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DOE OSTI2025

Topography, surface water distribution and subsurface structure in 2023 across an Arctic coastal tundra site near Utqiagvik, Alaska

Subsurface electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), active layer thickness measurements, photogrammetry, and topographic data were collected in September 2023 along a 475 m long, 20 m wide corridor that traverses various polygon types within the Barrow Environmental Observatory (BEO) on the Alaskan Arctic Coastal Plain, approximately 4 miles from the Beaufort Sea near Utqiaġvik, Alaska. These measurements were designed to assess decadal changes in surface water distribution, topography, and subsurface structure across this dynamic landscape. This archive contains the datasets acquired in 2023 and references to the datasets acquired previously at the same location. The ERT survey was conducted along the 475 m transect using 0.5 m electrode spacing and a roll-along acquisition strategy. Thaw layer thicknesses were measured with a tile probe along the same transect. Photogrammetry data were acquired using an unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV) and were used to generate a digital elevation model and an RGB mosaic. A real-time kinematic (RTK) GPS was used to survey the ERT electrodes and the ground control points for the aerial imagery. The dataset contains 5 *.csv data files, 6 *.csv metadata files, and 6 *.tif files.The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments: Arctic (NGEE Arctic), was a research effort to reduce uncertainty in Earth System Models by developing a predictive understanding of carbon-rich Arctic ecosystems and feedbacks to climate. NGEE Arctic was supported by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research. The NGEE Arctic project had two field research sites: 1) located within the Arctic polygonal tundra coastal region on the Barrow Environmental Observatory (BEO) and the North Slope near Utqiagvik (Barrow), Alaska and 2) multiple areas on the discontinuous permafrost region of the Seward Peninsula north of Nome, Alaska. Through observations, experiments, and synthesis with existing datasets, NGEE Arctic provided an enhanced knowledge base for multi-scale modeling and contributed to improved process representation at global pan-Arctic scales within the Department of Energy's Earth system Model (the Energy Exascale Earth System Model, or E3SM), and specifically within the E3SM Land Model component (ELM).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2022

Radiosonde Intercomparison and Validation (RIVAL) Field Campaign Report

Radiosondes provide the primary source of high-vertical-resolution temperature, humidity, and pressure data from the surface through to the lower stratosphere, and are a key component of the sustained measurement program at U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility observatories. At the end of 2017 the radiosonde manufacturer Vaisala ceased sales and production of the RS92 radiosondes, which were in use at the ARM field sites since 2005, and transitioned to the RS41 model. The Radiosonde Intercomparison and Validation (RIVAL) field campaign was proposed in order to undertake a sustained intercomparison and validation campaign at the Eastern North Atlantic (ENA), North Slope of Alaska (NSA) at Barrow, and Southern Great Plains (SGP) observatories in order to fully quantify the RS92-RS41 sonde differences and their dependence on all relevant influencing variables, and to understand the effects of the sonde model transition.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2025

Eddy Correlation Flux Measurement System (ECOR) Instrument Handbook

The eddy correlation (ECOR) flux measurement system provides in situ, half-hour measurements of the surface turbulent fluxes of momentum, sensible heat, latent heat, and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) (and methane at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility’s North Slope of Alaska central facility [NSA Barrow], and at the ARM Mobile Facility (AMF) deployment at Oliktok Point). The fluxes are obtained with the eddy covariance technique, which involves correlation of the vertical wind component with the horizontal wind component, the air temperature, the water vapor density, and the CO 2 concentration. The instruments used are: a fast-response, three-dimensional (3D) wind sensor (sonic anemometer) to obtain the orthogonal wind components and the speed of sound (SOS) (used to derive the air temperature), an open-path infrared gas analyzer (IRGA) to obtain the water vapor density and the CO 2 concentration, and an open-path infrared gas analyzer (IRGA) to obtain methane density and methane flux at NSA Barrow and at the AMF deployment at Oliktok Point. The ECOR systems are deployed at the locations where other methods for surface flux measurements (e.g., energy balance Bowen ratio [EBBR] systems) are difficult to employ, primarily at the north edge of a field of crops. A surface energy balance system (SEBS) has been installed collocated with each deployed ECOR system in SGP, NSA, Tropical Western Pacific (TWP), and each of three ARM Mobile Facilities. The surface energy balance system consists of upwelling and downwelling solar and infrared radiometers within one net radiometer, a wetness sensor, and soil measurements. Finally, the SEBS measurements allow the comparison of ECOR sensible and latent heat fluxes with the energy balance determined from the SEBS and provide information on wetting of the sensors for data quality purposes.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2026

Permafrost Thaw, Uneven Subsidence and Projected Drying of Ice-wedge Polygon Tundra: Modeling Archive

This dataset is a model archive of the paper Permafrost Thaw, Uneven Subsidence and Projected Drying of Ice-wedge Polygon Tundra (in prep) to support a modeling study investigating how projected increases in Arctic temperature and precipitation will jointly influence hydrologic conditions in ice-rich tundra landscapes. With this dataset, this study is to address the research question: Will Arctic tundra landscapes become wetter or drier with increasing precipitation and temperature in the future when thaw-induced ground subsidence and associated microtopographic evolution are represented? The simulations focus on ice-wedge polygon tundra, a widespread form of ice-rich permafrost terrain that is highly sensitive to thaw-driven landscape change. This dataset contains model input and output data for four study watersheds in Alaska: Anaktuvuk, Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow), Brooks Foothills, and Prudhoe Bay. Simulations were performed using the Advanced Terrestrial Simulator (ATS, v1.5), a physics-rich integrated surface–subsurface hydrologic model. For each watershed, ten modeling cases were performed representing two landscape evolution conditions (with subsidence and without subsidence) combined with five climate forcing scenarios derived from Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSP5, SSP5 with precipitation trend, SSP2, SSP2 with precipitation trend, and SSP2 with double precipitation trend). Particularly, for each watershed under the forcing SSP2 with precipitation trend, there are two additional simulations considering spatially heterogeneous subsidence distributions: one assumes randomly distributed scaling and the other includes elevation dependent distribution scaling. These simulations span 1980–2099 and include spin-up runs (1980–2009) followed by transient projections (2010–2099). To facilitate reproducibility of simulations, all datasets are organized by watershed. For each study watershed, the dataset contains: (1) Pre-partitioned mesh files for 32-core modeling (.par.32.XX), located in EACH_WATERSHED/mesh/basin; and also a non-partitioned mesh file (.exo) located in EACH_WATERSHED/mesh; (2) Climate forcings corresponding to the five SSP scenarios (.h5), located in EACH_WATERSHED/data; (3) Final states (.h5) from column spin-up modeling used to initialize historical watershed-scale spin-up runs from 1980 to 2009, located in EACH_WATERSHED/PreSpinupHistorical; (4) Final states (.h5) of historical watershed-scale spin-up runs from 1980 to 2009 used to initialize projection runs, located in EACH_WATERSHED/Spinup_daymetERA5; (5) ATS modeling input files (.xml), located in EACH_WATERSHED/EACH_SIMULATION_SCENARIO/inputfiles; (6) ATS modeling output files (.dat), located in in EACH_WATERSHED/EACH_SIMULATION_SCENARIO/combined_obs; (7) For the Brooks Foothills watershed, additional spatial model outputs are provided (.h5) for selected years (2033 and 2093) used to generate spatial figures in this study, located in Brooksfoothills/EACH_SIMULATION_SCENARIO/results-WITH/WITHOUT_SUBSIDENCE-year2033/2093. All data files with suffix .h5 can be accessible through Python h5py, and all data files with suffix of .dat can be imported by Python pandas. Mesh file with .exo can be visualized through Paraview or read by Python netCDF. The Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments in the Arctic (NGEE Arctic) project is a research effort to reduce uncertainty in the Department of Energy’s Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) by developing a predictive understanding of Arctic tundra ecosystems underlain by permafrost and to quantify feedbacks from the Arctic tundra to the Earth system. NGEE Arctic is supported by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research. Over Phases 1–3, observations made by the NGEE Arctic team across a gradient of permafrost landscapes in Arctic Alaska improved the representation of tundra processes in the land surface component of E3SM (the E3SM Land Model, ELM). Model improvements emphasized unique aspects of permafrost environments and explored reductions in model complexity while retaining predictive power. The Arctic-informed ELM developed by NGEE Arctic has been used to make novel predictions on processes ranging from permafrost thaw to soil biogeochemical cycling to Earth system feedbacks associated with the unique characteristics of tundra plants. In Phase 4, the NGEE Arctic team is evaluating our new predictive understanding under novel conditions across the Arctic domain. In collaboration with partners at long-term pan-Arctic research sites we are examining whether an Arctic-informed ELM can faithfully simulate interactions among surface and subsurface processes at site, regional, and pan-Arctic scales. In turn, we are using variety of tools to dynamically extend and evaluate ELM inference, with an emphasis on data synthesis and pan-Arctic model evaluation, reintegration of code with an evolving E3SM, scaling across heterogeneous Arctic landscapes, and the appropriate representation of the impacts of increasingly frequent Arctic disturbances.

EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > PRECIPITATION↗

DOE OSTI2021

Parameterization of arctic hydrometeor physics using new precipitation measurement technologies: Final Report

Predictions of precipitation are highly sensitive to the accuracy of parameterized growth and sedimentation processes, especially in remote regions such as the Arctic where observations are scarce. The goal of this study was to combine measurements of meteorological conditions and retrievals from passive and active remote sensors to provide refined parameterizations of precipitation properties and processes with a particular focus on the Arctic. To accomplish the project goals, new instrumentation was used from the Oliktok Point Mobile Facility and the Utqiagvik (Barrow) North Slope of Alaska ARM site focusing in particular on Multi-Angle Snowflake Camera (MASC) data. The MASC is the first device able to automatically photograph precipitation particles in free-fall from multiple angles while simultaneously measuring their fall speed. The MASC installed at the ARM Oliktok Point and Utqiagvik facilities was used to examine the nature of Arctic precipitation, taking particular advantage of the unique suite of precipitation, meteorological, and remote sensing instrumentation that is available at the high latitude sites. Combined with radiometer data we were able to explore the relationship between precipitation particle characteristics and the clouds where the snow is created. Ground-based wind measurements provided detailed data on turbulence. Further theoretical work explored the physical mechanisms controlling precipitation size distributions, the physics determining hydrometeor fallspeed, and the existence of general solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations for falling particles. Outreach work introduced hydrometeor classification to classrooms across the United States.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2026

North Slope of Alaska XSAPR b1 Data Processing Report: April 2024-April 2025

The North Slope of Alaska (NSA) atmospheric observatory, operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) User Facility, is a measurement site in the Arctic that has been collecting crucial atmospheric data for more than 25 years. The central facility located in Utqiaġvik, Alaska (formerly known as Barrow) hosts a suite of instruments that are used to better understand arctic processes, which are often not well represented in earth system models. The NSA site sits only a few kilometers from the Arctic Ocean, which also makes it a prime location to study complex ocean-atmosphere-ice interactions. Arctic cloud and precipitation processes are also of scientific interest, and remote-sensing instruments including radars are a key component of the NSA instrument suite. One of the radars at NSA is the X-band Scanning ARM Precipitation Radar (XSAPR). This report evaluates one year of recent XSAPR data from April 2024 through April 2025 and details the process of generating b1-level data. This analysis marks the first effort by ARM staff to quality-control NSA XSAPR data with the goal of routinely producing b1-level data in the future depending on radar operations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2022

Age and chemistry of dissolved organic carbon reveal enhanced leaching of ancient labile carbon at the permafrost thaw zone

Abstract. Climate change will alter the balance between frozen and thawed conditions in Arctic systems. Increased temperatures will make the extensive northern permafrost carbon stock vulnerable to decomposition and translocation. Production, cycling, and transport of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) are crucial processes for high-latitude ecosystem carbon loss that result in considerable export off the Arctic landscape. To identify where and under what conditions permafrost DOC is mobilized in an Arctic headwater catchment, we measured radiocarbon (14C) of DOC and assessed DOC composition with ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–Vis) of surface waters and shallow and deep subsurface porewaters from 17 drainages in the Barrow Environmental Observatory in Alaska. Samples were collected in July and September 2013 to assess changes in age and chemistry of DOC over time. DOC age was highly variable ranging from modern (19 ‰ Δ14C) to approximately 7000 BP (−583 ‰ Δ14C). DOC age increased with depth, over the summer as the active layer deepened, and with increasing drainage size. DOC quality indicators reflected a DOC source rich in high molecular-weight and aromatic compounds, characteristics consistent with vegetation-derived organic matter that had undergone little microbial processing, throughout the summer and a weak relationship with DOC age. In deep porewaters, DOC age was also correlated with several biogeochemical indicators (including dissolved methane concentration, δ13C, and the apparent fractionation factor), suggesting a coupling between carbon and redox biogeochemistry influencing methane production. In the drained thawed lake basins included in this study, DOC concentrations and contributions of vegetation-derived organic matter declined with increasing basin age. The weak relationship between DOC age and chemistry and consistency in DOC chemical indicators over the summer suggest a high lability of old DOC released by thawing permafrost.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2020

Iron and iron-bound phosphate accumulate in surface soils of ice-wedge polygons in arctic tundra

Phosphorus (P) is a limiting or co-limiting nutrient to plants and microorganisms in diverse ecosystems that include the arctic tundra. Certain soil minerals can adsorb or co-precipitate with phosphate, and this mineral-bound P provides a potentially large P reservoir in soils. Iron (Fe) oxyhydroxides have a high capacity to adsorb phosphate; however, the ability of Fe oxyhydroxides to adsorb phosphate and limit P bioavailability in organic tundra soils is not known. In this study, we examined the depth distribution of soil Fe and P species in the active layer (<30 cm) of low-centered and high-centered ice-wedge polygons at the Barrow Environmental Observatory on the Alaska North Slope. Soil reservoirs of Fe and P in bulk horizons and in narrower depth increments were characterized using sequential chemical extractions and synchrotron-based X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Organic horizons across all polygon features ( e.g. , trough, ridge, and center) were enriched in extractable Fe and P relative to mineral horizons. Soil Fe was dominated by organic-bound Fe and short-range ordered Fe oxyhydroxides, while soil P was primarily associated with oxides and organic matter in organic horizons but apatite and/or calcareous minerals in mineral horizons. Iron oxyhydroxides and Fe-bound inorganic P (P i ) were most enriched at the soil surface and decreased gradually with depth, and Fe-bound P i was >4× greater than water-soluble P i . These results demonstrate that Fe-bound P i is a large and ecologically important reservoir of phosphate. We contend that Fe oxyhydroxides and other minerals may regulate P i solubility under fluctuating redox conditions in organic surface soils on the arctic tundra.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2021

Cloud Droplet Measurement System for the ARM Tethered Balloon System (TBS) Field Campaign Report

The Mesa Photonics' cloud droplet measurement system (CDMS) performs in situ measurement of droplet size distribution and droplet number density in clouds. These characteristics are important cloud microphysical properties that are critical input parameters for atmospheric models and are also useful for proper calibration and validation of performance of other atmospheric measurement instrumentation. This small campaign was the first project (out of two) that involved integration of the CDMS into the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility’s tethered balloon system (TBS) and its initial testing at the ARM Southern Great Plains (SGP) atmospheric observatory. The follow-up campaign (AFC07016) involved testing of the CDMS under relevant conditions at the third ARM Mobile Facility (AMF3) at Oliktok Point, Alaska and making in situ measurements in clouds. The goal of this small field campaign was to deploy the CDMS on the ARM TBS, demonstrate its integrity and compatibility with the TBS, and test the wireless telecommunication system in preparation for subsequent in-cloud measurements at ARM’s North Slope of Alaska (NSA) observatory at Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow). The specific technical objectives included: (1) Integration of the Mesa Photonics' CDMS into the ARM TBS, (2) testing of the wireless telecommunication system of the CDMS, (3) evaluating the data acquisition software and image processing algorithms especially under high-background-illumination conditions, and (4) testing the ruggedness of the instrument's optical alignment and other performance characteristics. All objectives have been successfully met. The mounting hardware was designed and built mostly at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), which allowed reliable mounting of the CDMS on the TBS and co-locating the CDMS with other instruments. The field tests were performed by the principal investigator (PI) in collaboration with the TBS operational crew led by D. Dexheimer. The field testing demonstrated good compatibility of the CDMS with the TBS. During the TBS flights, the crew did not experience any operational issues with the CDMS. The instrument demonstrated reliable operational characteristics, including sufficient battery life and good thermal management. The wireless telecommunication system has been successfully tested at TBS flight altitudes of up to 1000 m. During all flights, the CDMS raw data were wirelessly transmitted to the ground station and processed in real time. The ruggedness of the instrument's optical alignment was evaluated by performing calibration of the CDMS (using Mesa Photonics' fixed-size monodisperse droplet generator) before and after the campaign. The calibration was stable within the instrument's measurement precision. In summary, the campaign demonstrated good compatibility of the Mesa Photonics' CDMS with the ARM TBS. The flight tests confirmed the mechanical integrity of the CDMS and stability of its optical layout, as well as reliability of the wireless telecommunication system. Successful completion of this campaign provided a solid basis for the next campaign (AFC07016, November 2020), that involved testing of the CDMS during in-cloud TBS flights at AMF3 at Oliktok Point.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2025

Multi-seasonal measurements of the ground-level atmospheric ice-nucleating particle abundance on the North Slope of Alaska

Atmospheric ice-nucleating particles (INPs) are an important subset of aerosol particles that are responsible for the heterogeneous formation of ice crystals. INPs modulate the arctic cloud phase (liquid vs. ice), resulting in implications for radiative feedbacks. The number of arctic INP studies investigating specific INP episodes or sources increased recently. However, existing studies are based on short-duration field data, and long-term datasets are lacking. Continuous, long-term measurements are key to determining the abundance and variability of ambient arctic INPs and constraining aerosol–cloud interactions, e.g., to verify and/or improve simulations of mixed-phase clouds. Here, we present a new long-duration INP dataset from the Arctic: 2 years of predominantly immersion-mode INP concentrations (n INP ) measured continuously at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Barrow Atmospheric Baseline Observatory (BRW) on the North Slope of Alaska. A portable ice nucleation experiment chamber (PINE-03), which simulates adiabatic expansion cooling, was used to directly measure the ground-level INP abundance with an approximately 12 min time resolution from October 2021 to December 2023. We document PINE-03 n INP measurements as well as estimated ice nucleation active surface site density (n s ) over a wide range of heterogeneous freezing temperatures from −16 to −31 °C from which we introduce new season-specific parameterizations suitable for modeling mixed-phase clouds. Collocated aerosol and meteorological data were analyzed to assess the correlation between ambient n INP , air mass origin region, and meteorological variability. Our findings suggest (1) very high freezing efficiency of INPs across the measured temperatures (n s ≈ 2×10 8 –10 10 m −2 for −16 to −31 °C), which is a factor of 10–1000 times greater efficiency as compared to that found in the previous mid-latitude INP measurements in fall using the same instrument; (2) surprisingly high n INP (≥ 1 L −1 at −25 °C) for the examined temperatures throughout the year that were not measured by PINE-03 at other sites; and (3) high n INP in spring, possibly related to arctic haze episodes. Relatively low concentrations of aerosol surface area and contrasting high-INP concentrations at BRW relative to mid-latitude sites are the possible reasons for the observed high freezing efficiency.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2025

Examining the Ice-Nucleating Particles from the North Slope of Alaska (ExINP-NSA) (Final Campaign Report)

The Examining the Ice-Nucleating Particles from the North Slope of Alaska (ExINP-NSA) campaign was conducted at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Barrow Atmospheric Baseline Observatory (71.3230° N, 156.6114° W, “BRW” hereafter), next to the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility NSA site and ~ 6 km northeast of the town of Utqiaġvik. The location of the NSA site is shown in Figure 1. Our observing period began in October 2021 and continued until May 2024. This campaign was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Early Career Research Program through grant number DE-SC001879. This grant contains funding for three ARM field campaigns. The previous field campaigns were performed at ARM’s Southern Great Plains atmospheric observatory in Oklahoma (SGP; 36.6073° N, 97.4876° W) and the ARM’s Eastern North Atlantic atmospheric observatory on Graciosa Island, Azores (ENA; 39.0916° N, 28.0257° W). The ExINP-NSA campaign aims included: • Determining the number concentration of ice-nucleating particles (n INPs ) active at temperatures spanning the range of heterogeneous freezing processes (from ≈−30 °C to 0 °C) using a combination of online and offline measurements, • Determining whether local meteorological conditions and/or synoptic scale air mass transport impact INP abundance and/or ice nucleation efficiency, • Examining if the physicochemical properties of INPs relate to aerosol chemistry, and • Assessing if there is a similarity in INP properties across three ARM sites Multi-seasonal datasets of INP abundance in the NSA region were delivered from this campaign. This campaign also allowed researchers to perform a comprehensive analysis of atmospheric INPs based on long- term ground-based measurements in the Alaskan Arctic. Our data and results from the ExINP-NSA campaign will help refine current earth system models. One of the stated goals of ARM is to advance aerosol-cloud ice interaction, which will be a direct result of this campaign. Current earth system models poorly represent INPs, and the 15-minute time resolution data over several seasons generated during this campaign will provide an invaluable resource, especially combined with the datasets generated during two previous ARM ExINP campaigns. These datasets will allow for a greater understanding of ice nucleation processes as they may (or may not) relate to local meteorological processes and aerosol chemistry and will eventually help further the understanding of the Earth’s atmospheric processes and energy balance.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2022

Examining the Ice-Nucleating Particles from the Eastern North Atlantic (ExINP-ENA) (Field Campaign Report)

The Examining the Ice-Nucleating Particles from the Eastern North Atlantic (ExINP-ENA) field campaign was conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility’s Eastern North Atlantic (ENA) observatory on Graciosa Island, Azores (39.0916° N, 28.0257° W). The ExINP-ENA campaign began on October 1, 2020, and collected data until March 28, 2021, for a total of 179 days of data generated, with a 45-day intensive operational period (IOP) from October 10 to November 24. This campaign was funded by the DOE Office of Science Early Career Research Program through grant DE-SC001879. This grant contains funding for three field campaigns. The previous field campaign at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) site in Oklahoma, ExINP-SGP, was completed in 2020 (36.6073° N, 97.4876° W), and the upcoming field campaign at the North Slope of Alaska (NSA), ExINP-NSA, will take place from October 2021 at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Barrow Atmospheric Baseline Observatory (71.3230° N, 156.6114° W).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2025

ExINP NSA Ice Nucleating Particle Concentrations

This data set comprises cumulative ambient ice-nucleating particle (INP) concentrations measured at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA’s) Barrow Atmospheric Baseline Observatory (71.3230° N, 156.6114° W, “BRW” hereafter), next to the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) North Slope of Alaska (NSA) site and ~ 6 km northeast of the town of Utqiaġvik. Our INP abundance data were generated using a combination of online instrument, the Portable Ice Nucleation Experiment chamber ver. 3 (PINE-03), and an offline cold stage, the West Texas Cryogenic Refrigerator Applied to Freezing Test system (WT-CRAFT). Our online INP data are all from the Examining the Ice-Nucleating Particles from NSA (ExINP-NSA) campaign conducted from October 19, 2021 to May 24, 2024. The offline INP concentration analysis was performed at West Texas A&M University for aerosol particle samples collected on polycarbonate filters (with 0.2-micron diameter pores). The PINE-03 measurements, as well as sampling activities for offline INP measurements, were conducted using the BRW site. An inset laminar sampling stack was mounted to the instrument platform, allowing PINE-03 to intake particle-laden air. For most of the campaign period, the semi-autonomous PINE-03 chamber was remotely controlled from West Texas A&M University using the LabView interface through the BeyondTrust remote-access console. PINE-03 was set to conduct an immersion freezing expansion experiment (i.e., simulated adiabatic cooling along with RHw at or above 100%). Except during the scheduled maintenance periods, the time resolution of each expansion experiment was approximately 12 minutes. PINE-03 continuously measured INP concentrations during the entire campaign without any substantial breaks. For most of the campaign period, PINE scanned its set-point vessel air temperatures from -14 °C to -31 °C and back to -14 °C about every 120 minutes.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2025

ExINP NSA Ice Nucleating Particle Concentrations

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2022

FY2021 Isolated Grids and Grid-Connected Turbine Reference Systems

For individuals, businesses, and communities focused on building resilient electrical grid infrastructure, wind energy can provide an affordable, accessible, and compatible distributed energy resource option that also enhances the capabilities of local grid operations. However, there are technical barriers to realizing the market value and resilience benefits of distributed wind, and there is little to no ability to quantify those benefits so that stakeholders can compare grid investment options. The central aims of this report are: (1) to drive technology transfer of the methods and technologies developed under the Microgrids, Infrastructure Resilience, and Advanced Controls Launchpad (MIRACL) project and (2) increase the number of referenceable case studies available to stakeholders interested in additional value-added capabilities of wind systems beyond bulk energy supply. We achieve this aim by applying three major methods developed under MIRACL to two real-world distributed wind reference systems. The two real-world distributed wind reference systems are the isolated grid of St. Mary’s, Alaska, and the two 10.5-megawatt (MW) front-of-the-meter wind turbine deployments owned and operated by Iowa Lakes Electric Cooperative (ILEC).

17 WIND ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2021

Comparison of X1 (OLD) and X3 (NEW) Aerosol Observing Systems at the North Slope of Alaska NOAA Observatory

This report describes a comparison of the overlapping X1 and X3 Aerosol Observing Systems (AOS) at the North Slope of Alaska (NSA) observatory. Due to structural issues with the original observatory building, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) funded the design and construction of a new observatory building. Construction began in 2019 and was completed in 2020. The now decommissioned old NOAA Barrow Observatory (BRW) housed the AOS referred to as an NSA external site X1 from October 1997 through August 2021. A new observatory building next door housed the AOS referred to as an NSA external site X3 starting in October 2020. In this document we will refer to the original observatory system measurements as 'OLD' and the measurements in the new building as 'NEW'.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2026

Multi-Year Electric Field Study at the North Slope of Alaska (OYESNSA) Field Campaign Report

The Global Electric Circuit (GEC) of the atmosphere provides a unique perspective on Earth’s changing climate. Monitoring this global electrical signature provides details of the global nature of electrified clouds and thunderstorms. The North Slope of Alaska (NSA) is a unique location for collecting these electric field measurements. Besides being at the opposite pole from many previous electric field measurements taken at Russia’s Vostok station in Antarctica, this site provides a rare opportunity to use other instruments at the U.S. Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) User Facility’s NSA observatory at Utqiaġvik (formerly known as Barrow), such as the Ka-band ARM Zenith Radar (KAZR), upward-facing micropulse lidar (MPL), vertical profile of meteorological measures, and other aerosol measurements. Since 2017, Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi (TAMUCC) has established an observational instrument package, including CS110 electric fields and anemometer, at ARM’s NSA observatory at Utqiaġvik. This enabled the unique opportunity to not only provide information about the global signature of the GEC, but also the physical inputs to the local electric field, by analyzing the physical properties of the simultaneous cloud, wind, and aerosol properties occurring with the vertical electric field.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2026

Multi-Year Electric Field Study at the North Slope of Alaska (OYESNSA) Field Campaign Report

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗