Investigators proposing for either call are asked to propose no more than three missions, and requests for multiple missions should be well justified.
For each mission, 14 flight days are expected. (Note: Because BNF flights are only anticipated to be permitted from Wednesday night to Monday morning, ARM expects BNF flight missions to take place over three weeks.)
The balloon must remain in clear air and below the base of nearby clouds. TBS flights are generally restricted to a maximum altitude limit of 1.5 kilometers above ground level, and an individual flight typically lasts from a few hours to approximately eight hours with varying flight styles.
Please be aware that all TBS missions are contingent upon approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). ARM is seeking permission from the FAA for FY2026 operations at the SGP and BNF sites and for the DUSTIEAIM campaign and will revisit the feasibility of operations at these locations at the full proposal stage. Daytime and nighttime operations may be proposed for the SGP, BNF, and DUSTIEAIM.
Proposals for new TBS missions in FY2026 should provide details regarding mission expectations, including:
- needed instrumentation
- the flight location (SGP, BNF, or DUSTIEAIM)
- desired season or seasons
- desired time of day
- desired altitude
- the number and duration of flights required
- desired meteorological conditions during the flight
- whether fixed-altitude flights or profiles would be more appropriate for the applicant’s science goals, and where these factors are important for achieving their science goals.
Proposals for flights of non-baseline ARM instruments or guest instruments (including those listed on the TBS baseline instrument web page) will also be considered but will need to be reviewed in consideration of payload constraints.
