Post on 16-Jul-2015
NATIONAL ECOLOGICAL OBSERVATORY NETWORK
THOUSANDS OF SENSORS ACROSS NORTH AMERICA… INCLUDING PHENOCAMS!
Jeffrey Taylor
NEON
1jtaylor@neoninc.org
How Do We Design An Observatory Network?
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Capabilities based
(networks)
• PI driven – grant structure
• Strong scientific creativity
• Often lacks strong
direction
• Deliverable ‘themes’
• Discovery/experiments
• Open ended
Requirements based
(infrastructure)
• Staff scientists
• Community engagement
• Mature baseline science
• Well defined deliverables
• Enables PI research
• Science sustainment
• Manage costs/risk/scope
NEON Design
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1. Biodiversity
2. Biogeochemical cycles
3. Climate change
4. Ecohydrology
5. Infectious disease
6. Invasive species
7. Land use
NRC (National Research Council). 2001. Grand Challenges in
Environmental Sciences. Washington DC: National Academies Press.
NRC (National Research Council). 2003. NEON: Addressing the Nation's
Environmental Challenges. Washington DC: National Academies Press.
Grand Challenges in
Environmental Sciences
NEON Goals
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• Information infrastructure: Consistent, continental, long-term, multi-scaled data-sets and data products that serve as a context for research and education.
• Physical Infrastructure: A research platform for investigator-initiated sensors, observations, and experiments providing physical infrastructure, cyberinfrastructure, human resources, and expertise, and program management and coordination.
The overarching goal of NEON is to enable
understanding and forecasting of climate change,
land use change, and invasive species on
continental-scale ecology by providing
infrastructure to support research in these areas.
NEON Timeline
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• Late 90’s – concept of standardized ecological observatory
• 2000-2005 – community workshops, establish boundary conditions. Shopping list/Christmas tree approach.
• 2006 – Integrated Science and Education Plan (ISEP).
• 2007 – PDR1: NEON needs further D&D, Mgt.
• 2008 – new D&D phase: flowdown & deliverables, site design contract underway, project office ramp-up (6-50 staff).
• 2009 – PDR/FDR, (+65 staff), successfully completed FDR
• 2010 – Prototyping and business operations (+135 staff)
• 2011 – Entered construction (+160 staff)
• 2014 – Over 300 staff and hiring all over
Research & Related Activities MREFC - Construction Operations
2006 2011 20172012
• Terrestrial
• Organismal (TOS)
• Instrumental (TIS)
• Aquatic
• Organismal (AOS)
• Instrumental (AIS)
• Airborne (AOP)
• Research: Stream
Ecological Observation
Network (STREON)
Towers
Surface and
ground water
Satellite
Data
Airborne Remote Sensing
NEON Observing Systems
Field Sampling
Tower Measurements
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• Physical and chemical climate
forcing
• Ecosystem responses
• Stand/plot level sampling
• Automated instrumentation
• Micrometeorological scalars
and fluxes
• Soil array
• Over 2000 measurements per
core site at frequencies of
• Daily, and ~0.1 to 20 Hz
Mobile Deployment Platform
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• PI requestable
• Mobile and rapidly deployable
• Campaign based measurements ~ 1 year
• NEON support (level TBD)
• MDP will include various modules which can be mixed to
meet needs of research. Potential modules include:
– Micrometeorology
– Atmospheric chemistry
– Ecohydrology
– Soil Ecology
– Education and outreach
Aquatics Unit
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• 29 Streams
– 19 Core
– 10 Relocatable
• 10 STREON
• 7 Ponds
– 5 Core
– 2 Relocatable
Airborne Observing Platform
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• Three airborne remote sensing
payloads.
• Leased Twin Otter aircraft.
Airborne Survey
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7-months, 1,000 flight hours for NEON sites
2 aircraft with identical payloads to cover sites
3rd Payload for backup & directed flights
Phenology Measurements
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• Observational phenology measurements as part of
standard sampling at every site
• Two phenocams on every tower
• Pointed at horizon
• Pointed at ground (snow-cover)
• One phenocam at most aquatics sites
• Meant for ice-on/ice-off timing
• Aircraft camera images as well as LIDAR and
hyperspectral imaging data products
• Citizen Science Synthesis…
Phenocams
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• StarDot NetCam SC, 1280 x 960 pixel resolution (1.3 MP), Micron ¼” CMOS sensor
• Fixed white balance (outdoor), auto exposure, variable iris
• RGB images, with IR filter triggered on schedule
• uClinux operating system with built-in web and ftp server
• Images stored as minimally compressed jpeg files, with date and time stamp embedded in filename
http://images.pennnet.com/articles/vsd/thm/th_0707vsd_prfocus01.gif
Spectral response
CMOS
BLUE GREEN RED IR
Phenocams
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• StarDot NetCam SC, 1280 x 960 pixel resolution (1.3 MP), Micron ¼” CMOS sensor
• Fixed white balance (outdoor), auto exposure, variable iris
• RGB images, with IR filter triggered on schedule
• uClinux operating system with built-in web and ftp server
• Images stored as minimally compressed jpeg files, with date and time stamp embedded in filename
http://images.pennnet.com/articles/vsd/thm/th_0707vsd_prfocus01.gif
Spectral response
CMOS
BLUE GREEN RED IR
VIS
IR= NDVI?
Calibration
• Spectralon Panel
• 20%-40% Reflectance
• Every Quarter
• 2 week calibration
• Decreasing Exposure
• ColorChecker Card
• Across Cameras
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The National Ecological Observatory Network is a project sponsored by the National
Science Foundation and managed under cooperative agreement by NEON Inc.
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www.neoninc.org
jtaylor@neoninc.org