ARM FY2026 Aerosol Operations Plan
1 August 2026 | ZEROGeoengineering.com | Congressionally sponsored aerosol engineering and development activities led by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, are outlined in the following report, ARM [Atmospheric Radiation Measurement] FY2026 Aerosol Operations Plan. Operations were conducted in the U.S. Southern Great Plains (SGP), North Slope of Alaska (NSA), Eastern North Atlantic (ENA), Baltimore, Maryland, and Bankhead National Forest (BNF) in Alabama.
Collaborators include the United Nations (UN) World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as well as individuals from Universities (Colorado State, University of Oklahoma, University of California Riverside), the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (Germany), and National Laboratories (Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and Argonne National Laboratory. Readers will note that the programs are not characterized as “geoengineering” or “weather modification,” though activities involve deployment of aerosols and trace gases in “compliance with global standards.” DOE, NOAA, and NASA are ICAMS federal weather research partner agencies.
Mayol-Bracero, O, J Uin, S Smith, J Shilling, M Zawadowicz, A Singh, J Creamean, A Sedlacek, C Hayes, D Campos DeOliveira, M Salatti, O Enekwizu, C Flynn, M Petters, F Morais, T Subba, S Petters, and A Theisen. 2026. ARM FY2026 Aerosol Operations Plan. U.S. Department of Energy, Atmospheric Radiation Measurement user facility, Richland, Washington. DOE/SC-ARM-TR-323. Work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research.
“This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the U.S. Government…”
“Work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research.”
Acronyms and Abbreviations
“The U.S. Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement User Facility (ARM) deploys at each of ARM’s observatories a suite of aerosol and trace gas (further mention of aerosols will assume inclusion of trace gases) instrumentation that constitute the Aerosol Observing System (AOS; Uin et al. 2019).”
Table 1. Matrix of aerosol instruments and the observatories where they are deployed.
“ARM operates high-quality, research-grade AOS and, since 2024, has also been investing in other tiers of aerosol measurements. These are organized into three categories: Standard AOS, Additional AOS Instruments, and Aerosol Nodes.”
“The FY25 outcomes are organized into three parts—Operations, Calibration Activities, and Engineering
and Development.”
Table 3. Summary of FY25 AOS operations.
SGP underwent a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) audit—an important step to ensure data quality, consistency, and global comparability—resulting in recommendations to be provided in a forthcoming report.
CARGO-ACT. “…Importantly, in July 2025, the WMO GAW audit of the SGP AOS, led by Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research/World Calibration Center for Aerosol Physics (TROPOS/WCCAP), evaluated compliance with global standards, provided recommendations for improving measurements, and reinforced the international credibility of ARM data—ensuring accuracy, consistency, and comparability of aerosol observations across networks. Following the audit, SGP will be well positioned to pursue designation as a WMO GAW Regional Station.” 
Table 4. Progress on FY25 planned aerosol engineering and development activities. 
NOTE: “Table 5. FY26 planned calibration activities for each of the ARM observatories” is missing*
“CARGO-ACT. [Cooperation and AgReements enhancing Global interOperability for Aerosol, Cloud, and Trace gas research infrastructures] CARGO-ACT will conduct dedicated campaigns to compare data production and compatibility across partner networks, including cross-network quality control, traceability, and calibration.”
Table 7. FY26 planned aerosol engineering and development activities. 
“Developing a sample line zeroing system for AOS. ARM is developing a sample line zeroing system— the Clean Air System (CAS) for the AOS to perform automated zero checks of AOS instruments and sample lines. CAS will also be evaluated for protecting instruments from high-aerosol-loading events.”
Merged Size Distribution Machine Learning. The ML algorithm for merged size distributions will be assessed for performance at new sites and campaigns with SMPS and APS instruments.
Historical Aerosol Operations Plan Completed and In-Progress Tasks
“These collaborations led to the launch of the three-year CARGO-ACT project (Cooperation and AgReements enhancing Global interOperability for Aerosol, Cloud and Trace gas research infrastructures), which aims to harmonize aerosol data across ARM, ACTRIS, NOAA, and NASA, thereby increasing usability for the global research community, including modelers and satellite data users.”
“Comparable size distribution output across instruments
The aerosol translator is leading an effort to create a merged size distribution VAP using a machine learning method. This is under testing and evaluation.”
“…ARM is working with the NASA Langley Research Center to receive their TIARA algorithm (Tikhonov Advanced Regularization Algorithm), which uses HSRL and RL to derive aerosol properties.”
“Note: does not include related statistics from aerial deployments.”
Link To Full Document ARM FY2026 Aerosol Operations Plan
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