ARM remains vigilant in monitoring COVID-19 cases as operations continue at its atmospheric observatories. Most sites remain closed to visitors, though the Southern Great Plains observatory will consider visit requests on a case-by-case basis. ARM is also conducting some limited travel under specially approved circumstances, such as instrument repairs and visits to sites under consideration for future instrument deployments.
Planning has continued for upcoming field campaigns, including the TRacking Aerosol Convection interactions ExpeRiment (TRACER) in the Houston, Texas, area. DOE ARM Program Manager Sally McFarlane shares the following update on TRACER:
I have decided to delay the start of the TRACER campaign and the ARM Mobile Facility (AMF) deployment until this fall due to safety concerns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and the number of ARM staff from multiple institutions required to travel and work closely together in Houston during the AMF installation. A June 1 start date would require the AMF to be packed up for shipping this week and ARM staff to begin travel in the next few weeks to prepare for the campaign. While vaccines are starting to be distributed, they are not yet widely available and are unlikely to be so in the very near term. Similarly, while cases and hospitalizations around the country and in the Houston area have been starting to drop from their peaks, they are still at very high levels.
I apologize for the uncertainty around the campaign dates over the past few weeks—it was a difficult decision to delay the campaign, and we needed to gather additional information. While many TRACER participants had already decided to move their activities to summer 2022, I recognize that some investigators were still hoping to conduct their field activities in 2021, and I am sorry for the disruption in your plans.
ASR-funded participants are encouraged to contact the ASR program managers, Shaima Nasiri and Jeff Stehr, about their planned activities and impacts on their projects if they have not done so already. We also recognize that the decision to delay the campaign may impact some of the planned interagency activities and partnerships. DOE will work with other agencies to determine a path forward.
The new (tentative) dates for the TRACER campaign are October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022, for the AMF with an intensive observing period (IOP) from June 1, 2022, to September 30, 2022.
Thank you to all TRACER participants for your patience and understanding.
Sally McFarlane
ARM Program Manager
Sally.McFarlane@science.doe.gov
ARM will continue to share information with you as conditions change, but please contact ARM if you have questions about the status of the facility.