INTEGRATED

Introduction: ARM's largest intensive operational period (IOP) to date was conducted from September 15-October 5, 1997, at and near the Southern Great Plains Cloud and Radiation Testbed (SGP CART) Central Facility. The Integrated IOP consisted of six separate but interrelated experimental efforts, including water vapor, clouds, aerosols, shortwave radiation, the Unmanned Aerospace Vehicle (UAV), and Single Column Model (SCM). This paper briefly describes IOP operations and the scientific issues investigated.

Operations: The IOP was conducted from three bases of operation. The SGP Central Facility housed ground-based instrumentation and most computer operations. The Blackwell-Tonkawa Airport was the headquarters for UAV operations and housed the Altus UAV. The Ponca City Airport was the base for operations of the Battelle Gulfstream-1, University of North Dakota Citation, University of Wyoming King Air, and the UAV Twin Otter aircraft was hangered there. The Ponca City Airport was the location of the IOP's weather briefing operations. At the Central Facility, around 40 guest instruments were positioned to participate in the various IOPs, and on some days, as many as 75 scientists and engineers were on hand. UAV operations saw attendance of 40-50 people during some pre-flight and coordination meetings. Weather briefings at the Ponca City Airport were sometimes attended by as many as 15-20 participants.

Coordination meetings, including the weather briefings were held every day during the IOP at 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. Central time. The 7 a.m. meetings were held at the Ponca City Airport, while most of the 1 p.m. meetings were held via phone and video conference, with participants distributed at the three bases of operation. The Water Vapor IOP additionally held scientific meetings each day at the Central Facility at 2 p.m., while the Shortwave IOP held meetings most days at the same location at 4 or 5 p.m. The Cloud IOP held a large coordination meeting at the Ponca City Airport at the beginning of the IOP on September 15. UAV pre-flight and scientific coordination meetings were held at the Blackwell/Tonkawa Airport at various times, as required.

Jay Mace, of the University of Utah, presided as the scientific coordinator of the integrated effort, and was also the chief scientist for the Cloud IOP. Other IOP chief scientists included Hank Revercomb of the University of Wisconsin (Water Vapor), Pete Daum of Brookhaven National Laboratory (Aerosol), Bob Ellingson of the University of Maryland (UAV), Warren Wiscombe of NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and Graeme Stephens of Colorado State University (Shortwave Radiation), and Dave Randall of Colorado State University (SCM). Mike Splitt of the SGP Site Scientist Team was in charge of daily weather forecasting and briefings. Randy Peppler, also of the Site Scientist Team, was in charge of general logistical coordination during the IOP and prepared daily web updates. Pete Daum also coordinated non-UAV aircraft activity for the IOP and coordinated those flight plans with those of the UAV operations. Jim Teske, the SGP Site Operations Manager, coordinated ground logistics. Site Data System staff handled all computer, network, and data storage/display logistics at the Central Facility and Ponca City Airport. Doug Sisterson, SGP Site Program Manager, and Ted Cress, ARM Technical Director, provided IOP oversight. Ted Cress coordinated flight information before the IOP with Vance Air Force Base and the FAA.

Activity Summary

Timeline