ARM Southern Great Plains

ARM Southern Great Plains
Name	ARM Southern Great Plains
Established	1992
Location	Lamont, Oklahoma, United States
Type	Atmospheric observatory
Operator	U.S. Department of Energy

ARM Southern Great Plains

The ARM Southern Great Plains facility is a continental-scale atmospheric observatory in the United States operated by the U.S. Department of Energy that supports observational research on clouds and radiation. The site network in Oklahoma and Kansas provides continuous measurements that serve projects led by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and universities such as the University of Oklahoma and Texas A&M University. ARM Southern Great Plains underpins field campaigns associated with programs including the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program, the Earth System Modeling Framework, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Overview

ARM Southern Great Plains functions as a ground-based observatory within the ARM Climate Research Facility and complements work by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The network focuses on radiative transfer studies used in parameterizations applied in models developed at institutions like the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Instrument deployments and data streams from the site inform activities at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Brookhaven National Laboratory, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

History and Development

The site traces origins to the DOE’s atmospheric science investments in the early 1990s, paralleling initiatives at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Argonne National Laboratory. Early field experiments involved collaboration with the University of Colorado, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Pennsylvania State University researchers who had ties to the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences and the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Subsequent upgrades engaged teams from the Naval Research Laboratory, the University of Washington, and Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Program milestones included campaigns coordinated with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the American Meteorological Society.

Site Description and Instrumentation

The Southern Great Plains network includes fixed central facilities and distributed boundary facilities across Oklahoma and Kansas, integrating sensors used by groups such as the Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division, the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, and the Center for Multiscale Modeling of Atmospheric Processes. Instruments include cloud radars and lidar systems similar to those employed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Mesa Lab and the University of Chicago’s Argonne Facility, microwave radiometers, and surface flux stations compatible with standards from the World Meteorological Organization and the Global Climate Observing System. Measurement capabilities are comparable to airborne platforms operated by the Naval Postgraduate School, the University of Wyoming King Air, and research aircraft curated by the ARM Aerial Facility.

Research Programs and Contributions

Research at the site supports studies on cloud microphysics, aerosol–cloud interactions, and surface–atmosphere exchange processes relevant to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments, the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, and the Community Earth System Model. Findings have influenced parameterization efforts at institutions like the European Space Agency, the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, and the Finnish Meteorological Institute. ARM Southern Great Plains observations have been integrated into studies by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Columbia University, Princeton University, and Imperial College London, and have supported satellite validation efforts for NASA missions such as Terra, Aqua, and CloudSat.

Data Management and Accessibility

Data from the facility are managed through systems aligned with practices at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s data centers, and the DataONE consortium. The ARM Data Center interoperates with repositories used by the California Institute of Technology, the University of Maryland, and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites to facilitate access for researchers at Harvard University, Stanford University, and the University of Michigan. Metadata standards follow conventions promoted by the Research Data Alliance, the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites, and the Global Earth Observation System of Systems.

Collaborations and Partnerships

The site maintains partnerships with federal agencies including the National Science Foundation, NASA, and NOAA, and research collaborations with universities such as the University of Oklahoma, Texas A&M University, Colorado State University, and the University of Texas at Austin. International collaborations engage institutions like the British Antarctic Survey, the Max Planck Institute, the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Industrial and NGO partners have included the American Geophysical Union, the European Geosciences Union, and private research groups affiliated with IBM Research and Microsoft Research.

Environmental and Community Impact

Facilities are sited with attention to regional landowners and local governments including Garfield County authorities, the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, and Kansas state agencies, while outreach engages regional schools, Everett Public Schools, and nearby community colleges. Environmental monitoring coordinates with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, and state conservation districts to mitigate impacts on habitats monitored by The Nature Conservancy and local Audubon Society chapters. Community-science initiatives have linked the observatory to programs at the Smithsonian Institution, the Field Museum, and local extension services.

Category:Atmospheric observatories