The Elk Mountain Observatory (EMO) is located on 10 acres of land owned by the University of Wyoming (Patented to UW in 1965 by U.S. Government) inset in the western portion of a 640-acre (1 x 1 mile) section owned by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) located at the northern end of the Medicine Bow Mountain range in southeastern Wyoming.
The observatory consists of a main building located at the head of Halleck Creek in a small semi-circular basin (10,861 ft) located on University-owned land, and the Schaefer Ridge instrument shelter located atop the western (lower) peak of Elk Mountain (11,680 ft). The 1500 ft2 main building is centered around a 700 ft2 open-space laboratory which is supported by a dormitory-style living space for six, full kitchen, bathroom, and laundry facilities. In addition, there is a small wind tunnel, instrument platform and cold room. The facility is supplied with electric power. The observatory heating system is electrically powered. A 124 ft deep, 20 gallon/minute well supplies potable water and a small wastewater treatment system handles waste. Propane provides backup heat and electricity.
Left: Topographic map of Elk Mountain. The red circle indicates the location of the EMO site. Right: Sketch of the EMO site.
Older photograph of the EMO site during winter. Instrumentation were housed in the hut and on the measurement platform.
Recent photograph during a site visit to EMO.
EMO was established in the early 1960s primarily for cloud seeding and related cloud-aerosol process studies. Funding to develop much of the site was provided through Project Skywater at the Bureau of Reclamation. From 1960-1980 EMO was key to ATSC’s research on ice particle nucleation and growth, chemical processes between aerosols and clouds, and atmospheric aerosol characterizations. ATSC maintained an active research program utilizing EMO until the early/mid –2000's. The last large scale research campaign was EMLACE (Elk Mountain Laramie Area Closure Experiment) in 2004 and the last instruments (meteorological and particulate matter) were removed for roof work about 2018. Since the mid-2000's very little research has been conducted utilizing EMO.
EMO is one of several mountain top observatories in the United States. Several features of EMO provide unique opportunities for research: its pristine, high-altitude location; the proximity to the NSF LAOF King Air; and the ownership by the University of Wyoming.
EMO site in the clouds.
Aerial view of Elk Mountain and clouds.
Work to revitalize EMO is supported in part by EarthBench - a seed grant funded by the UW Science Initiative.