ARL participates in NOAA Day on the Hill

July 18, 2024

Scientists Winston Luke and Paul Kelley and ARL Director Ariel Stein spent Wednesday, July 10 in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill demonstrating ARL science to more than 200 members of congress, their staff and NOAA leadership. NOAA Day on the Hill was organized by the NOAA Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs and held in partnership with the Ocean Caucus Foundation to showcase NOAA’s mission.

Drs. Luke and Kelley brought the Picarro Gas Concentration Analyzer and set it up as an interactive display. Attendees could see the concentrations of different gases in the room on the real-time display and by blowing a small amount of air  into the instrument, they demonstrated changing gas concentrations. The Picarro instrument is one of the instruments mounted on the Air Resources Car (ARC), ARL’s mobile platform that uses a modified SUV to find and measure sources of greenhouse gases and air pollutants. Typically, the ARC is used for routine measurements in the Baltimore-Washington region and up through the northeast corridor. However, this summer, it is participating in two AiRMAPS campaigns.

NOAA Day on the Hill featured remarks from members of the U.S. House of Representatives and high-ranking NOAA officials.

Two men standing in front of a table with a computer monitor on the table between them
Paul Kelley (L) and Winston Luke (R) at the ARL table during the NOAA Day on the Hill. Photo Credit: Ariel Stein (NOAA)