Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility US Department of Energy
 
 

Cloud And Precipitation Experiment at kennaook

15 April 2024 - 15 September 2025

Lead Scientist: Gerald Mace

Observatory: amf, kcg

Please note: kennaook is lowercased in the campaign's full name, and the k is lowercased in the acronym to honor aboriginal practices. 

The Kennaook/Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station (KCGBAPS) on the northwestern tip of Tasmania, Australia (40.68oS, 144.69oE) is a Global Atmospheric Watch Station that has collected the longest and most consequential record of atmospheric composition in the Southern Hemisphere, now spanning more than four decades. The air masses that pass over KCGBAPS frequently originate from the high-latitude Southern Ocean and are essentially devoid of anthropogenic or even continental influence. The Cloud And Precipitation Experiment at kennaook (CAPE-k) will augment the ongoing measurements at KCGBAPS with components of the second ARM Mobile Facility (AMF2) and will provide cloud and precipitation observations from a suite of ground-based remote sensors from mid-April 2024 through September 2025. CAPE-k is motivated by ongoing challenges in simulating clouds and precipitation over the Southern Ocean (SO), a region where there are strong and highly uncertain latitudinal gradients in cloud radiative effects and cloud feedbacks.

Primary science objectives of CAPE-k are to:

1. Document the seasonal cycle of SO low-cloud and precipitation properties and examine how they co-vary with aerosol and with dynamical and thermodynamical factors.

2. Compare and contrast these relationships with observations from other surface sites and campaigns, including other ARM sites and ARM-supported campaigns.

3. Study aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions in pristine marine low clouds and explore how these interactions can best be represented in models at various scales.

Pursuit of these objectives will be facilitated by the deployment of AMF2 aerosol and cloud instruments to the KCGBAPS site, which will include vertically pointing millimeter-wavelength cloud radar, lidar, and passive radiometry. Exploiting a long-established collaboration between ARM, ARM scientists, and our valued Australian colleagues, CAPE-k will allow for creation of an unprecedented record of aerosol-cloud-precipitation interaction in the maritime Southern Hemisphere midlatitudes.

Co-Investigators

Yi Huang Po-Lun Ma Christina McCluskey
Ruhi Humphries Roger Marchand Alain Protat
Melita Keywood Peter May Steven Siems

Timeline

  • Child Campaign

KCG Data Sources

Name Full Name Browse Data
ACSM Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor Browse Data
AERI Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer Browse Data
AERINF AERI Noise Filtered Browse Data
AOSMET Meteorological Measurements associated with the Aerosol Observing System Browse Data
APS Aerodynamic Particle Sizer Browse Data
ASI All Sky Imager Browse Data
CAMINST camera that monitors an instrument Browse Data
CAMSITE camera that monitors a site area Browse Data
CCN Cloud Condensation Nuclei Particle Counter Browse Data
CEIL Ceilometer Browse Data
CEILPBLHT Boundary-layer height data with CEIL Browse Data
CPRECIPRADAR C-Band Precipitation Radar Browse Data
CSPHOT Sunphotometer Browse Data
DL Doppler Lidar Browse Data
DLPROF-WIND Doppler Lidar Horizontal Wind Profiles Browse Data
DLPROF-WSTATS Doppler Lidar Wind Statistics Profiles Browse Data
ECOR Eddy Correlation Flux Measurement System Browse Data
INTERPSONDE Interpolated Sonde Browse Data
IRT Infrared Thermometer Browse Data
KAZR Ka ARM Zenith Radar Browse Data
KAZRARSCL Active Remote Sensing of CLouds (ARSCL) product using Ka-band ARM Zenith Radars Browse Data
KAZRCFRCOR Ka-Band ARM Zenith RADAR (KAZR) CF-Radial, Corrected VAP Browse Data
LDIS Laser Disdrometer Browse Data
LDQUANTS Laser Disdrometer Quantities Browse Data
MAWS Automatic Weather Station Browse Data
MET Surface Meteorological Instrumentation Browse Data
MFR Multifilter Radiometer Browse Data
MFRSR Multifilter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer Browse Data
MONITORINST sensors for providing instrument system monitoring Browse Data
MPL Micropulse Lidar Browse Data
MPLCMASKML Micropulse Lidar Cloud Mask Machine Learning VAP Browse Data
MWACR Marine W-Band (95 GHz) ARM Cloud Radar Browse Data
MWR Microwave Radiometer Browse Data
MWR3C Microwave Radiometer, 3 Channel Browse Data
OPC Optical Particle Counter Browse Data
PBLHT Planetary Boundary Layer Height Browse Data
RWP Radar Wind Profiler Browse Data
SEBS Surface Energy Balance System Browse Data
SIRS Solar and Infrared Radiation Station for Downwelling and Upwelling Radiation Browse Data
SKYRAD Sky Radiometers on Stand for Downwelling Radiation Browse Data
SONDE Balloon-Borne Sounding System Browse Data
SONDEGRID Gridded Sonde VAP Product Browse Data
SP2 Single Particle Soot Photometer Browse Data
TROPOE Tropospheric Optimal Estimation Retrieval Browse Data
UHSAS Ultra-High Sensitivity Aerosol Spectrometer Browse Data
VDIS Video Disdrometer Browse Data
VDISQUANTS Video Disdrometer VAP Browse Data
VISST Minnis Cloud Products Using Visst Algorithm Browse Data
WB Weighing Bucket Precipitation Gauge Browse Data