Welcome to the Special Operations and Research Division of NOAA's Air Resources Laboratory
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A division of NOAA’s Air Resources Laboratory (ARL), the Special
Operations and Research Division supports the DOE’s Idaho National
Laboratory (INL) and the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS).
SORD’s capabilities are in meteorology and atmospheric transport
and dispersion. Local weather observations and predictions protect
staff and facilities, especially for activities dealing with
radioactive, explosive, or toxic materials.
The Idaho Falls Division
The SORD-ID division (formally known as the Field Research Division)
is composed of talented meteorologists,
engineers, and technicians. Originally a part of the
U.S. Weather Bureau, the division was created in 1948 for
the purpose of describing the meteorology and climatology
surrounding the area of the National Reactor Testing
Station, now known as the Department of Energy’s Idaho
National Laboratory (INL). In a cooperative agreement between
NOAA and the U.S. Department of Energy, SORD-ID’s
capabilities are used to support the INL with meteorological
measurements, mesoscale modeling and forecasts, and atmospheric
dispersion modeling in the event of an accidental
chemical or radiological emergency at the INL. The Nevada SORD
website can be found here.
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What We Do
SORD-ID’s science helps advance the understanding of
processes occurring in the atmospheric boundary layer (the
layer of the atmosphere closest to and most influenced by
the ground). Through meteorological data collection and
analysis, and weather prediction and surveillance, SORD-ID
supports INL Emergency Management, Environmental
Compliance, and Site Operations to determine appropriate
emergency actions, policy responses, and safety alerts. At
the local level, SORD-ID’s science specifically helps to ensure
the safety of INL personnel and neighboring residents.
Meteorological Instrumentation and Mesonets
SORD-ID has decades of experience designing, developing
and deploying both permanent and temporary meteorological
instrumentation, as well as establishing and operating
mesonets (networks of meteorological monitoring towers
and associated sensors). In a mesonet, instrumentation
is carefully selected and a coordinated remote collection of
these sensor data are conducted in order to obtain a high
quality representation of the environment. Temporary mesonets
are used in support of short-term experiments and
studies, while permanent mesonets are used for long-term
support of regulated facilities and for climate studies.
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