PACES

Phoenix Arid Climate Energy Study

8 June 2026 - 31 August 2027

Lead Scientist: Daniel Okon

Observatory: AMF (ARM Mobile Facility 1) - DST

Arid and semi-arid regions remain underrepresented in coordinated observations linking atmospheric conditions to surface solar radiation and its variability. The Phoenix metropolitan area, located within the Sonoran Desert, provides an important natural laboratory for examining how high irradiance, extreme surface temperatures, low humidity, and dust aerosol loading influence surface radiation. These conditions introduce complex atmospheric effects that are not well constrained in current observations and associated modeling efforts.

This targeted field campaign will deploy instrumented photovoltaic (PV) modules during the DUSTIEAIM campaign, which investigates desert–urban atmospheric processes associated with monsoon dynamics. The measurements will include time-synchronized observations of module voltage, current, DC power, module temperature, irradiance, and local meteorological variables. These data will be analyzed alongside DUSTIEAIM observations of aerosol properties, radiation, and atmospheric state to investigate how desert atmospheric conditions influence surface solar irradiance and its conversion into electrical power at the module scale.

The campaign builds on prior measurements collected during the ARM CoURAGE deployment in Baltimore, Maryland, extending observations from a humid mid-Atlantic environment to a hot arid desert regime. This enables systematic investigation of how atmospheric conditions influence surface radiation variability and its relationship to PV performance across different atmospheric regimes.

The resulting open-access dataset will provide a valuable community resource for improving understanding of atmospheric controls on surface solar energy and for evaluating the representation of radiative and environmental processes in contrasting climate regimes.