Data Notifications

We previously reported an unusually high number of duplicate records in the fish bulk count data. This issue will be resolved in RELEASE-2025.

In response to a partner laboratory storing foliar subsamples at an incorrect temperature, NEON conducted a small study to compare how short-term storage at -20°C vs -80°C impacts chlorophyll and carotenoid content. There was no significant storage temperature effect on pigment content, which suggests the improperly stored samples are likely suitable for most analyses.

There are an unusually high number of duplicate records in the fish bulk count data. We are working to resolve the issue.

On 2 August 2024 the SYCA site was burned by the Sand Stone Fire. Observational sampling resumed within a few days after fire closure was lifted

The neonutilities code package is now available in Python. Read on to learn more about this new code release.

The following data products have been reprocessed using NEON’s new instrument processing pipeline: Elevation of groundwater (DP1.20100.001), Specific conductivity in groundwater (DP1.20015.001), Temperature of groundwater (DP1.20217.001), and Elevation of surface water (DP1.20016.001).

NEON has added a subset of the Airborne Observation Platform (AOP) ( NEON Airborne Remote Sensing) data products to Google Earth Engine (GEE), an

Permitting constraints resulted in a partial change to the sampling area at the NEON Domain 04 Lajas Experimental Station site. A subset of plots were decommissioned and new plots were established in a nearby area.

We previously identified issues with how pH, bicarbonate (HCO3) and carbonate (CO3) samples reported in the Chemical properties of surface water ( DP1

Update to the naming convention for Terrestrial Observation System subplots is complete. Published data and spatial metadata reflect the new naming convention.

It was discovered recently that many older NEON metagenomic samples that were sequenced in 2018 – 2019 were not formatted correctly. The fastq files from these sequencing runs are not in error, but the reads in the paired end files are in a different order to each other. The variable formatting prevents automated bioinformatics workflows from interleaving paired reads. These files will be repaired and made available from the NEON website in the 2025 data release. This notification provides details for users to access or generate properly formatted files in the interim.

neonOS 1.1.0 is now available on CRAN! Read to learn more about updates in this version.

Starting on January 1, 2024, several changes were made to the Periphyton, seston, and phytoplankton collection (DP1.20166.001) and Periphyton, seston, and phytoplankton chemical properties (DP1.20163.001) data products to improve data quality. Decisions to change these data products are congruent with the framework for NEON Observational Sampling Design Optimization (https://www.neonscience.org/optimizing-observational-sampling-designs). These changes affect data from all NEON aquatic sites.

The mosquito pathogen survey will close on June 7, 2024. All responses must be received by that date. There is a recorded webinar detailing the rationale for the changes if you would like to review it before completing the survey.

The crown polygons generated during canopy foliage sampling are in the WGS1984 projection. All other NEON remote sensing and spatial data are projected on the UTM grid. Going forward, NEON will project crown polygons in the UTM grid, and will update the existing crown polygons’ spatial projection.

We previously identified an issue with unusually high values for a subset of DOC concentrations published in Chemical properties of surface water. We have completed the investigation and determined that these values are sufficiently suspect to be removed from the data portal, starting with RELEASE-2025.

The strategy for mosquito pathogen testing is being reconsidered due to extremely low numbers of positive mosquito pathogen tests performed over the past decade. NEON staff have been reviewing the data collected to date and discussing options with the Mosquito Technical Working Group in recent months. NEON is inviting feedback through a survey from the broader community to guide the recommendation to the NSF on the preferred future direction for this data product.

There have been many changes in NEON's microbial data products, as were detailed in an earlier Data Notification. This is an update on the status of NEON microbe data.

neonUtilities 2.4.2 is now available on CRAN! Read on to learn more about updates in this version.

The samples endpoint has been fixed and the update of NEON Biorepository records is underway.

We reduced the number of dilution subsamples per root core in table bbc_dilution from 10 to 3 at all terrestrial sites. This change was reviewed and approved by the NEON Plant Biomass and Productivity Technical Working Group, and was implemented on 2023-08-02, saving 70% of the labor associated with time-intensive sorting of dilution subsamples.

As of NEON’s 2024 Data Release, there have been modifications in the eddy covariance storage exchange (ECSE) workflow and bundled HDF5 files (DP4.00200.001).

NEON quantifies soil microbe biomass via measurement of phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA). The high-throughput PLFA method used involves addition of an internal standard to each sample, then PLFA concentrations are scaled by the recovery of that internal standard. For data collected prior to November 1, 2021, PLFAs were reported in unscaled format with extraction efficiency provided in order for users to conduct the scaling. After November 1, 2021, unscaled data are no longer ingested, and only data scaled to the internal standard are provided.

Due to an ordering error at NEON’s Southeast Domain (D03), aquatic biogeochemical samples that are required to be collected with GF/F grade filters

We have identified an issue with unusually high values for a subset of Dissolved Organic Carbon (DOC) concentrations published in Chemical properties

An error in the samples endpoint of the NEON API returned incorrect taxonomy data for a subset of sample types, impacting some NEON Biorepository collection records and potentially other users of the samples endpoint. This issue does not affect data products accessed via the NEON Data Portal, neonUtilities, or the data endpoint of the API.

In response to the issues identified in a previous post, NEON staff are currently developing code specifically designed to correct timestamps in data processing. The impacted data will undergo reprocessing and be published as provisional data as soon as the code is ready. We aim to release the corrected data in the 2025 data release.

To resolve apparent negative blank-corrected nitrate + nitrite N concentrations in some soil potassium chloride (KCl) extracts collected prior to 2022, a statistical correction using quantile regression can be applied to the data. This correction has been added as an optional function parameter in the neonNTrans R package def.calc.ntrans function.

As of November 1, 2023, Particulate Mass (DP1.00101.001) samples are no longer collected at NEON sites. NEON’s Particulate Mass data product (DP1.00101.001) provides the mass of PM10 (particulate matter 10 micrometers or less in diameter) collected on quartz filters biweekly at six NEON sites; these filters are archived and made available for further analysis from the NEON Biorepository.

Beginning in the 2024 field season, there will be a maximum of 4 bouts of small mammal sampling (DP1.10072.001) per year at all sites as well as a maximum of 6 mammal grids per site. We are also introducing a low intensity sampling regime of 1 bout per year at 3 sites (DSNY, LENO, BARR) with extremely low capture rates, diversity, and pathogen infection.