Note (July 26, 2024): We are working on a news update on the operational status of the Bankhead National Forest observatory, and we will be updating this page with some more current information in the next week. The instrumentation plan has been updated as of July 26, 2024.
Guidance for proposing field research at this observatory is available. Read Appendix E of the ARM Field Campaign Guidelines, starting on Page 27. Guest instruments will not be supportable at this observatory until November 2024.
The Bankhead National Forest (BNF) atmospheric observatory is a long-term mobile observatory being established by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility in northwestern Alabama. The BNF is currently expected to be operational for five years, starting in 2024.
Scientists will use data from the BNF to learn about clouds, aerosols, and land-atmosphere interactions, which in turn will lead to improvements in models of the Earth’s climate.