After recently joining the Atmospheric Sciences Group of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Professor Kenneth Sassen is in the process of establishing a major new research facility at the Geophysical Institute. The Arctic Facility for Atmospheric Remote Sensing, AFARS, will be applied to the research of the peculiar clouds and aerosols of the Interior and North Slope of Alaska.  Of special interest are the frigid clouds of the upper-troposphere, cirrus clouds and aircraft condensation trails (contrails), because these clouds can have a profound effect on  Earths climate, and yet are almost completely unstudied in polar regions.  Also of interest are the aerosols of this region, the wintertime arctic haze, the springtime Asian dust storm particles and the summer smoke from western forest fires. 

The instruments comprising AFARS are drawn largely from the facility Prof. Sassen established over the 15 years at the University of Utah to study midlatitude clouds.

Current plans at UAF include the establishment of a multiple remote sensor facility on campus. It will be located on the roof of the Elvey Building. An additional facility, the mobile Polarization Diversity Lidar will be located initially at the Poker Flat lidar site and then at the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation site in Barrow, Alaska.