The U.S. Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility is seeking an instrument lead mentor (technical lead) for distributed aerosol size distribution measurements during the upcoming ARM Mobile Facility (AMF) deployment in Baltimore, Maryland, from December 1, 2024, through November 30, 2025.

ARM operates a suite of research-grade aerosol and trace gas instrumentation as part of its Aerosol Observing System (AOS), but there is a scientific need for distributed measurements, specifically aerosol size distribution, across the Baltimore region as part of the ARM deployment for the Coast-Urban-Rural Atmospheric Gradient Experiment (CoURAGE). Instrumentation will be deployed at three locations: a rural location (co-located with the ARM AOS); an urban location with the AMF; and a bay location, where additional ground-based instrumentation and the tethered balloon system (TBS) will be deployed.

The lead mentor will be responsible for:

• developing technical specifications for the procurement of new instrumentation
• preparing and testing the systems for deployment
• coordinating with the ARM Site Data Systems team to ensure efficient data collection
• working with the ARM Ingest Developer team for the creation of appropriate data products for ARM users
• working with the ARM Data Quality Office to develop appropriate QA/QC methods for the data and to resolve ongoing problems
• developing documentation (ARM instrument handbook)
• following other ARM processes as appropriate.

To apply for this position, prospective candidates should provide a technical proposal for how they will carry out the functions described above and an accompanying cost proposal. As part of the technical proposal, they should provide an instrument plan, addressing the above responsibilities and including details on which instrumentation they propose to deploy and how they propose to deploy them in coordination with the site operations team. While ARM has deployed a portable optical particle spectrometer (POPS) as part of the TBS and uncrewed aerial facilities, other instrumentation will be considered that follow the requirements below. There would be interest if additional measurements (trace gas, additional size ranges, etc.) could also be made within the budgetary constraints noted below. Dryers are not anticipated to be included in these systems.

Instrument requirements include:

• weatherproof enclosure for all seasons and precipitation types
• an emphasis on field deployability and maintenance by site technical staff
• minimal maintenance
• aerosol size distribution across ranges (submicron to micron) relevant for urban aerosol studies (Dmin <= 0.3 µm; Dmax >= 3 µm)
• raw data access and transparent data processing directly from or on the instrument
• history of scientific publications that indicate performance
• operating ranges of -20ºC to 50ºC for temperature and 20-95% for RH at a minimum
• temporal resolution adjustable down to at least 10 seconds for primary measurements.

ARM will provide appropriate power and ethernet connections so the system does not have to operate off the grid.

The total budget for this project is approximately $200,000, which includes the instrument costs and mentor travel and effort. Total costs for instrumentation shall be under $75,000 unless justification is provided, and the costs shall include 4 complete instruments (3 deployed + 1 spare). Procurement of new instrumentation will be done by ARM. It is anticipated that 1 or 2 additional instruments could be procured throughout the deployment if needed and would not fall under the initial budgetary constraints noted here.

Funds cannot be used for the mentor to procure their own instruments, but they can propose to deploy their own, already procured instrumentation. In that case, ARM will cover the costs of maintenance by site operations and any repairs that are required while the systems are out in the field.

By the application deadline of December 15, 2023, all interested candidates should email ARM Instrument Operations Manager Adam Theisen with their proposal package and include the following:

• technical proposal
  • instrument plan
  • description of experience
• cost proposal
• CVs of all team members.