Today we left the BARC walked to BASC and went on a scientist field trip to ARM that is run by DOE. After that we toured the CMDL Barrow Observatory that is run by NOAA ESRL. We saw a LIDAR, and instruments that monitor CO2, NOx, CH4, CFC's and the alphabet soup continues. (Don't worry there won't be a quiz on all of these abbreviations).
Holger Sihler (front) and Guillermo Villena Tapia (back) smiling for camera.
Now let me explain all of that with words and not just acronyms. If you have been reading my journals, you should know that the BARC is the name of our lab building. BASC is another building here with offices, labs, cafeteria, and Ilisagvik College.
ARM employee cleaning instrumentation outside.
ARM stands for Atmospheric Radiation Measurement which was started in 1989 by the Department of Energy (DOE) to further our understanding of global climate change. They are performing continuous field measurements to study the physics of clouds and their interaction with the radiative (light energy) feed back processes that affect our climate. This data is used in many climate models. Walter Brower welcomed us into his workplace. At the ARM facility they use various radiometers, a sunphotometer, LIDAR, and meteorology tools like a sonde. (A definition of LIDAR can be found on the Overview page of my PolarTREC blog under vocabulary.) The sonde is placed on a weather balloon and released twice per day at 9:30 AM and 9:30 PM. The sonde relays data back to the facility about atmospheric moisture, pressure, temperature, and wind. We were fortunate to see them launch the balloon and then watched as the data was received on the computer. The sondes are seldom returned to the launch facility after the balloon explodes in the upper atmosphere. They are most likely lost at sea or in a very remote location.
Weather balloon with sonde ready for launch.
It would be interesting to find out what the return rate is on the sondes that are released in Tucson by the National Weather Service.
NOAA is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) oversees the Climate Modeling and Diagnostics Laboratory (CMDL) at the Barrow Observatory. Barrow is only one of five locations. They also have facilities in Mauna Loa, South Pole, Trinidad Head and American Samoa. The Barrow Observatory is located 8 km northeast of Barrow. This reduces the anthropogenic (man-made) effects on the environmental data they are recording at this location. Jason Johns gave us a tour of the facility. The Barrow Observatory monitors many gases in our atmosphere including greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide CO2 and methane CH4.
Jason Johns of NOAA giving us a tour of CMDL Barrow Observatory.
The Montreal Protocol of 1989 was implemented to phase out the use of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's), because of their destructive effect on the stratospheric ozone layer. Many of the replacement gases for CFC's are also greenhouse gases. Concentrations of CFC's and replacement gases are monitored here in Barrow. CMDL measures both surface ozone (a measurement that OASIS is also doing) and total ozone. The Dobson Spectrophotometer measures total column ozone. This instrument helps scientists understand what is happening to the hole in the ozone layer.
Betsy Wilkening showing sample bottle of air from NOAA CMDL Barrow Observatory measuring atmosphere CO2 data at 393 ppm.
It was a great scientist field trip today. I got to see where scientists take some of the data that is always in the news. There was even time for me to try on Hans-Werner Jacobi's "dog" hat. It is not shaped like a dog, but it is a hat he acquired while working in Greenland. It is made out of dog fur. There is one way to keep man's best friend close to you after they go to doggie heaven.
Betsy Wilkening wearing Hans-Werner Jacobi's hat from Greenland made of dog fur.