Testbed Activities at the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground

The Meteorology Division at the US Army Dugway Proving Ground created a testbed in 2009 to support research projects leading to improvements in operational forecasting capabilities. This project, the Granite Mountain Atmospheric Sciences Testbed, or GMAST, uses the extensive existing network of meteorology sensors at Dugway to support research projects in mountain meteorology and boundary layer studies, two areas of importance to Dugway operations. GMAST serves as a baseline data collection, with continuous data measurements across the Dugway test ranges, and visitor projects augment this baseline dataset with detailed studies. Dugway has hosted a series of these visitor projects, most notably the Mountain Terrain Atmospheric Modeling and Observations (MATERHORN) project, and also including a series of operational projects conducted for the Air Force Research Laboratory. The results from these field projects improve the forecasting skills of Dugway's meteorologists in their support of our testing mission.