Fluxnet-Canada Metadata Documentation Guidelines This is an outline of the required data set documentation for Fluxnet-Canada. It is based on the BERMS and BOREAS models. The data documentation includes: 1. Data Set Overview 2. Investigator(s) 3. Theory of Measurements 4. Equipment 5. Site Description 6. Data Acquisition Methods 7. Observations 8. Data Description 9. Data Manipulations 10. Errors and Limitations 11. Software 12. References 13. Glossary of Terms and Acronyms 14. Document Information Note: The text surrounded by square brackets ([..]) is an expanded instruction, or set of instructions, for the outline item which appears directly above it. Also, be aware that the metadata file will also be stored as a simple ASCII flat file. Special characters, maps, figures and other objects (including Microsoft Word equations), as well as special formats such as bold, underline and italics will not get translated when saving the file. If in doubt, please try saving your metadata file as a “.txt” file to determine if file integrity is maintained. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Data Set Overview [This section is aimed toward the person searching for a data set. Descriptions should be succinct and clear, and acronyms should be spelled out.] 1.1 Data Set Identification Boreal Ecosystem Research and Monitoring Sites (BERMS) Tower Flux Meteorological Data From the Southern Study Area 1975 Harvested Jack Pine Site 1.2 Study Overview [A short text describing the study/experiment, and its objective] The BERMS (Boreal Ecosystem Research and Monitoring Sites) project was designed as a 5 year partial follow-up to the BOREAS (Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study) experiment. A need to study the effects of harvesting on the carbon, water and energy budgets in forested ecosystems resulted in the establishment of a new flux site near the Old Jack Pine site, which was harvested in 1975. The data set documented here, includes soil moisture measurements at the 1975 Harvested Jack Pine site in support of carbon, water and energy flux measurements at this site. The climate monitoring program serves some of the following purposes: 1) to provide supporting measurements for flux monitoring, 2) to contribute to the development and validation of weather and climate models and 3) to provide information for interannual climate variability studies in the boreal forest. BERMS has been a participant in Fluxnet Canada since 2002. 1.3 Data Set Introduction [The nature of the data, including a summary of the key parameters/variables studied, and the primary instruments used. A full description will be given in section 7.] 1.4 Related Data Sets [Note any similar or related data collected by the investigator, other investigators, or other data centres. Something like five or six related data sets is a good number to provide.] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Investigator(s) 2.1 Principal Investigator(s) Name and Title [Identify the Principal Investigator(s) for this data set, including general affiliation if applicable] Alan Barr (PI) Climate Research Branch Environment Canada National Hydrology Research Centre 11 Innovation Boulevard Saskatoon, SK S7N 3H5 Canada Alan.Barr@ec.gc.ca (306)975-4324 2.2 Title of Investigation [Official name of group taken from the Fluxnet-Canada Experiment Plan.] 2.3 Contact Information [Identify and give full coordinates of the person(s) most knowledgeable about the actual collection and processing of the data sets. In many cases this will be a person (or persons), other than the Principal Investigator.] Erin Thompson BERMS Secretariat Climate Research Branch Environment Canada National Hydrology Research Centre 11 Innovation Boulevard Saskatoon, SK S7N 3H5 Canada Erin.Thompson@ec.gc.ca (306)975-4215 Charmaine Hrynkiw Climate Research Branch Environment Canada National Hydrology Research Centre 11 Innovation Boulevard Saskatoon, SK S7N 3H5 Canada Charmaine.Hrynkiw@ec.gc.ca (306)975-5627 2.4 Field and/or laboratory staff: Dell Bayne, Bruce Cole, Joe Eley, Natasha Neumann, Craig Smith, Erin Thompson. 2.5 Acknowledgements : Students: Jodi Axelson, Andrea Eccleston, Matt Regier, Jenny Hill, Courtney Campbell, Lisa Christmas, Kim Kovacs, Justin Beckers, Brett Reynolds. Site Contractor: Werner Bauer. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Theory of Measurements [Theoretical basis for the way in which the measurements were made (e.g. special procedures, characteristics of the instrument, etc.).] The CS615 Water Content Reflectometer provides a measure of the volumetric water content of porous media. The water content information is derived from the effect of changing dielectric constant on electomagnetic waves propagating along a wave guide. The relectometer output is a square wave and can be connected to Campbell Scientific dataloggers. The measured period can be converted to volumetric water content using calibration values (CS615 Water Content Reflectometer Instruction Manual, Campbell Scientific Inc. 10/96) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Equipment 4.1.1 Sensor/Instrument Description [This section provides a listing of the instrumentation and the characteristics of the instrumentation.] Automated stations were set up to log data from soil moisture sensors. This data was either downloaded remotely via modem or stored on modules until they could be downloaded to a computer. The following instruments were used to measure soil moisture: i) Campbell Scientific CS615 soil moisture probes ii) Campbell Scientific data loggers. (description, manufacturer, calibration, specs, frequency of calibration, other calibration information) i) Campbell Scientific CS615 soil moisture probes - Description: Consists of 2 stainless steel rods connected to a printed circuit board. A shielded four-conductor cable is connected to the circuit board to supply power, enable the probe, and monitor the pulse output. - Manufacturer: Campbell Scientific - Calibration: Lab calibrated in Saskatoon prior to deployment. - Specs: +/-2% when using calibration for a specific soil. The accuracy depends on soil texture and mineral composition. - Frequency of Calibration: once prior to deployment. ii) Campbell Scientific Data Loggers - Description: provides the means to log information from sensors whose leads are connected to I/O cards. Control module functions include real-time task initiation, measurement processing, data storage, telecommunications and keyboard/display interaction. - Manufacturer: Campbell Scientific - Calibration: n/a - Specs: n/a - Frequency of Calibration: 4.1.2 Manufacturer of Sensor/Instrument [The company that produced the instrument and make and model, if applicable. If the measuring device was built by the investigator, or specially customized, please specify.] See section above. 4.1.3 Principles of Operation [Fundamental scientific basis for the way the instrument operates. This is a summary; where a full development is required, it should be placed in section 3.] See section above. 4.1.4 Source/Platform [What the instrument(s) is(are) mounted on, e.g. tower, hand held, aircraft.] - Soil moisture is measured below ground level, near the tower. For more details see section on Data Description 4.1.5 Sensor/Instrument Measurement Geometry [Describe the sensor location(s), orientation, and any other parameters that affect the collection or analysis of data, e.g. field of view, optical characteristics, height, etc.] -Soil moisture sensors were installed below the ground, beneath organic layers of leaf litter. See the section on Data Description for more information. 4.1.6 Collection Environment [Under what environmental conditions were the data collected and the instrumentation operated. This includes descriptions of the types of sites visited and factors that may effect the measurements such as temperature range experienced during data collection.] Temperatures ranged from a maximum of 35 deg C in the summer to a minimum of -45 deg C in the winter. On average, the region has a frost-free season of between 80 to 100 days (Phillips, 1990). Precipitation events in the summer ranged from trace amounts to approximately 35mm. Summer storms consisted of wind gusts up to 15 m per s, with rain, lightning and/or hail. In the winter it was common to have periods of snow, ice and frost. The average maximum snow depth for the region is between 50 and 70cm (Gray, 1981). 4.2 Calibration [Describe how the measurements made by the device(s) are calibrated with known standards. Specific details should be given in the subsections below.] See section on Equipment above. 4.2.1 Specifications [Record any specifications that affect the calibration of the device, its operations, or the analysis of the data collected with it.] See section on Sensor/Instrument Description above. 4.2.1.1 Tolerance [Describe the acceptable range of inputs and the precision of the output values.] See section on Sensor/Instrument Description above. 4.2.2 Frequency of Calibration [Indicate how often the instrument is measured against a standard. Also indicate any other routine procedures required to maintain calibration or detect miscalibrations. Describe also the actual practice with this device.] See section on Sensor/Instrument Description above. 4.2.3 Other Calibration Information [Give factory calibration coefficients, information about independent calibrations, history of modifications, etc.] See section on Sensor/Instrument Description above. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Site description [Standard site description, should include site location in a well referenced coordinate system, site elevation, vegetation type, etc…] - Latitude/Longitude and Elevation: please refer to the “Site Info” file in the root site directory. - Topography: undulating - Predominant vegetation: 5-12m tall jack pine trees with clumps of alder,ground cover is dominated by lichens - Soil properties: Sandy soil with very good drainage. 6. Data Acquisition Methods [Describe the procedures for acquiring this data in sufficient detail so that someone else with similar equipment could duplicate your measurements. Should be sufficient to include in the Methods section of a paper] 6.1 Methods of data acquisition [How the instruments were actually installed and used to obtain the measurements and how the material was processed after the main measurements were obtained, e.g. analytical lab procedures to get nitrogen concentration following gas exchange measurements] Instrumentation connected to Campbell Scientific data loggers were sampled and stored on the loggers. Most of the data were remotely downloaded from dataloggers on a daily basis. In cases where a datalogger was not connected to a phone line, data was downloaded either by a lap-top computer or storage module. 6.2 Sampling 6.2.1 Spatial Coverage/Geographic Location [May already be covered in section 5 (Site Description). If not, give enough information to locate the measurement site with suitable precision. This may be a list of sites visited, or a geographic range in the case of aircraft measurements or satellite imagery, or plot coordinates in UTM, including a clear reference to the coordinate system.] For more details on exact location of instruments, see section on Data Description. 6.2.2 Spatial sampling [Includes a description of spatial sampling: how many sites/samples; how were they selected, the coordinates (e.g. UTM) of the plots, how many replicates over space, etc…] Data were continuously collected all year round, however data are not of any use when the soil is frozen. 6.2.3 Temporal coverage [The period(s) of time during which data was collected more or less continuously.] Data were continuously collected all year round, however data are not of any use during the winter, when the soil is frozen. 6.2.4 Temporal sampling [Includes a description of the temporal sampling scheme: when was the sampling carried out (time of day), at what frequency were the measurements taken, how long did the measurements take, etc…] sampled every 4 hours. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 . Observations 7.1 Procedural Notes [Use this section to record observations made during actual data collection, which could bear on the analysis of the data, e.g. condition of site, peculiar procedures or operations, the presence of U.F.O.'s or bears, oddities in equipment function, etc.] n/a 7.2 Field Notes [If a large amount field notes exist, a reference to a separate file will be adequate.] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 . Data Description [This section describes the data in the data set: what the data are, units, format, data characteristics.] 8.1 Data Organization [Describe how your data is organized, e.g.: by site and/or month.] Data are organized by site and date. 8.2 Image andData Format [Specify the format that the image or the data is (are) provided in.] ASCII csv. 8.3 Numerical Data Characteristics [Describe the types of data submitted. On separate lines, indicate each column number followed by its header (variable name), the unit of measurement, and variable description. Example:] Variable Units Variable Description ---------- ------- ------------------------- 1 DataType="SM3" (n/a) Includes corrected, averaged and gapfilled soil moisture data. 2 Site="SK-HJP75" (n/a) Saskatchewan Harvested 1975 Jack Pine site 3 SubSite="FlxTwr" (n/a) Flux Tower sub-site. 4 Year (UTC) 4 digit year. 5 Day (UTC) Day of Year. 6 End_Time (UTC) End of 4h time period, in hours and minutes UTC. 7 AvgCS615_ (m3/m3) Average of two soil volumetric water content VWC_0to15cm measurements from 2 separate pits. Instruments installed at a 45 deg angle spanning 0-15cm below the soil surface. CS615 soil moisture sensor. 8 AvgCS615_ (m3/m3) Average of two soil volumetric water content VWC_15to30cm measurements from 2 separate pits. Instruments installed at a 45 deg angle spanning 15-30cm below the soil surface. CS615 soil moisture sensor. 9 AvgCS615_ (m3/m3) Average of three soil volumetric water content VWC_30to60cm measurements from 2 separate pits. One instrument installed vertically spanning 30-60cm below the soil surface in one pit, and the other two installed at a 45 deg angle spanning 30-45cm and 45-60cm below the soil surface in the other pit. CS615 soil moisture sensor. 10 AvgCS615_ (m3/m3) Average of two soil volumetric water content VWC_60to90cm measurements from 2 separate pits. Instruments installed vertically spanning 60-90cm below the soil surface. CS615 soil moisture sensor. 11 AvgCS615_ (m3/m3) Average of two soil volumetric water content VWC_90to120cm measurements from 2 separate pits. Instruments installed vertically spanning 90-120cm below the soil surface. CS615 soil moisture sensor. 12 AvgCS615_VWC (m3/m3) One soil volumetric water content measurement. _120to150cm Instrument installed vertically spanning 120-150cm below the soil surface. CS615 soil moisture sensor. 13 Certification (n/a) CPI: checked by PI; PRE: preliminary. Code 14 RevisionDate (dymoyear) Date data last revised by PI. 8.3.1. Sample Data Record DataType,Site,SubSite,Year,Day,End_Time,AvgCS615_VWC_0to15cm,AvgCS615_VWC_15to30cm,AvgCS615_VWC_30to60cm,AvgCS615_VWC_60to90cm,AvgCS615_VWC_90to120cm,AvgCS615_VWC_120to150cm,CertificationCode,RevisionDate (n/a),(n/a),(n/a),(UTC),(UTC),(UTC),(m3/m3),(m3/m3),(m3/m3),(m3/m3),(m3/m3),(m3/m3),(n/a),(dymoyear) SM3,SK-HJP75,FlxTwr,2006,91,400,0.0845741,0.0700461,0.08788,0.10675,0.115456,0.0903768,PRE,13072006 SM3,SK-HJP75,FlxTwr,2006,91,800,0.0847959,0.0700309,0.0878882,0.106763,0.115464,0.0903836,PRE,13072006 SM3,SK-HJP75,FlxTwr,2006,91,1200,0.0847743,0.0700143,0.087873,0.106754,0.115453,0.0903749,PRE,13072006 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 . Data Manipulations [This section describes the steps by which the data were processed to their final form if not covered in section 8 (Data Description).] 9.1 Post Processing and Calculated Variables [Specify all post-treatment of data, including data processing steps and calculations. Include relevant equations with definitions of terms and units.] - Calibration and temperature adjustments applied. - Outliers excluded. 9.2 Special Corrections/Adjustments [List any 'special' corrections/adjustments made to portions but not all of the data to make it compatible with the data set as a whole.] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 . Errors and Limitations [This section describes an error analysis for the data.] 10.1 Sources of Error [Describe what factors of the instrument or environment may have introduced errors in the observations]. 10.2 Quality Assessment - Data quality was assured by comparing similar variables at the same site and also by comparing variables at different sites within the BERMS area. This was done weekly, in near real time, to ensure that problems were flagged and fixed in a timely manner. - The data submitted are of good quality with minimal amount of errors. However, any measurement is not perfect, and the user must be aware of the limitations of the instrumentation. - Data are quite unreliable when the soil is frozen and are therefore not very useful during the winter. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 . Software 11.1 Software Description [Describe all software that was used to process the data.] Various kinds of plotting and housekeeping software were used to view and process BERMS meteorology data. Some software was commercially available (like PC208 from Campbell Scientific), while others were programs written in C++ and Matlab. Here is a list of current programs and their functions: *** To be written *** 11.2 Software Access [Describe any software that may be available for use by someone who may want to perform further processing of the data. Also describe where a user can get it -- commercial source, Web site, FTP archive, e-mail to author, etc.] Please feel free to contact the following people to discuss software availability and usage: Steve Enns Phone: (306) 975-5683 Email: Steve.Enns@ec.gc.ca Alan Barr Phone: (306) 975-4324 Email: Alan.Barr@ec.gc.ca --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12 . References 12.1 Platform/Sensor/Instrument/Data Processing Documentation [List any published documentation relevant to the data collected, such as manufacturer's instruction manuals, government technical manuals, user's guides, etc.] Campbell Scientific. 1996. CS615 Water Content Reflectometer Instruction Manual. Campbell Scientific Inc. 12.2 Journal Articles and Study Reports [List technical reports and scientific publications that concern the methods, instruments, or data described in this document. Publications by the Principal Investigator or investigating group that would help a reader understand or analyze the data are particularly important.] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13. Glossary of Terms and Acronyms [Define discipline-related jargon and the wealth of scientific notations/symbols that may be used in the text, as well all "local" acronyms. Items from the following list may be included. BERMS - Boreal Ecosystem Research and Monitoring Sites BOREAS - BOReal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study UTC - Universal Coordinated Time --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14 . Document Information 14.1 Document Revision Date [Use yyyy-mm-dd-mmm format] 14.2 Document Author 14.3 Keywords [Include a list of appropriate key words to assist in searching for information.] Soil moisture, climate, jack pine, southern boreal forest, BERMS, BOREAS, Harvested Jack Pine