NEON at ESA 2023

The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a continental-scale ecological observation facility fully funded by NSF and operated by Battelle. NEON collects and provides open data and samples from field sites across the United States to characterize and quantify how our nation's ecosystems are changing. The comprehensive data, spatial extent, and remote sensing technology provided by the NEON program contribute to a better understanding and more accurate forecasting of how human activities impact ecology and how we can more effectively address critical ecological questions and issues.

NEON data and resources are freely available to enable users to tackle scientific questions at scales not accessible to previous generations of ecologists. The Observatory includes 81 field sites (47 terrestrial and 34 aquatic) located in different ecosystems across the United States (including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico). Data collection methods are standardized across sites and include automated instrument measurements, observational field sampling, and airborne remote sensing surveys. Field sites are strategically selected to represent different regions of vegetation, landforms, climate, and ecosystem performance. The NEON data catalog includes over 180 data products. The Observatory also archives biological, genomic, and geological samples, available upon request and curated by the NEON Biorepository at Arizona State University.

NEON is part of a bold effort to:

• Understand and forecast continental-scale environmental change
• Inform natural resource decisions
• Engage the next generation of scientists

Join us! What questions will you answer?