ARM to Launch Lidar Intercomparison at Southern Great Plains Observatory

Published: 21 November 2025

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) User Facility is preparing to host a lidar intercomparison campaign at its Southern Great Plains atmospheric observatory in Oklahoma. This effort aims to evaluate and benchmark the performance of different ARM lidars under a range of atmospheric conditions. ARM welcomes participation from principal investigators interested in contributing guest instruments to this intercomparison.

Across its fixed-location and mobile facilities, ARM operates a wide variety of lidars, including ceilometers, micropulse lidars, Doppler lidars, Raman lidars, and high-spectral-resolution lidars. The intercomparison will also feature new systems, such as a polarization-enabled ceilometer and an ultra-high-definition mini micropulse lidar.

Photos of the remote sensing row and Guest Instrument Facility (GIF) at ARM's Southern Great Plains Central Facility overlay an aerial image of the remote sensing row and GIF. Labels indicate the locations of each radar and lidar within the remote sensing row and GIF. There is a distance of about 85 meters between the GIF and the farthest instruments from it in the remote sensing row. — The bottom image captures an aerial view of lidars, radars, and the Guest Instrument Facility at ARM’s Southern Great Plains Central Facility (shown in the photo across the top). The lidars include two Doppler lidars (DLs), a micropulse lidar (MPL) and mini MPL, ceilometer (CEIL), polarization-enabled ceilometer (CL-61), Raman lidar (RL), and new high-spectral-resolution lidar (HSRL) container. The lidars are located near a radar wind profiler (RWP), Ka-Band ARM Zenith Radar (KAZR), and scanning ARM cloud radar (SACR). A possible second HSRL location is noted at the Guest Instrument Facility (top right photo). Images are courtesy of Mark Spychala, Argonne National Laboratory.

With this growing and evolving inventory of lidar technologies, ARM’s goal is to ensure that its network of instruments remains robust, well-characterized, and scalable to support a broad range of existing and emerging atmospheric science needs. Scheduled to start in December 2025, depending on instrument delivery and weather conditions, the intercomparison will focus on assessing measurement consistency, calibration stability, and operational performance across systems to inform ARM’s lidar strategy.

Scientists and organizations with lidar or complementary atmospheric sensing systems are encouraged to propose participation through the standard ARM field campaign process. Guest contributions will strengthen intercomparisons and help advance community understanding of lidar performance and harmonization.

ARM will provide space, power, internet, and site operations support for approved guest instruments participating in this intercomparison, but it will not provide support for shipping.

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ARM is a DOE Office of Science user facility operated by nine DOE national laboratories.