Guidance

Submitting Proposals: Guideline Overview

Proposals are welcome from all members of the scientific community for conducting field campaigns using the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) User Facility. ARM provides operational and logistical resources to conduct field campaigns at ARM’s fixed-location atmospheric observatories or to deploy one of the ARM Mobile Facilities and/or ARM aerial capabilities.

ARM provides use of its resources for campaigns but does not provide research funding associated with the campaign. Principal investigators should demonstrate in their preliminary proposal that funding for research is secured already or that a research grant is being submitted.

Priority will be given to proposals that make comprehensive use of ARM facilities, focus on U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program strategic goals, support the DOE Office of Science and ARM missions, and address uncertainties in regional or global earth system models.

Proposals that coordinate with other BER community capabilities or that support the goals of the Global Energy and Water cycle Exchanges (GEWEX) project are encouraged.

Resources

Types of Proposals

ARM accepts proposals for the following types of campaigns:

Annual Facility Call Campaigns

Proposals for complex field campaigns at ARM’s fixed-location observatories, deployments of an ARM Mobile Facility, and/or deployments of ARM aerial capabilities are accepted and reviewed once per year. ARM is currently accepting preliminary proposals for ArcticShark uncrewed aerial system and tethered balloon system missions in fiscal year 2027.

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Small Campaigns

Proposals for deployment of guest instruments, instruments for offsite deployments, or special operations, such as enhanced radiosondes or special scanning strategies at a fixed site with cost to ARM, are accepted anytime* and reviewed on a monthly to semi-annual basis.

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*Note: Please give ample lead time for your campaign proposal submissions. The timing for submitting a proposal depends on the size and complexity of the proposal and the timing of the request relative to the review cycle. For example, a small (level 1) campaign may take approximately three to six months from submission to implementation depending on those factors. Use the proposal deadlines calendar to estimate when you should submit a proposal to begin a campaign by a particular date.