NOAA Summit Clean Air Program

For this NOAA program, on-site science technicians maintain a suite of year-round measurements on behalf of NOAA researchers. These measurements began in the mid 1990s and are ongoing (part of GEOSummit since 2003). NOAA representatives visit Summit Station annually to install / maintain instruments, train science technicians, and conduct measurements. Starting in 2005, NOAA began staffing science technician rotations as Summit Station during the winter phases. Beginning in 2008 NOAA increased staffing to be year-round. Monitoring projects on site include: carbon cycle gas sampling flasks, black carbon measurement, halocarbons and trace species flask sampling, meteorology suite, stratospheric ozonesondes, aerosol measurements, surface ozone measurements, and an in-situ gas chromatograph for greenhouse gas measurements. NOAA will continue to collaborate with Georgia Tech on activities related to the aerosol instrument suite that was previously installed and maintained by the Bergin project (NSF grant #1023227).

NOAA program highlights at Summit Station over the last few years include: - During summer 2007 a four channel gas chromatograph was added to the suite of NOAA instruments. - During summer 2008, in addition to ongoing work, researchers extended the ozonesonde experiment by launching about 20 additional balloons in April and again in July for an intensive field campaign. - In February 2009, a NOAA staff member flew to Summit Station via the Twin Otter on a crew turnover flight to repair an instrument, departing the station on the return flight approximately one week later. - During August 2009, the NOAA field coordinator attended an on-site planning meeting. - In 2010, in addition to ongoing measurements, CPS staff relocated the Temporary Atmospheric Watch Observatory (TAWO) and instrument tower (where the NOAA instruments are mounted) to approximately 1 km south of Summit Station. - During 2011 and 2012 the NOAA field coordinator made a routine visit to Summit Station for instrument maintenance. - During 2013 the TAWO building was lifted and the TAWO tower was extended. The on-site science technicians coordinated with the Boulder-based NOAA team to support the instrumentation during the transition. - Also during 2013, the NOAA ESRL GMD deputy director traveled to Summit Station in late June for a site visit.

During 2014, one NOAA researcher will travel to Summit in June for maintenance and upgrade activities. NOAA will continue to hire and deploy science technicians for all the three staffing phases.

During 2015, three researchers will travel to Summit in June, July, and August for maintenance and upgrade activities. These include upgrading the meteorological sensor suite, assisting with the science impacts from the TAWO facility raise project, and performing a quality control visit to evaluate the setup of the aerosol measuring suite of instrumentation.

In 2016, NOAA researchers will travel to Summit to relocate the meteorological suite of instruments from the TAWO tower to the 50m tower, install broadband solar radiometers to inter-compare with existing solar measurements from Summit station, reinstall instrument inlets on the TAWO inlet mast, and potentially reconfigure the TAWO interior layout of instruments to optimize the available footprint. Additionally, NOAA is planning to modify the CATS GC to eliminate methane containing P5 carrier gas to directly address concerns about elevated methane levels within the facility.

In 2017 a field team of two will demobilize a portion of the NOAA project activities including the ozonesonde system and materials, the CATS GC, and the solar radiation suite (contingent on the timing of calibrated radiometers being returned by the Steffen/NASAAWS project). The field team will also recover components of the meteorological suite from the failed 50m tower and re-install met instruments on the TAWO tower which was relocated 80m south TAWO during June 2017. The science technician position provided via inter-agency transfer will be ended on or about 28 August 2017.

In 2018 no personnel will travel to Summit under the grant but the instruments continue to run.

One NOAA representative will travel to Summit in 2019. Efforts during the visit will include diagnostic work on the sonic anemometer, general maintenance of the instrumentation suite, and inspection of modifications to the meteorology tower and TAWO instrument space. They will also transfer the meteorology system to the new network access point at the Meteorology Tower.

In 2020 and 2021, no science team travel will occur. Ongoing NOAA science measurements will continue at Summit Station. Science technicians will perform routine monitoring, maintenance, calibration, and sampling, as well as provide on-call support when issues arise. In addition, the science technicians will perform the annual lift of NOAA meteorology equipment on the Met Tower to compensate for snow accumulation. Also in 2021, the team will send an additional water-based condensation particle counter to Summit Station to be installed at TAWO by Battelle ARO science technicians and will operate for one year.

In 2022, one science team member will visit Summit Station for installation of a new inlet for aerosol measurements, routine maintenance of the HATS and CCGG flask samplers, and routine maintenance of the meteorology instrumentation.

*Note: The previous PI was James Butler, with his retirement Ariel Stein took over as PI in early 2022.

Battelle ARO will provide COVID-19 mitigation support (quarantine guidance and testing), Air National Guard coordination for passengers and cargo, Greenland departure fees, Summit Station user days, Kangerlussuaq lodging, and field equipment. Battelle ARO will provide access to facility space in the AWO, SMG, and Met Tower, power and network infrastructure, limited off-season storage, and year-round science technician support. The PIs will organize and pay for all other logistics through the grant.