Baldocchi, Dennis: University of California, Berkeley (Project Lead)
Papale, Dario: DIBAF University of Tuscia - Viterbo (Participant)
Pastorello, Gilberto: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Participant)
Poindexter, Cristina: Lawrence Berkeley Lab (Participant)
Ruddell, Benjamin: Northern Arizona University (Participant)
Torn, Margaret: Lawrence Berkeley Lab (Participant)
Project Funding:
2014 - 2017
NRA: 2013 NASA: Carbon Cycle Science
Funded by DOE
Abstract:
We propose a project that will to extend and expand the functioning of the global
FLUXNET database, which consists of data on carbon dioxide, water and energy fluxes,
meteorological conditions and the structure and function of the ecosystems to beyond a
decade. The production of the next FLUXNET database is critical to the activities of this
ROSE’s solicitation because these data will drive many of the carbon cycle synthesis
activities and the model parameterization and validation activities. This data system will
enable the broader biogeoscience user community to discover new information about the
‘breathing’ of terrestrial ecosystems across a spectrum of time and space scales.
Working with European collaborators, we will construct a new database, double the size of the La Thuile dataset, with over 2000 site-years of trace gas flux measurements, supporting
meteorological and site meta-data from over 400 sites world-wide. To support this
database, we will build a next-generation, data-system that will process raw data and
produce value-added data products. Raw data, produced by the data providers, will be
quality checked, flagged, filtered and gap-filled data at their native time steps (30 minute
averages) in a standard manner. These value-added data will be integrated or averaged on
daily and annual time scales. We will also partition net carbon fluxes into their constituent
components, ecosystem respiration and canopy photosynthesis. Uncertainty analysis and
quality control metrics will be produced in coordination with AmeriFlux and ICOS. The
data system will also house, distribute and query these data. We aim to use these data in
synthesis activities that improve our understanding on how climate, weather, ecological,
physiological and soil factors govern the exchange of carbon, water and energy between
vegetation and the atmosphere at multiple time and space scales.
The rationale for proposing this work is based on the fact that the vast databases that are
produced by flux networks cannot perpetuate and evolve without continued support of the
of scientists who produce data, are expert in databases, and who use data for modeling.
The actuality of a flux network takes human intervention to recruit data from different
countries and cultures, to build trust to share data in open-access format, to support data
users, and to collaborate. This involves building a culture of data sharing and interaction
across vast cultural spectrum of participating scientists. Specifically, we will re- build the
data portal in a manner that easy to navigate and conducive for distributing, visualization,
evaluation and discovery of the multiple types of flux and environmental data and
information. We will foster collaboration and interactions with our national and
international partners and the recruitment of data by: 1) continuing the periodic publication
of the newsletter, FLUXLETTER; 2) hosting an international conference; 3) coordinating
and launching multi-investigator data synthesis activities; and 4) developing tools that
coordinate the development and tracking of research papers, through production to
publication.
The interpretation of the flux data relies on good meta-data. We will work with data
providers to populate and expand the meta-data archives. We will also work with
collaborators to incorporate data from remote sensing products such as leaf area index
MODIS and land use from Landsat, from corresponding climate and weather stations.
Another goal is to incorporate new data on canopy structure, with recent LIDAR
acquisitions, to populate the data archive with automated soil respiration and understory
flux measurements, where available and local climate records for corresponding sites. We
will collaborate with the TRY database, by merging flux data with plant trait information.
Publications:
Baldocchi, D. 2014. Measuring fluxes of trace gases and energy between ecosystems and the atmosphere - the state and future of the eddy covariance method. Global Change Biology. 20(12), 3600-3609. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.12649
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):
