The ARM Southern Great Plains Site Scientist Team
INTRODUCTION This document describes the roles and responsibilities of the ARM Southern Great Plains (SGP) Site Scientist Team and the priorities and strategies it has laid out to help guide the scientific operation of the SGP site over the next three years. The SGP Site Scientist Team's main charge is to ensure the overall scientific productivity of the operation of the SGP CART site. This is embodied by the following broad task areas: (1) provide on-site scientific guidance for day-to-day operational decisions affecting ARM's research programs; (2) monitor, analyze, and document data quality and provide regular, frequent assessments of the results; (3) develop the Site Scientific Mission; (4) conduct an ARM-approved research program focused on the SGP site and designed to further the objectives of the ARM Program; (5) participate as a full member of the ARM Science Team; and (6) direct an educational outreach program designed to interest pre-college and undergraduate students, as well as graduate students, in scientific and technical disciplines. This document serves as a vision statement for the Site Scientist Team by describing priorities and strategies over the next three years and how it intends to fulfill them. SITE SCIENTIST TEAM ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN ARM The Site Scientist Team (SST), in a defined "neutral" position within ARM, must be able to act as the scientific liaison between the other parts of ARM, which include science and infrastructure, to ensure the scientific integrity of SGP CART site operations. The SST must be proactive in communicating with ARM's various science and infrastructure groups to collect information on issues to help determine optimal solutions. Maximizing the scientific potential of the SGP site, whether during routine daily operations or focused periodic experiments (intensive operational periods, or IOPs) should be the main goal of the SST. The makeup of the SST at this juncture allows us to achieve this goal in a way we feel is effective. The SST is the group within the ARM Program that assesses whether or not the site is providing the data that will allow the program to achieve its goals. This involves not only evaluating the routine, daily operations, but also suggesting and planning IOPs that will help scientists maximize their learning potential. Ensuring data quality is at the heart of its responsibilities. The SST achieves these goals by interacting with all of ARM's various functional groups to learn and collect information that will allow it to make informed decisions and appraisals. This coordinated activity will be particularly important during the next three years, as the SGP site is essentially complete according to original plans. It is now time for the SST to focus its attention on making a critical assessment of the current instrumentation suite at the SGP site. An important question remains - Is the SGP site truly satisfying the needs of the ARM Science Team? We must also begin thinking about how ARM data will live in perpetuity, and whether the data in their current state are of such quality that they will be able to satisfy researchers ten or twenty years into the future. And, we must continue to plan and operate IOPs in the next three years that will help solve the key scientific and measurement problems that the various Scientific Applications Groups will encounter. The ARM Program, with the required strong leadership of the SST, will address these priorities, using a research facility able to accommodate the evolving needs of the scientific community. Much has been learned during the last six years that can be applied to future problems. Through the routine deployment of instrumentation, we have learned a tremendous amount of knowledge about what works and how to remedy a particular situation. Through routine operations we have improved our broadband radiometry and our procedures for launching radiosondes. Through focused IOPs, Science Team members have learned much about the measurement of atmospheric state parameters such as water vapor. In the future, we must use our lessons learned to get a better grasp of such issues as spectral radiometry and cloud radar measurements, and conduct IOPs that allow us to make further discoveries in the areas of solar radiation and aerosols and their relationships to clouds. Through optimization of the operation of the SGP site during both routine and intensive operations, the SST can contribute to these goals. RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN THE SITE SCIENTIST TEAM The Site Scientist, Peter Lamb, oversees the SST and contributes to the discussion and resolution of higher-level issues within ARM. His interactions involve the development of both short-term responses to ongoing problems and longer-range planning to accomplish the ARM Program's overall scientific objectives. He does this by participation in the ARM Science Team Executive Committee, selected meetings and teleconferences, and by acting as a liaison for ARM to other federal and state agencies concerning the broader scientific and funding potential of the SGP site. The Associate Site Scientist, Randy Peppler, is the SST's primary daily contact point to the ARM Program at large. He oversees the tasks of the Assistant Site Scientists and helps coordinate scientific issues facing the site with others in the ARM Program. He has primary contact with the Site Program Manager and Site Operations Manager, and has become a part of the daily decision-making process at the site. He is also the SST's chief contact to the Science Team, Instrument Team, and Data and Science Integration Team (DSIT). With the Site Program Manager, Site Operations Manager, and ARM Technical Director, he is key part of the process to plan, develop, and operate IOPs. The Assistant Site Scientists (Mike Splitt and Chad Bahrmann) play the vital role for the SGP site of data quality analysts. They are the focal points for the development of algorithms to perform data quality analyses and for disseminating the results of those analyses, with the goal of determining known (instruments are working to expectations) and reasonable (measurements are the best possible for a given geophysical parameter) quality, for all ARM data streams. They also interface with other portions of the ARM Program that deal with data quality (particularly the Instrument Team and DSIT) and are part of a broad ARM initiative to build a data user interface that will communicate ARM data quality to anyone wishing to use the data. The senior Assistant Site Scientist (Mike Splitt) also helps plan and implement IOPs and participates in decision-making discussion on science issues facing the site. The junior Assistant Site Scientist (Chad Bahrmann) works daily at the SGP Central Facility, and represents the ARM Program's on-site scientific presence. He assists the Site Operations Manager on a daily basis to smoothly run the SGP site. He also acts as the site's local good-will ambassador, representing ARM to the local community. The SST Research Team (Peter Lamb, Yefim Kogan, Zena Kogan, Mikhail Ovtchinnikov, Scott Richardson, Claude Duchon, and Mike Splitt) conducts research inquiries on scientific and measurement issues facing the SGP site. This research is subject to approval by the ARM Program and is based on the stated goals and perceived needs within the program, and is based on the expertise of the participating scientists. The areas of particular interest during the next three years include cloud microphysics, measurement of the atmospheric state (particularly water vapor), soil moisture, radar meteorology, and solar radiation. The SST Educational Outreach Team (Ken Crawford, Renee McPherson, and Andrea Melvin) directs the ARM SGP thrust pertaining to the U.S. Department of Energy's educational outreach priorities. This program is designed to interest pre-college and undergraduate and graduate students in scientific and technical disciplines, and to provide easy access to ARM data and coordinated pedagogically sound lessons. Over the next three years, this team will promote ARM outreach beyond Oklahoma and Kansas to the national educational community. The SST has at its disposal a Site Advisory Committee (SAC), which provides scientific guidance for the SST program. The seven-member committee is made up of prominent scientists from both within and outside of ARM, with each member having a term of three years. The SAC is an advisory committee whose charter is to evaluate the SGP CART site scientific mission, provide scientific mission guidance for site operations, evaluate the research program of the SST, evaluate the potential for collaboration with other research programs, and provide recommendations for the SST's educational outreach program. Past SAC meetings have been held in 1995 and 1996 (reports are available upon request). The SST values the input of the SAC and has acted upon past SAC suggestions when feasible, and will continue to do so. PRIORITIES DURING THIS THREE YEAR PERIOD (1998-2000) Priorities for scientific operation of the SGP CART site during the next three years include the following:
SPECIFIC TASKS NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE SITE SCIENTIST TEAM PRIORITIES The work the SST plans to do during the next three years is detailed below. It is organized by the tasks outlined by the ARM Program for the SST. 1. Provide On-Site Scientific Guidance for Day-to-Day Operational Decisions Affecting ARM's Research Programs This task requires the SST to maintain regular, if not daily, contact with the Site Program Manager, Site Operations staff, the Instrument Team, the Data and Science Integration Team, the ARM Science Team, and other key ARM infrastructure personnel. Decisions affecting any aspect of the operation of the SGP CART site must be made with the best, long-term scientific interests of the ARM science goals in mind. The SST, being the neutral liaison, is in the best position to collect and assimilate information regarding site issues, with the ultimate goal of resolving them. Issues may involve relatively simple ones such as whether a concrete access walk should be poured to make observation-taking easier for a site technician, or complex ones such as deciding whether or not a fielded instrument is meeting the scientific needs of the ARM Program. The SST should be in a leadership position relative to high-level issues such as whether or not the site's current instrumentation and operation are meeting the needs of the ARM Science Team. Good communication with the ARM groups listed above, and scientific insight, are among the attributes the SST must possess for successfully completing this task. Few if any decisions within the ARM Program can be made in isolation, so thorough fact-finding is essential. The communication is carried out in a number of ways, both formal and informal. The weekly Site Scientist Coordination teleconference brings together the SST, Site Program Manager, key Site Operations staff, Instrument Team leader, DSIT leader, SDS leader, Scientific Applications Group coordinator, and ARM's Science and Technical Directors, to discuss the past week's activities and key issues, to begin the decision-making process, and to plan ahead. Site operations, development, data system activity, and data quality are discussed, along with other pressing issues. Coordination of IOP planning is an important function of these teleconferences as well. A number of action items usually result from these meetings. The SST also helps lead e-mail and web-based discussions on key issues affecting the SGP site. These may range from gathering the thoughts of a Science Team member and an Instrument Mentor regarding proper vegetation heights at and near an EBBR for the purpose of creating a meaningful vegetation trimming strategy for site technicians, to leading a broad discussion with Science Team members about upcoming IOPs and whether the instrumentation and operation of the site are meeting their needs. The distributed nature of ARM Program personnel forces focused use of such electronic media, and they have become essential for the success of the program. The Associate Site Scientist maintains daily contact with the Site Program Manager, covering a myriad of issues from site operations to site development to data quality. He is part of the formal Baseline Change Request review process, which ensures that every substantial change proposed to a portion of the SGP instrument or data system is properly reviewed, documented, and assessed as to its scientific merit and necessity before a decision is rendered. The SST also maintains close contact with the Instrument Team leader and the Instrument Mentors on all issues related to instrumentation. The Associate Site Scientist visits the Site Operations Manager on a routine basis to discuss issues affecting his daily operation and to inspect the operations of the site and the instrumentation. The presence of the new on-site Assistant Site Scientist, working daily at the SGP Central Facility, has increased the SST's ability to communicate with the Site Operations Manager and participate in the scientific operation of the site. This person works extremely closely with the Site Operations Manager and his staff on issues such as maintenance procedures, data collection, and site safety. The SST also participates in the periodic meetings and teleconferences of the DSIT, SDS, and Instrument Team, and the annual meetings of the Science Team and the various Scientific Applications Groups, in order to become better grounded on the issues facing ARM, and to better participate in the decision-making process. A growing responsibility of the SST has been in the planning and execution of IOPs and campaigns. The SST is in a prime position to coordinate these special periods and to ensure their scientific productivity. IOP planning begins months in advance, and involves collecting information to write IOP science and implementation plans, and assisting the Site Program Manager, Site Operations Manager, and SDS leader in making the site physically ready for IOP activities. The SST also participates during IOPs with an on-site presence, acting as a liaison between IOP scientists and Site Operations staff during the decision-making process, and providing weather forecast information or weather summaries. Finally, the Site Scientist plays a key role in interfacing between ARM and other national and state agencies concerning the broader scientific potential and usefulness of the SGP site. This type of interaction helped lead to the funding necessary to build and deploy the SWATS, in cooperation with the NOAA GCIP effort. This activity will be strongly pursued by the Site Scientist during the next three years. 2. Monitor, Analyze, and Document Data Quality and Provide Regular, Frequent Assessments of the Results Ensuring that all ARM data are of known (instruments are working to expectations) and reasonable (measurements are the best possible for a given geophysical parameter) quality is a key task of the SST. While Instrument Team members and selected DSIT staff analyze certain portions of SGP data stream, the SST is in the best position to comprehensively view the ARM data spectrum and make statements about its quality. The SST contributes to the determination of known and reasonable quality by (1) assessing data quality on the near real-time basis through graphical analyses and performance metrics to diagnose instrument performance and initiate timely maintenance, calibration, or replacement; (2) assessing data quality over the long-term through the computation and analysis of performance metrics and analysis of their trends; (3) reviewing existing calibration and maintenance procedures for ARM instruments and how they are implemented, (4) contributing to the development of formal quality measurement experiments (QMEs) designed to intercompare data streams and determine their scientific utility in the broader sense; and (5) contributing to the development and operation of a data quality interface to be used by anyone interesting in obtaining ARM data for their research. We also communicate what we learn about data quality via various reports and a web site. Each of these tasks helps us address the question of whether ARM's data are of known and reasonable quality. Assessing data quality in the near real-time is essential for diagnosing problems quickly and making sure they are rectified quickly. This task requires close coordination between the SST and both the Instrument Team and Site Operations. The SST integrates its data flagging activities with those of the Instrument Team as much as possible so as to avoid duplication of effort. The SST, with the ARM Data Quality Office, develops algorithms to perform data quality analyses and displays the results graphically in an automated fashion on the web: http://dq.arm.gov These analyses include graphical displays of like data streams at one site (e.g., various measurements of relative humidity made at the Central Facility) and individual data streams from many sites (e.g., EBBR measurements from the Extended Facilities). This web area also contains graphical and tabular displays of the performance metrics (the percentage of data passing min/max/delta checks, which may either be part of the data ingest or otherwise suggested by an Instrument Mentor). All of these analyses are presented on a daily and a running seven-day basis. They allow us to diagnose instrument performance (such as a shading mechanism over a radiometer needing realignment or a humidity sensor pegging out at high humidity values) on a near real-time basis, which allows for quicker response time relative to scheduling corrective maintenance. Weekly reports are issued to Site Operations and the affected Instrument Mentor about what the SST has seen through its own checks. If warranted, in coordination with the Instrument Mentor, a work order is issued to Site Operations to schedule a corrective maintenance action. The comparison of multiple sensors measuring the same geophysical parameter at one location (the concept behind the QME) is a crucial way for determining the reasonableness of data. In isolation, a particular instrument may be producing data that we think are of known quality. However, in comparison with other sensors that measure the same parameter, those data may look suspect and unreasonable. Thus, our multiple sensor checks are also used to assess long-term performance and whether or not particular instruments are producing data of reasonable quality. This type of data quality assessment recently led to the replacement of humidity sensors on the 60-meter tower. Viewing the long-term trends of the performance metrics allows the SST to assess their variability and trends over time, which is important for determining whether a calibration is drifting or if a sensor is gradually becoming ineffective. These kinds of statistics can be documented over the long-term to help gauge the "health" of instrumentation performance and data reasonableness. As of this writing, the SST has develop data quality algorithms and performance metrics for (including individual instrument, multi-instrument, and multi-site looks) SIRS, BRS, EBBR, MWR, SMOS, SWATS, MPL, AERI, and 915 and 50 RWP. In addition, the SST is speaking to Instrument Mentors for the AERI and ECOR on beginning to incorporate mentor-generated data quality information into the SST data quality assessment regime. We will continue to build analysis tools for as many instruments as possible over the next three years, and for more complicated instrument platforms such as the Raman lidar, Aerosol Observing System, and MMCR, we will coordinate our activities as much as possible with those of the Instrument Mentors. Reviewing existing calibration and maintenance procedures for SGP instruments, and how they are implemented, is a crucial task done in cooperation with Instrument Mentors and Site Operations staff. No matter how well data are collected and checked, they will be of poor quality if the instruments producing them were poorly calibrated or maintained. Thus, it is important to know if Site Operations staff is performing prescribed calibration and maintenance techniques correctly, or if those techniques are even the correct ones we should be using. Some changes to calibration and maintenance techniques have been implemented due to this review. Our on-site Assistant Site Scientist will be visiting remote sites to observe how Site Operations staff performs calibration checks and both corrective and preventative maintenance, and he will review the techniques themselves. Though the SST has its own multiple-instrument data quality checks, it continues to contribute to the establishment of the formal QMEs that help ARM determine the reasonableness of data. A number of QMEs have been suggested by the SST and implemented by the DSIT over the years, and this practice will continue. One of the Assistant Site Scientists also participates in the periodic Value Added Products (VAP) Working Group teleconferences. SST-developed QMEs that either have been implemented or are under consideration include:
The SST will continue to be part of a large initiative within ARM to develop a user-friendly data interface for those wishing to obtain ARM data. This interface will give a top-level assessment of data quality, and will generate explicit data flagging information for each element in data files actually selected for use. This development continues, with the SST and Instrument Team ultimately responsible for developing the algorithms and quicklooks necessary to generate both the top-level data quality assessments and the explicit data flagging. The SST will also help design the interface necessary to transmit its information on data quality into the larger ARM system. The SGP Site Program Manager is leading this effort. The SST also conducts focused research endeavors in support of any of the data quality initiatives listed above, to look more in depth at a particular problem. All of these activities should allow the SST to better perform its function as ARM's SGP data quality coordinator over the years to come. 3. Develop the Site Scientific Mission The Associate Site Scientist and the SGP Site Program Manager are responsible for compiling and writing the plan that embodies the ever-evolving site scientific mission. This document is produced every six months. It outlines short-term operational strategies for the SGP site, and anticipates longer-term challenges and opportunities. It lists site priorities, descriptions of planned IOPs and campaigns, and other significant events. It also provides a history of past events. It embodies the on-site guidance and data quality priorities and activities that the SST fulfills within Tasks 1 and 2. The plan also characterizes the scientific needs of the Science Team, as obtained through direct interaction with the Science Team members, attendance at various Science Application Group meetings, participation in Science Team Executive Team meetings, and guidance from other ARM functional groups such as the DSIT and Instrument Team. The plan reflects interactions the Site Scientist may have with other national, state, and international agencies, particularly ones focused on global climate change. These interactions allow the SST to continually update and refine its assessments of the SGP's operational strategies. Some of these interactions have led to the enrichment of the SGP's operational capabilities (such as the NOAA GCIP-funded SWATS). These interactions can also lead to the development and funding of bridging-type research to fill perceived gaps in the current effort. Finally, this document reflects the evolving concerns and priorities of ARM Management, including all relevant DOE and interagency considerations and logistical and financial constraints on operations. 4. Conduct an ARM-Approved Research Program Focused on the SGP Site Data and Designed to Further the Objectives of the ARM Program The SST is in a unique position to draw on the research expertise of the University of Oklahoma to perform research studies on focused subjects that have as their ultimate goal the improvement of the scientific capability and operation of the SGP site. This research program has made and will make increasing use of the growing observational capabilities of the SGP site. It should be focused squarely on SGP site measurements and ARM's scientific goals, and should provide feedback into site operations. This research should be seen as complementary to the efforts of ARM's formal Science Team, and may fill voids in that effort. It should also have relevance to other national programs when at all possible. The research strengths at the University of Oklahoma that have been and will be brought to bear for ARM are in the areas of cloud microphysics, measurement of the atmospheric state (particularly water vapor), measurement of soil moisture, radar meteorology, and solar radiation. The research projects proposed in the three-year research plan (found in a separate document) reflect these strengths and indicate where these efforts dovetail into ARM goals and other endeavors. Every effort will be made to produce science worthy of being published in well-known, peer-reviewed journals. Current efforts should be of significant relevance for the measurement of cloud properties and water vapor at the SGP site. 5. Participate as a Full Member of the ARM Science Team The SST has and will continue to participate in all scientific exchanges that are relevant to the ARM Program. As stated previously, it is through these interactions, both formal and informal (oral presentations, written manuscripts, meeting participation, etc.), that the SST can increase its knowledge necessary to operate the SGP site in the best way possible. These exchanges include the formal ARM Science Team meeting and the more informal meetings of the various Science Applications groups (such as Instantaneous Radiative Flux and Single Column Model) and ARM infrastructure groups (such as the Instrument Team and DSIT). They also include invited participation in ARM reviews (such as those undertaken by the Washington Advisory Group and the JASONs) and the mandated participation in the Science Team Executive Team meetings. The SST will also represent ARM's interests at the meetings and conferences of other federal, state, and international agencies, such as the American Meteorological Society and the American Geophysical Union. 6. Direct an Educational Outreach Program Through the efforts of the Oklahoma Climatological Survey (OCS), the SST has administered an educational outreach program focusing on teachers and students in Oklahoma and Kansas. A full three-year strategic plan for this component of the SST program can be found in a separate document. This plan addresses all levels of education from pre-college through post-graduate opportunities. To date, the OCS has established a solid infrastructure for atmospheric science education, primarily at the pre-college level, with the support of the ARM Program. Environmental data, including those from the ARM site, are now available to educators who have web access: http://k12.ocs.ou.edu/ Unique display software has also been developed for the students' interactive use of the data. Reference materials and lessons are now online and in printed format. These aid the educator in the application of data in the classroom. "Master" teachers have also been educated to understand and use the data in their activities. These teachers represent a significant resource to provide workshop instruction to additional teachers. The primary goals during the next three years will be to expand the awareness and use of this infrastructure across not only southern Kansas and Oklahoma, but across the nation. National forums such as the American Association of Physics Teachers and the National Science Teachers Association, in particular, have been and will be utilized. Including more ARM data and displays will enhance our outreach web pages. We will continue to conduct workshops at local schools in Oklahoma and Kansas and at appropriate teachers' conventions, using our master teachers as instructors. In concert with Oklahoma's EPSCoR program, we will offer instruction to faculty at Oklahoma's two- and four-year colleges so that they can include our outreach materials in courses they offer to pre-service teachers. We will also produce newsletters, conduct science fairs, and give conference presentations that help publicize the availability of the data and materials to educators. We will continue to develop scientifically accurate reference materials and pedagogically sound lessons, placing them online and producing them in print. We will enhance our software to allow overlays of data from different networks, including those of ARM, the Oklahoma Mesonet, the National Weather Service, and the NIDS radar. During the next three years, it will be crucial to expand our program nationally, so that teachers and students across the country, in addition to those in Oklahoma and Kansas, can begin to use ARM's unique capabilities to enhance their atmospheric science education. |