Long-Term Aerial Campaign to Study Clouds Ends

Summary

A six-month field campaign to make a variety of measurements of low-level cloud conditions from a single aircraft platform that included measurements of cloud microphysical properties, radiative fields, aerosol properties, and atmospheric state.  The information collected over this period will be valuable in providing statistically-significant data in validating climate models and will provide researchers with a relevant data set of boundary-layer clouds and aerosols for future study.  The campaign, conducted above DOE’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility in the U.S. Southern Great Plains involved 59 flights and 259 research hours between January and June 2009.  The campaign also involved outreach to local schools and DOE-funded undergraduates, providing an opportunity to talk with students about weather and climate, including few hands-on activities.