Atmospheric Instrumentation and Measurements
The Environmental Science Division (EVS) develops and operates instrumentation for process-scale investigations of atmospheric science and climate. Resources are available to make routine meteorological observations and to measure levels of trace atmospheric constituents and the exchange of trace gases with the earth's surface from surface- and aircraft-based platforms. EVS staff support instruments that measure key climate variables at three U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) climate research facilities and two AmeriFlux sites. Measurements range from routine surface observations of wind speed and direction, temperature, and relative humidity, to advanced remote sensing of aerosol distributions in the atmospheric boundary layer. EVS staff maintain two AmeriFlux sites at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois; one is within a restored prairie and the other is within an agricultural field. The two sites are used to conduct process-scale investigations to improve understanding of the effects of climate on ecosystem exchanges of carbon, nitrogen, and water. EVS staff also develop and operate sampling and analytic instrumentation for measuring trace atmospheric gases and aerosols. Examples of instruments that EVS staff support include the following:
- Atmospherically Emitted Radiance Interferometer.
- Various instruments in the ARM Mobile Facility (AMF) that are used for making measurements that replicate many of those at the ARM climate research facilities (ACRFs) at locations other than the ACRFs.
- Balloon-Borne Sounding System, which provides measurements of the thermodynamic state of the atmosphere and wind speed and direction at multiple heights in the atmospheric boundary layer.
- Energy Balance Bowen Ratio Stations, which measure sensible and latent heat flux at locations within the ACRFs using the Bowen ratio gradient technique.
- Eddy Correlation Flux Measurement System, which is used to measure the fluxes of sensible heat, latent heat, momentum, and carbon dioxide within the ACRFs.
- RadioAcoustic Sounding System, which measures wind profiles by transmitting electromagnetic energy into the atmosphere and measuring the strength and frequency of backscattered energy. Virtual temperatures are recovered by transmitting an acoustic signal vertically and measuring the electromagnetic energy scattered from the acoustic wavefront.
- Surface Meteorological Observation Packages, which measure parameters such as wind speed and direction, air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, and precipitation, and are designed to work effectively in various climate regimes.
- Remote Sensing Instrumentation, which is developed, fabricated, and operated for remotely measuring several atmospheric parameters.
- Trace Gas and Aerosol Instrumentation, which is developed and operated from both surface- and aircraft-based platforms to measure ambient concentrations of trace gases and aerosols and the exchange of trace gases with the earth's surface.
- Towers, which are maintained as platforms for meteorological, radiological, and other measurements at ACRFs and at Argonne.
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