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FLUXNET

"FLUXNET is a global network of micrometeorological flux measurement sites that measure the exchanges of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and energy between the biosphere and atmosphere. At present over 140 sites are operating on a long-term and continuous basis. Vegetation under study includes temperate conifer and broadleaved (deciduous and evergreen) forests, tropical and boreal forests, crops, grasslands, chaparral, wetlands, and tundra. Sites exist on five continents and their latitudinal distribution ranges from 70°N to 30°S." (Baldocchi, 2001) The flux tower sites use eddy covariance methods to measure the exchanges of carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor, and energy between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere.

Key Strengths:

  • Over 500 tower sites are operated on a long-term and continuous basis with a wide range of vegetation types.

Key Limitations:

  • Most flux tower sites have data gaps and some have energy and water balance closure problems
  • Data spread out over multiple download sites. Inconvenient!
temporal metadataID:

Formats

Timestep

Sub-daily

Data Time Period Extended?

yes, data set is extended

Domain

Global

Spatial Resolution

Typical flux tower site footprint (~km)

Ocean or Land

Land Only

Missing Data Flag

missing data present

Vertical Levels

Surface Data Set

Earth system components and main variables

Biosphere, Land

Key Figures

Click the thumbnails to view larger sizes

Thumbnails

Captions
FLUXNET [source: http://daac.ornl.gov//FLUXNET/Sky_Oaks_new.jpg ]
FLUXNET: Net Ecosystem Exchange CO2, latent and sensible heat for 1992 at Harvard Forest: Total (blue), Day (red), Night (green). [Climate Data Guide; D. Shea]

Cite this page

National Center for Atmospheric Research Staff (Eds). Last modified 27 Feb 2017. "The Climate Data Guide: FLUXNET." Retrieved from https://climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data/fluxnet.

Acknowledgement of any material taken from this page is appreciated. On behalf of experts who have contributed data, advice, and/or figures, please cite their work as well.

FLUXNET

"FLUXNET is a global network of micrometeorological flux measurement sites that measure the exchanges of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and energy between the biosphere and atmosphere. At present over 140 sites are operating on a long-term and continuous basis. Vegetation under study includes temperate conifer and broadleaved (deciduous and evergreen) forests, tropical and boreal forests, crops, grasslands, chaparral, wetlands, and tundra. Sites exist on five continents and their latitudinal distribution ranges from 70°N to 30°S." (Baldocchi, 2001) The flux tower sites use eddy covariance methods to measure the exchanges of carbon dioxide (CO2), water vapor, and energy between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere.