The area highlighted in red on the map above is the flight area where the ARM ArcticShark UAS will be flying today through August 7, to collect meteorological data above the Bankhead National Forest, including areas in Winston County. (Courtesy photo)
BANKHEAD NATIONAL FOREST - From today through Wednesday, August 7, residents may hear and see what appears to be a strange-looking small plane flying low and slow over the Bankhead National Forest.
It will actually be the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) facility's ArcticShark, an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV), collecting meteorological data.
ARM is a U.S. Department of Energy scientific facility, headquartered in Oklahoma, which has recently set up a mobile atmospheric observatory known as AMF3 in the Bankhead National Forest (BNF). AMF3 is managed by the Argonne National Laboratory and was previously stationed in Oliktok Point, Alaska from September, 2013 to June, 2021.
Since 2018, the Southeast United States has been a priority for further study with ARM, according to its website, because it, "is a region with abundant atmospheric convection, yet the land surface, boundary layer, vegetation and aerosol properties are markedly different from those seen at ARM’s fixed observatory in Oklahoma, allowing opportunities to explore new research questions."
Between March and September, 2021, ARM chose the Bankhead for its Southeast site from a short list of locations. AMR's main BNF site is located at the Black Warrior Work Center on Highway 33 north of Double Springs, and it has three supplemental sites in the forest to the northwest, southeast and southwest of the main site; AMRF3 will take meteorological ground measurements at all these sites.
The AMF3 team will use the ArcticShark to make atmospheric observations that will improve understanding and modeling of, "aerosol, cloud and land-atmosphere interactions."
Data to be collected includes humidity, temperature, cloud composition, trace gases, particles in the air such as dust and properties of the land surface. These measurements will be used to better understand atmospheric processes and improve weather forecasts, including the modeling of long-term weather patterns.
The ArcticShark is 14 feet long and three feet high with a 22-foot wingspan. Its cruising speed is approximately 80 miles per hour, and it flies at an altitude of 1,000 to 18,000 feet. Its climb and descent rate is 50 to 1,500 feet per minute.
It will take off from the Cullman Regional Airport and fly both small to large rectangular and patterns, ranging six to 36 miles from the airport.
"ARM aerial operations staff have coordinated with and have approval from the Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Communications Commission and local aviation operators to ensure safe operations in the area," states a press release from ARM. "For safety requirements, the UAS will be tracked by visual observers on the ground and in a chase plane (a Twin Otter.)"
In an email about the mission, Bankhead District Ranger Andy Scott assured that ARM has been working with and coordinating with the U.S. Forest Service closely on this project.
For more information, contact the ARM Public Information Officer Rolanda Jundt at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory at rolanda.jundt@pnnl. gov, or for questions specifically concerning the BNF, contact Bankhead District Ranger Andy Scott at andy.scott@usda.gov.
See complete story in the Northwest Alabamian.
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