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Release date: April 2, 2002
Contact: Geoffrey Harvey,
(509) 372-6083
PARSL offers complete remote climate study system
The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Atmospheric Remote Sensing Laboratory, or PARSL, is the only complete climate observation system that can be deployed easily for short duration experiments.PARSL is highly mobile and can go almost anywhere
This is an important feature because the atmosphere is different depending on where you are. The deserts are different than the tropics, and the arctic is different from the oceans. By moving this equipment to almost any location worldwide, researchers can get answers to a focused set of questions about the atmosphere in a specific area. Scientists can move PARSL's instrumentation via flat-bed trailer and truck, and drive it to a remote location, or put it in a shipping container and travel the ocean to a specific site to do research.
PARSL provides instant information
A major advantage of PARSL is its ability to gather data and disseminate it rapidly. Scientists can complete an experiment and immediately load the information onto a Web site making it available to scientists around the world. Or, the data can be placed on a disk or CD for instant accessibility.
PARSL will help assess global warming
PNNL researchers have assembled state-of-the-art equipment that can evaluate the sun's energy and its effect on our planet. PARSL allows for study of all aspects of solar energy, the moisture found in the atmosphere and the impacts of the clouds that form from that moisture. All of this provides a better understanding of the impacts on heating and cooling of the earth. The data obtained from PARSL will be used to understand the role clouds play and will contribute to improving computer modeling capability for predicting the consequences of global warming.
Climate change was the primary focus in selecting the suite of instruments that make up PARSL, but it is not the only topic for which PARSL is well suited. Other research areas include improvement of weather prediction models and the study of air quality. Today, weather models are not nearly as accurate as they need to be to provide reliable predictions. PARSL will allow scientists to study how moisture in the atmosphere affects the warming of the earth. It also will allow us to study particular cloud formations in specific regions and how those formations may result in solar energy being reflected back into space or absorbed by the earth's atmosphere resulting in a warming effect.
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