GEM Awarded Contract to Support DOE’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program
Knoxville, Tennessee. Climate science depends on reliable, long-term observations of the atmosphere, and collecting that data requires “boots on the ground” in some of the most challenging environments on the planet. GEM Technologies, Inc. is proud to announce that we have been awarded a contract to provide technical staffing and programmatic support for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) User Facility. This contract positions GEM at the forefront of one of the world’s most important climate research programs.
What Is ARM?
The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement User Facility is the premier ground-based, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) observations facility for advancing atmospheric research. Operated under the DOE’s Office of Science, ARM was established in 1989 to address gaps in earth system models by collecting detailed observations of clouds, aerosols, and precipitation processes; today, it remains managed and operated in congruence with nine DOE laboratories along with several universities. For more than three decades, ARM has provided scientists around the globe with atmospheric data from all seven continents and five oceans.
Currently, ARM operates through a primary network of six atmospheric observatories. Three are fixed-location sites in Oklahoma, Alaska, and the Azores (Portugal), and three are mobile, designed to be deployed to various regions around the world for specified periods of time. These ARM Mobile Facilities (AMFs) are the backbone of ARM’s field campaigns, traveling wherever science demands.
ARM conducts research campaigns both domestically and internationally, tackling a wide range of climate questions. Recent completed campaigns include domestic deployments in Maryland, Texas, and California, as well as international fieldwork in Antarctica, Tasmania (Australia), and Norway. Each campaign collects critical atmospheric data that strengthens the models scientists use to better understand and predict a changing climate.
The First Mobile Campaign
GEM’s first task under this contract is supporting DUSTIEAIM, short for Desert-Urban SysTem IntegratEd AtmospherIc Monsoon. DUSTIEAIM will deploy a mobile facility to the Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area to study how desert land surfaces and the atmosphere interact in a rapidly growing urban region.
Phoenix is America’s hottest major city and, with roughly five million residents, it was the fastest growing city in the United States last year. Summers regularly push temperatures past 110°F, straining power grids and water resources. The region also experiences what is known as the North American Monsoon, which draws moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, fueling dramatic late-afternoon thunderstorms, towering dust storms known as haboobs, flash floods, and lightning-sparked wildfires. Together, these overlapping extremes create a complex environment where land surfaces, atmospheric processes, and rapid expansion yield a critical need for targeted climate research.
DUSTIEAIM’s three core objectives focus on understanding land-atmosphere interactions, identifying how aerosol sources and processes affect clouds and radiation seasonally, and evaluating how surface conditions and large-scale weather patterns influence precipitation in and around Phoenix. The data collected will help improve earth system models and support better predictions for energy resilience, water management, and public safety in the southwestern United States.
GEM’s Role in the Program
Under this contract, GEM will provide comprehensive technical staffing and program management support for ARM’s deployed field campaigns. Our role spans the full lifecycle of each campaign: recruiting, hiring, and onboarding qualified technical personnel; managing day-to-day program operations; coordinating logistics for domestic and international deployments; and ensuring that the right people with the right skills are on-site and ready to perform throughout every phase of each campaign.
GEM’s support begins with the ARM Mobile Facility 1 (AMF1) in Phoenix, Arizona, based at Arizona State University’s West Campus. As part of this work, GEM will support installation, operation, and demobilization of AMF1 for the DUSTIEAIM campaign. Supporting this effort includes GEM’s experienced AMF1 team members: Ana Gabriela Bloom, Chaz Padilla, Frank Zurek, Mark Manriquez, and Thomas Day. These skilled technicians will play a critical role throughout the entire campaign lifecycle. Their expertise and dedication will help ensure that the AMF1 instrumentation operates reliably and that the data collected meets the rigorous standards required for ARM’s climate research mission.
Climate data collection will run from April 2026 through September 2027. ARM’s goal is to characterize the interactions and implications between desert land surfaces and the atmosphere in this rapidly expanding metro area, work that is squarely at the heart of the DUSTIEAIM campaign. GEM’s skilled team will ensure that scientific instrumentation is maintained, data collection runs smoothly, and site operations meet the high standards that ARM requires.
This collaboration will help ensure that the scientific objectives and data for DUSTIEAIM are collected, while preparing the mobile facility for redeployment at the campaign’s conclusion. Concurrently with or following the AMF1 deployment, GEM will also support future AMF2 deployments with international components, continuing our role in advancing ARM’s global atmospheric research mission.
Looking Ahead
GEM is thrilled to work with the ARM technical team to execute this program efficiently and effectively. Supporting the science that helps us understand our atmosphere, and ultimately our future, is work that matters, and we are honored to play a part.
GEM Contract Content provided by: Lauren Martin, Technical Operations Manager | Authored by: Russell Haynes, Technical Proposal Writer and Olivia Knowling, Operations Support Coordinator | ARM Content & Images provided by: ARM.gov and the ARM User Facility Photostream Flickr – John Bilberry and Davel5957