Research Highlights from OzFlux - the Australian and New Zealand Flux Research and Monitoring Network

Abstract:

OzFlux is a national ecosystem research network set up to provide the Australian and global ecosystem modelling communities with nationally consistent observations of energy, carbon and water exchange between the atmosphere and key Australian ecosystems. OzFlux is part of the “network of networks” Fluxnet, that is designed to provide continuous, long-term micrometeorological measurements to monitor the state of ecosystems globally. OzFlux started in 2000 with Howard Springs and Tumbarumba, the first two towers in the network and has expanded to currently 38 towers. A diverse range of science is based on the data from this network that has

*helped to understand mechanisms controlling exchanges of carbon, water vapour and energy between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere over a range of time and space scales,

*provided information to validate estimates of net primary productivity, evaporation, and energy absorption using remotely sensed radiance data or more generally

*been used for model testing

*provided the data to validate new developments in micrometeorological theory for fluxes and air flows in complex terrain

In this contribution we will introduce OzFlux and highlight some of the science that has come from the network.