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Alice Springs Mulga Flux Data Release 2023_v1

<br>This release consists of flux tower measurements of the exchange of energy and mass between the surface and the atmospheric boundary-layer using eddy covariance techniques. Data were processed using PyFluxPro (v3.5.0) as described by Isaac et al. (2017). PyFluxPro produces a final, gap-filled product with Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) partitioned into Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) and Ecosystem Respiration (ER).</br>


<br>Alice Springs Mulga flux station is located on Pine Hill cattle station, near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The woodland is characterized by the <i>Acacia aneura</i> canopy, which is 6.5&nbsp;m tall on average. Elevation of the site is 606&nbsp;m above sea level, and the terrain is flat. Mean annual precipitation at the nearby (45&nbsp;km distant) Bureau of Meteorology station is 305.9&nbsp;mm but ranges between 100&nbsp;mm in 2009 to 750&nbsp;mm in 2010. Predominant wind directions are from the southeast and east. The extent of the woodland is 11&nbsp;km to the east of the flux station and 16&nbsp;km to the south. The soil is red sandy clay (50:50 sand:clay) overlying a 49&nbsp;m deep water table. Pine Hill Station is a functioning cattle station that has been in operation for longer than 50 years. The instrument mast is 13.7&nbsp;m tall. Fluxes of heat, water vapour and carbon are measured using the open-path eddy covariance technique at 11.6&nbsp;m. Supplementary measurements above the canopy include temperature and humidity (11.6&nbsp;m), windspeed and wind direction (9.25&nbsp;m), downwelling and upwelling shortwave and longwave radiation (12.2&nbsp;m). Precipitation is monitored in a canopy gap (2.5&nbsp;m). Supplementary measurements within and below the canopy include barometric pressure (1&nbsp;m), wind speed (2&nbsp;m, 4.25&nbsp;m and 6.5&nbsp;m), and temperature and humidity (2&nbsp;m, 4.25&nbsp;m and 6&nbsp;m). Below ground soil measurements are made in bare soil, mulga, and understory habitats and include ground heat flux (0.08&nbsp;m), soil temperature (0.02&nbsp;m – 0.06&nbsp;m) and soil moisture (0 – 0.1&nbsp;m, 0.1 – 0.3&nbsp;m, 0.6 – 0.8&nbsp;m and 1.0 – 1.2&nbsp;m). Ancillary measurements include soil water and carbon fluxes, leaf water potential, leaf gas exchange, stem basal area, stem growth, litter production, leaf area index, stem hydraulic conductance, and carbon and water stable isotope ratios. <br />

Simple

Identification info

Date (Creation)
2023-03-31
Date (Publication)
2023-04-27
Date (Revision)
2025-12-10
Edition
2023_v1

Identifier

Title
DataCite
Code
doi:10.25901/rksk-vf94
Codespace
http://dx.doi.org

Publisher

Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
Building 1019, 80 Meiers Rd
Indooroopilly
QLD
4068
Australia
+61 7 3365 9097

Author

James Cook University - Cleverly, Jamie ()
1 James Cook Drive, Bebegu Yumba campus, 4811, Douglas, Australia
Bebegu Yumba campus
Douglas
4811
Australia

Co-author

University of Technology Sydney - Eamus, Derek ()
15 Broadway, Ultimo, 2007, New South Wales, Australia
Ultimo
New South Wales
2007
Australia

Co-author

University of Technology Sydney - Faux, Ralph (Technical Officer)
15 Broadway, Ultimo, 2007, New South Wales, Australia
Ultimo
New South Wales
2007
Australia

Co-author

University of Technology Sydney - Grant, Nicole M (Site Technician)
15 Broadway, Ultimo, 2007, New South Wales, Australia
Ultimo
New South Wales
2007
Australia

Co-author

University of Technology Sydney - Li, Zheng ()
15 Broadway, Ultimo, 2007, New South Wales, Australia
Ultimo
New South Wales
2007
Australia
Website
https://www.tern.org.au/

Purpose
The purpose of the Alice Springs Mulga flux station is to: <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>measure the exchanges of carbon dioxide, water vapour and energy between a semi-arid mulga (<i>Acacia aneura</i>) ecosystem and the atmosphere using micrometeorological techniques</li> <li>study ecosystem, hydrologic and ecophysiologic responses to rainfall variability</li> <li>evaluate the evapotranspiratory cost of assimilation</li> <li>study the partitioning of ecosystem metabolism between the mulga canopy, a seasonal mixed understory (C<sub>3</sub> and C<sub>4</sub>, grass and shrub) and soil components</li> <li>utilise the measurements for paramterising a Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere Transfer (SVAT) model to evaluate climate change scenarios in North-Central Australia</li> <li>utilise the measurements for parameterising and validating remote sensing measurements over semi-arid mulga ecosystems</li> <li>utilise the measurements for parmaterising and validating the Community Atmosphere-Biosphere Land Exchange (CABLE) model.</li>
Credit
We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
Credit
The TERN Alice Springs Mulga site is managed by the University of Technology Sydney, and is funded by TERN.
Status
On going

Point of contact

James Cook University - Cleverly, Jamie ()
1 James Cook Drive, Bebegu Yumba campus, 4811, Douglas, Australia
1 James Cook Drive
Bebegu Yumba campus
Douglas
4811
Australia
Topic category
  • Climatology, meteorology, atmosphere

Extent

Description
Pine Hill cattle station, near Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.
N
S
E
W


Temporal extent

Time period
2010-09-03
Title
Beringer J., Hutley L. B., McHugh I., Arndt S. K., Campbell D., Cleugh H. A., Cleverly J., Resco de Dios V., Eamus D., Evans B., Ewenz C., Grace P., Griebel A., Haverd V., Hinko-Najera N., Huete A., Isaac P., Kanniah K., Leuning R., Liddell M. J., Macfarlane C., Meyer W., Moore C., Pendall E., Phillips A., Phillips R. L., Prober S. M., Restrepo-Coupe N., Rutledge S., Schroder I., Silberstein R., Southall P., Yee M. S., Tapper N. J., van Gorsel E., Vote C., Walker J. and Wardlaw T. (2016). An introduction to the Australian and New Zealand flux tower network - OzFlux, Biogeosciences, 13: 5895-5916
Website
Beringer J., Hutley L. B., McHugh I., Arndt S. K., Campbell D., Cleugh H. A., Cleverly J., Resco de Dios V., Eamus D., Evans B., Ewenz C., Grace P., Griebel A., Haverd V., Hinko-Najera N., Huete A., Isaac P., Kanniah K., Leuning R., Liddell M. J., Macfarlane C., Meyer W., Moore C., Pendall E., Phillips A., Phillips R. L., Prober S. M., Restrepo-Coupe N., Rutledge S., Schroder I., Silberstein R., Southall P., Yee M. S., Tapper N. J., van Gorsel E., Vote C., Walker J. and Wardlaw T. (2016). An introduction to the Australian and New Zealand flux tower network - OzFlux, Biogeosciences, 13: 5895-5916

Related documentation

Title
Cleverly J., Boulain N., Villalobos-Vega R., Grant N., Faux R., Wood C., Cook P. G., Yu Q., Leigh A. and Eamus D. (2013). Dynamics of component carbon fluxes in a semi-arid Acacia woodland, central Australia. J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeosci., 118: 1168-1185
Website
Cleverly J., Boulain N., Villalobos-Vega R., Grant N., Faux R., Wood C., Cook P. G., Yu Q., Leigh A. and Eamus D. (2013). Dynamics of component carbon fluxes in a semi-arid Acacia woodland, central Australia. J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeosci., 118: 1168-1185

Related documentation

Title
Eamus D., Cleverly J., Boulain N., Grant N., Faux R. and Villalobos-Vega R. (2013). Carbon and water fluxes in an arid-zone Acacia savanna woodland: An analyses of seasonal patterns and responses to rainfall events. Agric. For. Meteor., 182-183: 225-238
Website
Eamus D., Cleverly J., Boulain N., Grant N., Faux R. and Villalobos-Vega R. (2013). Carbon and water fluxes in an arid-zone Acacia savanna woodland: An analyses of seasonal patterns and responses to rainfall events. Agric. For. Meteor., 182-183: 225-238

Related documentation

Maintenance and update frequency
Biannually
GCMD Science Keywords
  • BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
  • LAND PRODUCTIVITY
  • EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
  • TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
  • ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE MEASUREMENTS
  • TURBULENCE
  • WIND SPEED
  • WIND DIRECTION
  • TRACE GASES/TRACE SPECIES
  • ATMOSPHERIC CARBON DIOXIDE
  • PHOTOSYNTHETICALLY ACTIVE RADIATION
  • LONGWAVE RADIATION
  • SHORTWAVE RADIATION
  • INCOMING SOLAR RADIATION
  • HEAT FLUX
  • AIR TEMPERATURE
  • PRECIPITATION AMOUNT
  • HUMIDITY
  • SOIL MOISTURE/WATER CONTENT
  • SOIL TEMPERATURE
ANZSRC Fields of Research
  • Atmospheric sciences
  • Climate change impacts and adaptation
  • Ecosystem function
  • Environmental management
  • Soil sciences
TERN Platform Vocabulary
  • Alice Springs Mulga Flux Station
TERN Instrument Vocabulary
  • Kipp&Zonen CNR4
  • Kipp&Zonen CNR1
TERN Parameter Vocabulary
  • downward heat flux at ground level in soil
  • Watt per Square Metre
  • relative humidity
  • Percent
  • surface downwelling shortwave flux in air
  • Watt per Square Metre
  • surface net downward radiative flux
  • Watt per Square Metre
  • surface upward latent heat flux
  • Watt per Square Metre
  • vertical wind
  • Metre per Second
  • net ecosystem productivity
  • Micromole per Square Metre Second
  • wind speed
  • Metre per Second
  • volume fraction of condensed water in soil
  • Cubic Metre per Cubic Metre
  • thickness of rainfall amount
  • Millimetre
  • surface upward sensible heat flux
  • Watt per Square Metre
  • ecosystem respiration
  • Micromole per Square Metre Second
  • gross primary productivity
  • Micromole per Square Metre Second
  • surface friction velocity
  • Metre per Second
  • mass concentration of water vapor in air
  • Gram per Cubic Metre
  • surface upwelling shortwave flux in air
  • Watt per Square Metre
  • mole fraction of water vapor in air
  • Millimole per Mole
  • soil temperature
  • Degree Celsius
  • water vapor partial pressure in air
  • Kilopascal
  • air temperature
  • Degree Celsius
  • surface upward flux of available energy
  • Watt per Square Metre
  • water vapor saturation deficit in air
  • Kilopascal
  • surface air pressure
  • Kilopascal
  • magnitude of surface downward stress
  • Kilograms per metre per square second
  • Monin-Obukhov length
  • Metre
  • surface upwelling longwave flux in air
  • Watt per Square Metre
  • specific humidity saturation deficit in air
  • Kilogram per Kilogram
  • surface upward mole flux of carbon dioxide
  • Micromole per Square Metre Second
  • wind from direction
  • Degree
  • net ecosystem exchange
  • Micromole per Square Metre Second
  • surface downwelling longwave flux in air
  • Watt per Square Metre
  • specific humidity
  • Kilogram per Kilogram
  • mole fraction of carbon dioxide in air
  • Micromole per Mole
  • lateral component of wind speed
  • Metre per Second
  • water evapotranspiration flux
  • Kilograms per square metre per second
  • longitudinal component of wind speed
  • Square Metre per Square Second
QUDT Units of Measure
  • Watt per Square Metre
  • Percent
  • Watt per Square Metre
  • Watt per Square Metre
  • Watt per Square Metre
  • Metre per Second
  • Micromole per Square Metre Second
  • Metre per Second
  • Cubic Metre per Cubic Metre
  • Millimetre
  • Watt per Square Metre
  • Micromole per Square Metre Second
  • Micromole per Square Metre Second
  • Metre per Second
  • Gram per Cubic Metre
  • Watt per Square Metre
  • Millimole per Mole
  • Degree Celsius
  • Kilopascal
  • Degree Celsius
  • Watt per Square Metre
  • Kilopascal
  • Kilopascal
  • Kilograms per metre per square second
  • Metre
  • Watt per Square Metre
  • Kilogram per Kilogram
  • Micromole per Square Metre Second
  • Degree
  • Micromole per Square Metre Second
  • Watt per Square Metre
  • Kilogram per Kilogram
  • Micromole per Mole
  • Metre per Second
  • Kilograms per square metre per second
  • Square Metre per Square Second
GCMD Horizontal Resolution Ranges
  • Point Resolution
GCMD Temporal Resolution Ranges
  • 1 minute - < 1 hour
Keywords (Discipline)
  • AU-ASM
  • Mulga woodlands

Resource constraints

Use limitation
The Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license allows others to copy, distribute, display, and create derivative works provided that they credit the original source and any other nominated parties. Details are provided at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
File name
88x31.png
File description
CCBy Logo from creativecommons.org
File type
png
Linkage
https://w3id.org/tern/static/cc-by/88x31.png

Title
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
Alternate title
CC-BY
Edition
4.0
Website
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Access constraints
License
Use constraints
Other restrictions
Other constraints
TERN services are provided on an “as-is” and “as available” basis. Users use any TERN services at their discretion and risk. They will be solely responsible for any damage or loss whatsoever that results from such use including use of any data obtained through TERN and any analysis performed using the TERN infrastructure. <br /><br />Web links to and from external, third party websites should not be construed as implying any relationships with and/or endorsement of the external site or its content by TERN.<br /><br />Please advise any work or publications that use this data via the online form at https://www.tern.org.au/research-publications/#reporting
Other constraints
Please cite this dataset as {Author} ({PublicationYear}). {Title}. {Version, as appropriate}. Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network. Dataset. {Identifier}.

Resource constraints

Classification
Unclassified
Environment description
<br>File naming convention</br> <br>The NetCDF files follow the naming convention below:</br> <br>SiteName_ProcessingLevel_FromDate_ToDate_Type.nc<ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>SiteName: short name of the site</li> <li>ProcessingLevel: file processing level (L3, L4, L5, L6) </li> <li>FromDate: temporal interval (start), YYYYMMDD</li> <li>ToDate: temporal interval (end), YYYYMMDD</li> <li>Type (Level 6 only): Summary, Monthly, Daily, Cumulative, Annual</li></ul> For the NetCDF files at Level 6 (L6), there are several additional 'aggregated' files. For example: <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>Summary: This file is a summary of the L6 data for daily, monthly, annual and cumulative data. The files Monthly to Annual below are combined together in one file.</li> <li>Monthly: This file shows L6 monthly averages of the respective variables, e.g. AH, Fc, NEE, <em>etc.</em></li> <li>Daily: same as Monthly but with daily averages.</li> <li>Cumulative: File showing cumulative values for ecosystem respiration, evapo-transpiration, gross primary productivity, net ecosystem exchange and production as well as precipitation.</li> <li>Annual: same as Monthly but with annual averages.</li></ul>

Distribution Information

Distribution format

Distributor

Distributor

Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
80 Meiers Road, Indooroopilly, Queensland, 4068, Australia
Indooroopilly
Queensland
4068
Australia
OnLine resource
NetCDF files (2023_v1)

OnLine resource
ro-crate-metadata.json

Data quality info

Hierarchy level
Dataset
Other
<br>Processing levels</br> <br>Under each of the data release directories, the netcdf files are organised by processing levels (L3, L4, L5 and L6):<ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>L3 (Level 3) processing applies a range of quality assurance/quality control measures (QA/QC) to the L1 data. The variable names are mapped to the standard variable names (CF 1.8) as part of this step. The L3 netCDF file is then the starting point for all further processing stages.</li> <li>L4 (Level 4) processing fills gaps in the radiation, meteorological and soil quantities utilising AWS (automated weather station), ACCESS-G (Australian Community Climate and Earth-System Simulator) and ERA5 (the fifth generation ECMWF atmospheric reanalysis of the global climate).</li> <li>L5 (Level 5) processing fills gaps in the flux data employing the artificial neural network SOLO (self-organising linear output map).</li> <li>L6 (Level 6) processing partitions the gap-filled NEE into GPP and ER.</li></ul> Each processing level has two sub-folders ‘default’ and ‘site_pi’:<ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>default: contains files processed using PyFluxPro</li> <li>site_pi: contains files processed by the principal investigators of the site.</li></ul> If the data quality is poor, the data is filled from alternative sources. Filled data can be identified by the Quality Controls flags in the dataset. Quality control checks include: <ul style="list-style-type: disc;"> <li>range checks for plausible limits</li> <li>spike detection</li> <li>dependency on other variables</li> <li>manual rejection of date ranges</li></ul> Specific checks applied to the sonic and IRGA data include rejection of points based on the sonic and IRGA diagnostic values and on either automatic gain control (AGC) or CO<sub>2</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>O signal strength, depending upon the configuration of the IRGA.</br>
Title
Isaac P., Cleverly J., McHugh I., van Gorsel E., Ewenz C. and Beringer, J. (2017). OzFlux data: network integration from collection to curation, Biogeosciences, 14: 2903-2928
Website
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-2903-2017

Abstract
Isaac P., Cleverly J., McHugh I., van Gorsel E., Ewenz C. and Beringer, J. (2017). OzFlux data: network integration from collection to curation, Biogeosciences, 14: 2903-2928

Resource lineage

Statement
All flux raw data is subject to the quality control process OzFlux QA/QC to generate data from L1 to L6. Levels 3 to 6 are available for re-use. Datasets contain Quality Controls flags which will indicate when data quality is poor and has been filled from alternative sources. For more details, refer to Isaac et al. (2017).
Hierarchy level
Dataset
Title
Isaac P., Cleverly J., McHugh I., van Gorsel E., Ewenz C. and Beringer, J. (2017). OzFlux data: network integration from collection to curation, Biogeosciences, 14: 2903-2928
Website
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-2903-2017

Method documentation

Title
PyFluxPro
Website
https://github.com/OzFlux/PyFluxPro/wiki

Method documentation

Reference System Information

Reference system identifier
EPSG/EPSG:4326

Reference system type
Geodetic Geographic 2D

Metadata

Metadata identifier
urn:uuid/fc10d99e-7f15-4864-9ebb-5188a8cbb2f4

Title
TERN GeoNetwork UUID

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Point of contact

Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
Building 1019, 80 Meiers Rd
Indooroopilly
QLD
4068
Australia
+61 7 3365 9097
Title
Alice Springs Mulga Flux Data Collection

Identifier

Code
888ba337-c58f-4f8c-9438-7c4356e947df
Codespace
https://geonetwork.tern.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/
Description
Parent Metadata Record

Type of resource

Resource scope
Dataset
Metadata linkage
https://geonetwork.tern.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/fc10d99e-7f15-4864-9ebb-5188a8cbb2f4

Point-of-truth metadata URL

Date info (Creation)
2022-03-17T00:00:00.000000+00:00
Date info (Revision)
2025-12-10T10:35:55.195501+00:00

Metadata standard

Title
ISO 19115-1:2014/AMD 1:2018 Geographic information - Metadata - Fundamentals
Edition
1

Metadata standard

Title
ISO/TS 19115-3:2016
Edition
1.0

Metadata standard

Title
ISO/TS 19157-2:2016
Edition
1.0
Title
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-3:2016 and ISO 19157-2:2016
Date (published)
2021
Edition
1.0

Identifier

Code
10.5281/zenodo.5652221
Website
https://github.com/ternaustralia/TERN-ISO19115/releases/tag/v1.0

 
 

Overviews

Spatial extent

N
S
E
W


Keywords

ANZSRC Fields of Research
Atmospheric sciences Climate change impacts and adaptation Ecosystem function Environmental management Soil sciences
GCMD Science Keywords
AIR TEMPERATURE ATMOSPHERIC CARBON DIOXIDE ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE MEASUREMENTS BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES EVAPOTRANSPIRATION HEAT FLUX HUMIDITY INCOMING SOLAR RADIATION LAND PRODUCTIVITY LONGWAVE RADIATION PHOTOSYNTHETICALLY ACTIVE RADIATION PRECIPITATION AMOUNT SHORTWAVE RADIATION SOIL MOISTURE/WATER CONTENT SOIL TEMPERATURE TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS TRACE GASES/TRACE SPECIES TURBULENCE WIND DIRECTION WIND SPEED

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Associated resources

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