Flux Tower Measurements for Tropical Pasture Ecosystem

Flux tower measurements of energy and mass exchange between a tropical pasture surface and the atmosphere using eddy covariance techniques. Data were processed with PyFluxPro (v3.4.17) to produce gap-filled products including Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE), Gross Primary Productivity (GPP), and Ecosystem Respiration (ER). The site, located at approximately 70 m elevation, was dominated by specific pasture species and was destroyed by fire in September 2013.

Use Cases

• Analyze seasonal patterns in Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) using temperature, humidity, and radiation measurements.
• Partition Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) into Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) and Ecosystem Respiration (ER) to study carbon cycle dynamics.
• Correlate ecosystem fluxes with ancillary measurements like LAI, soil properties, and leaf-scale physiological properties.
• Model energy balance using measurements of incoming/reflected shortwave radiation, net radiation, heat, and water vapor.

Strengths

• Data processed using a standardized methodology (PyFluxPro v3.4.17) as described in a 2017 publication.
• Includes gap-filled final products for key carbon fluxes (NEE, GPP, ER).
• Site characterized with detailed metadata including elevation (70 m), mean annual precipitation (1250 mm), and specific vegetation and soil types.
• Complements flux data with ancillary measurements like LAI, soil properties, and remote sensing data from September 2008.

Limitations

• The dataset's temporal coverage ends in 2013 when the site was destroyed by fire, limiting analysis to historical conditions.
• The specific number of data rows, columns, and file size are unknown, making it difficult to assess the dataset's scale and structure.
• Primary data formats are HTML and PNG, which may not be ideal for direct quantitative analysis without extraction or conversion.

Provenance

Source

Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network's Data Discovery

Collection Method

Eddy covariance flux tower measurements processed with PyFluxPro software.

Time Range

Data collection ended in September 2013. Specific start date is not provided.

Freshness

Metadata was last updated in March 2026, but the underlying data collection ended in 2013.

Geography

A tropical pasture site in Australia with an elevation of approximately 70 m.