FACE FACILITY ENGINEERING AND OPERATIONS

EE-159-EEBA [KP1203020]

The Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) has established the Free-Air CO₂ Enrichment (FACE) Facility as a scientific user facility. This currently consists of four FACE experiments (Duke Forest, NC; Nevada Desert FACE experiment, Aspen FACE experiment in Rhinelander, WI, and the Oak Ridge FACE experiment. This Field Work Proposal (FWP) provides support for the FACE Facility in general and work at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) includes: 1) Support for current FACE operations -- BNL helps to re-establish FACE projects operating for annual growth seasons; monitors FACE operations at several BNL-designed FACE sites to quality-assure performance; provides continuing engineering and problem solving support for several FACE projects including FACE projects not part of the FACE Facility but that were designed by BNL and contribute to understanding effects of increased atmospheric CO₂; 2) FACE Engineering to develop and improve FACE facilities and FACE system performance with respect to efficient use and control of CO₂ concentrations in space and time, including support and upgrades of control systems for FACE facilities designed by BNL; 3) Continued development of the Research Platform concept for FACE facilities and development of data acquisition systems linked to the Internet; and, 4) FACE Program Coordination including Coordination of Facility operations among FACE sites, maintenance of a FACE collaboration and publications database, improvements to data access via the Internet and coordination with Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC). Development of the FACE web site will continue. The project contributes directly to the BER Terrestrial Carbon Processes program, the U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program.

FOREST-ATMOSPHERE CARBON TRANSFER AND STORAGE-I (FACTS-1) FACILITY OPERATIONS

EE-423-EEBA [KP1202020]

P.I.: George R. Hendrey

In the Duke Forest, North Carolina, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) has established the Forest-Atmosphere Carbon Transfer and Storage (FACTS-1) experiment. FACTS-1 utilizes Free-Air CO₂ Enrichment (FACE) technology developed by BNL and the experiment is run in collaboration with investigators at Duke University. FACTS-1 is one of four FACE experiments that currently make up the FACE User Facility of the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research (BER). This project is now operating the FACTS-1 facility. Research carried out by FACE facility users within this component of the FACE facility covers structure and function of the forest ecosystem under CO₂-enriched and ambient conditions at scales of integration ranging from sub-cellular to the forest ecosystem. Under the present Field Work Proposal (FWP), BNL operates the FACE user facility as a research platform configured to support research activities of FACE facility users in the core research group as well as others who may want to conduct research for more limited periods of time. BNL provides the engineering staff, purchases the carbon dioxide, and maintains the facility technical equipment. The FACTS-1 facility is the site for field-testing of the FACE Research Platform (FRP). This is a system that includes the FACTS-1 local area network (LAN) as a communications backbone and to which FACE and other instruments can be connected. Data flows from instruments at various locations around the facility to the central computer on site. An automated link transfers the data to the FACE Program server at BNL. Investigators needing access to these data can then download them via file transfer protocol (FTP). In addition to the three CO₂-enriched rings, three fully-instrumented control rings, and numerous non-instrumented control plots, BNL also operates the FACE Forest Prototype ring (FFP) for on-going experiments but funding for the FFP has here-to-fore been provided by non-DOE agencies. In FY 2005, the FFP will continue to be incorporated into the management and budgeting of the FACTS-1 site.

AMERIFLUX PROGRAM SUPPORT: EDDY-COVARIANCE FLUX TOWER AND TRACER TECHNOLOGY

EE-544-EEBA [KP1202020]

P.I.: George R. Hendrey

Net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of CO₂ is measured by the eddy-covariance technique. This is the principal tool of the AmeriFlux/FluxNet research programs that seek to quantify NEE over a spectrum of biodiverse ecosystems exhibiting large spatial and temporal variability. Such measurements do not currently account very well for the biodiversity within the landscape mosaic encompassed by a typical tower (footprint) from which NEE is measured. This project, a collaboration with other AmeriFLux investigators, uses perfluorocarbon tracers (PFT) to track turbulent air flow from areas within the footprint of a 30-meter-tall tower that is instrumented with an array of anemometers and PFT samplers. Concentrations of PFT and data from the suite of anemometers are used by AmeriFLux collaborators to improve and validate transport models operating over the scale of the footprint. The collaborative team develops information on spatial and temporal variability of potential sources and sinks within landscape mosaics. NEE associated with the location of discrete sources and sinks of CO₂, will be integrated into existing knowledge of carbon exchanged within the footprint domain. Temporal variability is a critical issue for the modeling effort and will be accounted for by 10-hz data from multiple sonic anemometers arrayed vertically from the ground level to twice the canopy height. This will allow the collaborating modellers to incorporate high-frequency wind profiles within and above the canopy on tower flux footprint analysis in a composite landscape, and to incorporate shrinking or expanding footprint domains with diurnal trends into the interpretation of NEE data. In this project, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) will provide multiple PFT to be released simultaneously in a series of experiments to help define source/sink relationships in both horizontal and vertical planes. BNL provides support that includes the tracer studies, tower erection and removal, instrument installation and operation, and installation of data acquisition networks. Over several years the tower may be moved among other AmeriFlux sites and new towers may be erected on new sites. Finally, BNL will provide an improved data acquisition and display system and will develop a fast data link to the Internet for collaborating AmeriFLux sites.

RETRIEVAL OF CLOUD PROPERTIES AND DIRECT TESTING OF CLOUD AND RADIATION PARAMETERIZATION USING ARM OBSERVATIONS

EE-580-EEBA [KP1201030]

P.I.: Mark A. Miller

One important impact of clouds on the climate system is the atmospheric heating rate profile. This profile quantifies how the clouds interact with incoming and outgoing radiation to heat or cool the atmospheric column. This heating and cooling subsequently feeds back upon the general circulation of the atmosphere. Therefore, any changes in the cloud structure associated with accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere may change the atmospheric heating rate profile and cause changes in the general circulation. The heating rate profile is modulated by the microphysical structure of the clouds and can be computed by retrieving this structure using Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) active remote sensing systems and using it as input to radiation codes, in particular, line-by-line radiation codes. One problem faced by the ARM community is that there is no metric for judging the accuracy of retrieval algorithms applied to remote sensor data, although these fields are required to compute the heating rate profile. To address these issues and to provide information about the heating rate profile to modelers, ARM has undertaken a broad band heating rate project. Because the heating rate must be continuous, an immediate need is for a microphysical retrieval scheme that operates continuously, and such a scheme has been developed here at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). These microphysical fields are then used to compute the downward fluxes of visible and infrared radiation, which can then be compared to observations of same made at the ARM Cloud and Radiation Test-bed (CART) sites. This initial, continuous, microphysical retrieval is, in essence, a baseline, due to its simplicity. More sophisticated, condition-dependent microphysical retrievals can be used when appropriate, so the combination of the baseline product and these higher level retrieval schemes presents an opportunity to judge which microphysical schemes are the best representations of nature. The object of this work is to create a skill-score procedure to determine which condition-dependent microphysical schemes are the most effective and should be used to calculate the atmospheric heating rate profile.

IN FIELD, CONTINUOUS, NON-INVASIVE SOIL CARBON SCANNING SYSTEM

EE-585-EEBA [AA3010000]

P.I.: Lucian Wielopolski

This project develops a robust, flexible, non-invasive, scanning system for monitoring and verifying temporal changes in soil carbon in situ over large areas. The objectives of this project are: (1) to design and construct a continuous Soil Carbon Scanning (SCS) system for field measurements, and (2) to characterize, calibrate and test the SCS system in a calibrated sand pit and in well characterized fields. The method is based on Inelastic Neutron Scattering (INS) of fast neutrons from the carbon nucleus and detection of the subsequently emitted 4.4 MeV gamma rays. Proof-of-principle has been demonstrated in double-blind studies at three different sites, where the results of an INS system compared favorably with chemical analysis of core samples taken from the same place. The results from feasibility studies suggested that the requirement to measure changes of 100 gC/m² could be met with a precision of about 5%. The proposed system will be towed in the field at normal speeds of 3 to 5 mph. Since the events of inducing carbon gamma radiation are very fast, below a microsecond, at these scanning speeds the soil is virtually stationary and is being analyzed continuously, resulting in a measurement of the true carbon mean value over the measured area. In the future, system performance can be improved by using tagged neutrons from a system that is being developed. The scanning times of large fields will depend on the final footprint that is covered by a single pass of the system. The anticipated benefit from such a system is its capability to monitor belowground carbon balances without disturbing the soil. Furthermore, the system enables continuous scanning of large areas, thus providing a true mean carbon concentration in soil. The proposed system enables for the first time repetitive measurement of the same site, resulting in sequential monitoring of large areas. Collaboration with soil scientists from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Center (ARC), as recommended by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) staff, will be established for final system testing using their well characterized fields. This novel system for stationary measurements was initially funded by the Carbon Sequestration Research Program in the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science.

ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION MEASUREMENT MOBILE FACILITY SCIENTIST

EE-586-EEBA [KP1201030]

P.I.: Mark A. Miller

The original experiment design of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) User Facility included five permanent sites and an ARM Mobile Facility (AMF) to be deployed episodically for periods on the order of one year. The AMF is being constructed during the first half of FY 2004 and will be deployed initially in the summer of 2004, although some of the long lead time instruments will be integrated at a later time. The AMF management plan includes an AMF Scientist whose duties include organizing scientific stakeholders and developing science plans for each deployment, tailoring the sampling strategy of the AMF instruments to accommodate the scientific needs of the deployment, analyzing data, producing scientific products, interfacing with the ARM science team, interfacing with the ARM Climate User Facility Board, and with the broader scientific community. A schedule for AMF Scientist activities during FY 2004 is enumerated in this proposal, along with a description of some of the products that will be produced for each deployment. While the exact nature of the products that will be produced for a specific deployment will be stipulated by the science plan, it is anticipated that some ARM Value-Added Procedures (VAPs) will be used for almost all deployments. Accordingly, the proposed work includes specific modifications to important ARM VAPs so that they can be applied to AMF data. It also includes initial development of an AMF web page, along with other tools that will be associated with AMF Scientist activities.

AEROSOL AND CLOUD-FIELD RADIATIVE EFFECTS IN THE TROPICAL WESTERN PACIFIC: ANALYSES AND GENERAL CIRCULATION MODEL PARAMETERIZATIONS

EE-587-EEBA [KP1201030]

P.I.: Andrew Vogelman

This proposed research will use Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) observations from the Tropical Western Pacific (TWP) sites, blended with correlative satellite and field data, to improve the understanding of how aerosols and clouds in the tropics interact with radiation, and to improve their representation in general circulation models (GCMs). This program builds on expertise and unique algorithms that the Principal Investigator has already developed for processing and analyzing ARM observations and related satellite data. These objectives are addressed through three research thrusts:

Thrust 1: The Role of Aerosols on the TWP Radiative Energy Budget: The effects of the seasonal biomass burning aerosols on the radiative balance in the region will be determined, as well as the potential effects of their absence in GCM simulations.
Thrust 2: Three-Dimensional (3D) Reconstruction of Regional-Scale Cloud Fields and Fluxes: Existing algorithms will be used to integrate ARM surface observations with satellite data to reconstruct realistic 3D cloud fields on a regional-scale and their radiative fluxes.
Thrust 3: Understanding and Parameterizing Subgrid-Scale Variations of Cloud Radiative Heating and Forcing: The subgrid scale variability and interrelationships of cloud properties and radiative fluxes will be determined, in order to develop improved methods for their representations in GCMs. These thrusts clearly address ARM's central objective of improving the radiative transfer within climate models, and they even address several of the specific interest areas given in the call for proposals.

A STUDY OF ARCTIC CLOUD AND AEROSOL USING AERI DATA: RADIATIVE PROPERTIES, THERMODYNAMIC PHASE, AND A SEARCH FOR THE INDIRECT AEROSOL EFFECT

EE-588-EEBA [KP1201030]

P.I.: Andrew Vogelmann

In support of Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program objectives, the Principal Investigators propose a program designed to investigate aspects of aerosol and cloud properties that are necessary to understand the Arctic surface radiative energy balance. This will be accomplished by three research thrusts:

1) Develop a cloud retrieval algorithm that provides the essential cloud properties needed to investigate cloud behavior in the Arctic. The retrieved properties will include cloud thermodynamic phase (ice, mixed phase, liquid water), their effective radii, and the partitioning of optical depth between the ice and liquid phases for the mixed phase cases. The spectral information contained in both Extended Range Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI) channels will enable these retrievals with constraints from other ARM measurements. The objective is to generate an algorithm that can be used by the ARM infrastructure to produce a Value-Added Product (VAP) of the retrieved quantities.

2) Use the high daily volume of satellite imagery available in the Arctic, along with European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) simulations, to evaluate the significance of the single-point ARM cloud property retrievals in the context of atmospheric dynamics, including polar lows, advection of moisture, and quiescent atmospheric states when cloud formation is driven by local thermodynamics.

Both of these thrusts are necessary preliminaries to the scientific objective it is hoped to achieve in the third thrust:

3) Examine the aerosol direct (longwave and shortwave) radiative effect in the Arctic, and search for the indirect radiative effect using our microphysical retrievals, a variety of aerosol information, and satellite data.

BNL researchers will maintain a willingness to collaborate with other groups working on similar retrievals with a variety of methods, and also similar research tasks, through individual group interactions, and participation with the ARM Working Groups.

APPLICATIONS OF NON-INVASIVE SOIL CARBON MEASUREMENT

EE-589-EEBA [KP1202020]

P.I.: Lucian Wielopolski

This project will quantify carbon content of soils using Inelastic Neutron Scattering (INS), a technique developed for the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Basic Energy Research (BER) by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and verified in double blind studies with external laboratories. INS is a non-invasive, non-destructive, robust, and practical method for monitoring and verifying temporal changes in soil carbon in situ. The objectives of this project are: 1) to implement the INS method to monitor and model the temporal variations of carbon stores in the soil at the Free Air CO₂ Enrichment (FACE) facilities and other sites, and 2) to provide an independent verification of the AmeriFlux estimates of soil carbon content. "Registration plots" will be counted to the desired precision by extending the counting time, revisited over time to provide sequential measurements. The sampled soil volume is about 0.06 cubic meters. Initial calibration of the INS system yielded very good agreement with chemical analysis of core samples from the same site. The results also suggest that small changes of 100 gC/m² can be measured with precision of about 5% or better depending on the counting time. Two important goals of this project are: (1) to establish the INS system as a standard tool for soil carbon determination that can also be used for validation of other methods of carbon sequestration, and (2) to derive a model for carbon dynamics in soil, i.e., residence time, based on direct sequential measurements of carbon in soil. Since this procedure is based on different parameters currently in use, modelling it may provide independent confirmation of present estimates of carbon dynamics. The proposed analysis is based on data derived from sampling large areas and from sequential measurements at the same site. The work will be carried out in collaboration with plant physiologists from National Soil Dynamics Laboratory (NSDL), where calibrations will be performed, and with soil geochemists in the Duke Forest, North Carolina, FACE experiment, as well as with scientists involved with the AmeriFlux project. The INS technique for quantitative measurement of carbon changes was initially funded in response to LAB 00-09, Carbon Sequestration Research Program.

ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION MEASUREMENT PROGRAM ASSOCIATE CHIEF SCIENTIST

EE-606-EEBA [KP1201030]

P.I.: Mark A. Miller

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program management structure includes a Chief Scientist, whose duties include guiding the scientific strategy of the program, developing science plans for ARM activities, interfacing with scientific groups and agencies related to ARM, organizing the scientific content of the ARM Science Team Meeting, and serving on internal committees. The ARM Chief Scientist has an Associate Chief Scientist who serves as the ARM Chief Scientist during periods when the Chief Scientist is unavailable. The responsibilities of the Associate Chief Scientist are similar to those of the Chief Scientist, although major strategic scientific decisions will be made in collaboration with the Chief Scientist. This Field Work Proposal describes the duties and responsibilities of the Associate Chief Scientist. It is anticipated that the Associate Chief Scientist will serve for continuous periods of up to three months, although interim activities may be required at all times during the year. The Associate Chief Scientist is responsible for coordinating and interfacing with various ARM Science Working Groups, attending working group meetings, and summarizing working group activities for the Chief Scientist. As a surrogate for the Chief Scientist for specified periods, the Associate Chief Scientist is responsible for interfacing with DOE representatives in the Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER) and providing input relative to the ARM Program. In addition to managerial duties, the ARM Associate Chief Scientist will actively conduct and publish ARM-related research.

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