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Aerosol Observing System Gussied Up to Go Out
Editor’s note: Stephen Springston, a scientist from Brookhaven National Laboratory, shared this update in August 2013 about a new Aerosol Observing System (AOS). Originally deployed in Australia, the next-generation aerosol observing system (AOS) system returned to Brookhaven National Laboratory this summer for an invigorating makeover. With instrument, computer, and infrastructure systems rearranged and updated, and a fresh…
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Bon Voyage, My Friends…
Editor’s note: Ernie Lewis, principal investigator for the Marine ARM GPCI Investigations of Clouds (MAGIC) field campaign, sent this update in August 2013. The Spirit arrived at the Port of Los Angeles this morning [August 15], completing MAGIC Leg16B. Also concluding last week, the two undergraduate students who worked with me this summer, Danielle Mallon…
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BBOP Media Stop
Editor’s note: Eric Francavilla is an intern in the media relations department at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. On August 15, I joined Mary Beckman of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) media relations team for a media event held at the Biomass Burning Observation Project (BBOP) base of operations: a small hangar at Bergstrom Aircraft…
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Picture Gallery: Big Balloon Samples Tiny Particles
Earlier this summer, a multi-institutional science team led by principal investigator James Smith from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) visited the ARM Southern Great Plains site to conduct the New Particle Formation (NPF) Study. The NPF study focuses on the question of what variables determine the growth rate of newly formed particles, and…
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A “Magical” Opportunity
Editor’s note: Trevor Ferguson, graduate student, team member on the Marine ARM GPCI Investigations of Clouds (MAGIC) field campaign, sent this update on July 26, 2013. During Leg14, I had the grand opportunity to sail along as part of the MAGIC team. Having never been out to sea, I was anxious to embark and see…
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An “Uneventful” Leg During MAGIC
Editor’s note: Ernie Lewis, principal investigator for the Marine ARM GPCI Investigations of Clouds (MAGIC) field campaign, sent this update on July 11, 2013. Thursday, July 11, evening We are just pulling into port in Honolulu (about 8pm local time on Thursday), a day later than normal, but we had left Los Angeles a day…
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Fourth of July Fireworks After a Day at the Los Angeles Dock
Editor’s note: Ernie Lewis, principal investigator for the Marine ARM GPCI Investigations of Clouds (MAGIC) field campaign, sent this update on July 6, 2013. It’s Saturday, July 6, a bit before noon. I’m on the Spirit in the Port of Los Angeles and scheduled to leave on Leg14A later this evening, a bit later than…
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“…and BBOP was chosen for this one.”
The Biomass Burning Observation Project, or BBOP, is a field campaign that is being carried out with the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Aerial Facility (AAF) of the U.S. Department of Energy this summer to measure the evolution of properties of aerosols produced by biomass burns. Biomass refers to any vegetation—trees, grass, etc.—and thus biomass burns…
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Light Scattering at Sea
Editor’s note: Ernie Lewis, principal investigator for the Marine ARM GPCI Investigations of Clouds (MAGIC) field campaign, introduces us to some MAGIC participants. In the last update I introduced some MAGIC people, including two college students, Danielle and Michelle, who are working with me on MAGIC data. Another student, Sarah, who will be a senior…
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Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?
“Drinking room-temperature water and playing cards by the candlelight” is what I heard they were doing up at Cape Cod when a massive blizzard knocked out power in the region in February this year. By “they,” I mean a group of technicians and climate scientists who were waiting out the bad weather to start flight…