Everglades Wetland Carbon and Energy Flux Measurements from Eddy-Covariance Towers

Eddy-covariance flux stations in the Big Cypress National Preserve empirically measure water, energy, and carbon cycling across four plant communities. The U.S. Geological Survey and South Florida Water Management District constructed these stations starting in 2006, with carbon cycling measurements planned for 2012-2013. Data includes variables like latent heat flux, sensible heat flux, net ecosystem production, and gross ecosystem production.

Use Cases

• Model net ecosystem production (NEP) and gross ecosystem production (GEP) using eddy-covariance measurements from Pine Upland, Marsh, Cypress Swamp, and Dwarf Cypress sites.
• Analyze the relationship between latent heat flux (evapotranspiration) and sensible heat flux across different wetland plant communities to understand energy partitioning.
• Investigate how changes in hydrology or salinity, inferred from flux tower data, affect ecosystem respiration rates in restored versus degraded wetlands.
• Correlate incoming solar radiation and net radiation measurements with albedo and Bowen ratio data to assess surface energy budgets.
• Use long-term carbon dioxide flux records to quantify the annual CO2 absorption or release capacity of subtropical forests and wetlands.

Strengths

• Measurements span four distinct and spatially extensive plant communities: Pine Upland, Marsh, Cypress Swamp, and Dwarf Cypress.
• Data collection began in 2006, providing a multi-year baseline for key carbon and energy cycle variables.

Limitations

• The specific row count, column count, and temporal coverage for the actual dataset files are unknown.
• Carbon cycling measurements were planned for 2012-2013 contingent on funding, so their completeness is uncertain.
• Geographic coverage is limited to the Big Cypress National Preserve within south Florida.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and South Florida Water Management District, published via NASA's Earthdata platform.

Collection Method

Empirical measurements from eddy-covariance flux towers.

Time Range

Flux station construction began in 2006; carbon cycling measurements targeted for 2012-2013.

Freshness

Data collection was active through at least 2013, with the last platform update recorded on 2013-09-30.

Geography

Big Cypress National Preserve, south Florida, USA.