tbsslwc

The tethered balloon system (TBS) is composed of a variety of winches, balloons, and instrumentation. The TBS operates up to 7,000 above ground level (AGL) within ARM s Restricted Airspace R-2204 at AMF3, sited at Oliktok Point, North Slope of Alaska. The typical balloons used are Skydoc Model #28 aerostats and 35 m³ Allsops helikites. The TBS is operated intermittently between April and November and the instrumentation deployed varies with conditions. ARM began TBS activities at the Southern Great Plains site in 2019.

The TBS operates within clouds at AMF3 and collects in situ data related to horizontal wind, ice microphysics, turbulence, thermodynamic state, aerosols, and the cloud top environment. Typical sensors deployed on the TBS are tethersondes that provide thermodynamic and wind-speed measurements, wetness sensors that indicate the presence of water and its state, supercooled liquid water content sensors, and radiosondes and a fiber-optic-based, distributed temperature-sensing system that provide thermodynamic measurements. The TBS also includes a continuously operated ground station that measures surface pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and 1-minute average and gust wind speeds.

Oliktok Point, Alaska, USA; Mobile Facility

• Latitude: 70.495
• Longitude: -149.886
• Publication Date: 2016-04-18
• Start Date: 2016-04-18
• End Date: 2018-05-18
• Last Updated: 2019-01-18

https://www.arm.gov/connect-with-arm/organization/instrument-mentors/list#tbs

Yan Shi

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Darielle Dexheimer

Sandia National Laboratories

http://dx.doi.org/10.5439/1246826
Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility. 2016, updated hourly. Tethered Balloon System (TBSSLWC). 2016-04-18 to 2018-05-18, ARM Mobile Facility (OLI) Oliktok Point, Alaska; AMF3 (M1). Compiled by D. Dexheimer and Y. Shi. ARM Data Center. Data set accessed .