Air Resources Laboratory

Atmospheric Dispersion link - factory smoke, photo courtesy of U.S.EPA

Volcanic Ash Modeling link - photo of Mt. Augustine volcano eruption

Wildfire Smoke Forecasting link - photo of forest fire and smoke

HYSPLIT model link - image of HYSPLIT plume above Baltimore, MD

The Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) conducts research and development in the fields of air quality, atmospheric dispersion, climate, and boundary layer science. Key activities include the development, evaluation, and application of air quality models; improvement of approaches for predicting atmospheric dispersion of hazardous materials; and the generation of new insights into air-surface exchange and climate variability and trends.

Our Mission is to improve the ability of the Nation to protect human and ecosystem health and to support a vibrant economy through advanced atmospheric sciences and technologies.

Laboratory Highlight

ARL's Roland Draxler receives an OAR Employee of the Year Award - 2011

Congratulations to ARL's Roland Draxler for receiving an OAR Employee of The Year Award for his outstanding scientific contributions in the NOAA responses to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (beginning April, 2010), the volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland (in April-May, 2010), and the Fukushima-Daiichi, Japan, nuclear power plant incident (April, 2011).