Argonne.