Bowen Ratio Surface Flux: KSU (FIFE)

Konza Prairie Natural Research Area hosted surface flux measurements from 23 locations with 27 site identifiers between 1987 and 1989. Thirteen stationary stations collected daily measurements for months in the northwest quadrant, while a portable system visited ten other sites for short periods across most of the FIFE study area. The data includes fluxes of net radiation, latent heat, sensible heat, and soil heat flux, determined using the Bowen Ratio Energy Balance (BREB) method.

Use Cases

• Validating surface energy balance models based on measured net radiation, latent heat, and sensible heat fluxes.
• Analyzing spatial variability of soil heat flux across different sites within a prairie landscape.
• Studying temporal dynamics of micrometeorological conditions using daily measurements collected over months.
• Comparing energy partitioning between stationary long-term monitoring sites and short-term roving measurement locations.

Strengths

• Data collection spanned 23 distinct locations, providing spatial coverage across the FIFE study area.
• Thirteen stationary systems collected daily measurements over several months, offering temporal depth.
• Measurements include multiple components of the surface energy balance (net radiation, latent heat, sensible heat, soil heat flux).

Limitations

• Key metadata such as specific column names, row counts, and exact file sizes are unavailable from the provided sources.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' metadata between platforms (1989 vs. 2026), suggesting potential data provenance or curation issues.
• The dataset's age (1987-1989) may limit its applicability for studying contemporary climate or land-use changes.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Measurements collected using stationary and portable Bowen ratio systems operated by several groups, applying the Bowen Ratio Energy Balance (BREB) method.

Time Range

1987 through 1989

Freshness

Last updated metadata conflicts: one source lists 1989-08-13, another lists 2026-03-13.

Geography

Selected sites within the FIFE area, primarily the Konza Prairie Natural Research Area in Kansas, USA.