Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Scientists Receive International Award

Summary

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has honored ARM scientists with the 15th Professor Dr. Vilho Vaisala Award. The award was presented at the 81st American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, January 16, 2001. The authors were cited for the publication, “Ground-Based Remote Sensor Observations During the PROBE Experiment in the Tropical Western Pacific.” The award is given by WMO to encourage and stimulate interest in important research programs in the field of instruments and methods of observation in support of WMO programs. Lead author Ed Westwater said, “PROBE convincingly demonstrated the utility and feasibility of operating remote sensing instruments to complement standard radiation and in situ observations.”

Before the advent of the PROBE experiment and subsequent founding of the ARM observation sites by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research (BER), data were sparse from the tropical warm pool where the El Nino/Southern Oscillation phenomenon originates. Today, these stations are providing long-term benchmark data sets and locations from which intensive field campaigns can be based.