Observatory Blog

COVID-19-related changes to operations across the Observatory, updated each Monday.

Would you like to know when Continuous discharge (DP4.00130.001) will be available for a site? We regularly update this blog with new information.

If you can't choose between the mountains and the ocean, the Pacific Northwest (D16) may be the place for you. This coastal Domain features spectacular mountain ranges, vast conifer forests, and a rugged, rocky coastline. The NEON field sites, nestled into the Cascade Mountains of Washington and Oregon, offer an opportunity to see how different land management strategies impact this unique temperate ecosystem.

neonUtilities 2.1.1 is now available on CRAN! This new version fixes a small number of bugs, including the readr 2.0.0 incompatibility described in an earlier notification. Update is highly recommended.

Version 2.0.0 of the readr package was released July 20, 2021. This new version causes stackByTable() to error out in neonUtilities 2.1.0 and earlier. A new version of neonUtilities that resolves this issue will be released as soon as possible.

Cows and croplands dominate large portions of the U.S. How does this agriculture impact ecosystems? NEON field sites located on or near agricultural land – including some colocated with Long-Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) sites and Agricultural Research Stations – can help answer important questions about the interactions between agricultural activities and native ecosystems.

NEON staff participated in a five-session virtual workshop to generate creative strategies and new research collaborations centered on the fire science community. The workshop was designed to make steps towards improving understanding of different types of fires across temporal and spatial scales, predicting feedbacks between wildfire and living systems, and improving the representation of biological processes in models. Kaelin Cawley, a NEON research scientist and aquatic biogeochemist, brought the NEON perspective to the event.

This is an update to the previous post concerning sonde depth data from the buoys, which are currently not corrected for barometric pressure effects.

If you like it hot, the Desert Southwest may be for you. From the iconic saguaro cactus stands of the Sonoran to the mesquite scrublands of the Chihuahuan, this region offers a diverse range of desert and mountainous landscapes to explore. Data from the NEON field sites will help scientists better understand the impact of human disturbances and climate change on these unique and fragile arid ecosystems.

Following the discovery that wind monitor orientation discrepancies were adversely affecting wind direction data in Wind speed and direction on lakes on-buoy, NEON has field-verified current wind monitor orientations at the buoy sites and updated the algorithm to account for the wind monitor orientation and approximate uncertainty atop the buoy mast.

While some people find bugs to be scary or gross, Dr. Roisin Stanbrook hopes to change that perception by showing how insects are critical to the conservation of our natural world. In addition to detailing her fascinating work with dung beetles, Stanbrook discussed how her non-traditional path to conservation ecology is an asset in the long run, and how she hopes to teach her students the same.

neonUtilities 2.1.0 is now available on CRAN! This new version adds new options for handling Release data, improves error messaging, and fixes bugs in flux footprints and microbe community composition. Update is highly recommended.

This is an update to the previous post concerning external lab surface water and groundwater nutrient data. Currently, sub-samples for nutrient analysis are being frozen and stored for future analysis with lower MDLs. The newly contracted external laboratory will begin receiving samples June 14, 2021 and all stored samples will be shipped by December 31, 2021. Data will be published approximately 90 days following sample receipt.

Macroinvertebrate metabarcoding (DP1.20126.001) and Zooplankton metabarcoding (DP1.20221.001) bioinformatics data in the tables inv_metabarcodeTaxonomy and zoo_metabarcodeTaxonomy tables are missing or have incorrectly labeled records for COI-F230 for samples collected in 2018 and 2019.

Surface water microbe cell count (DP1.20138.001) laboratory data for all aquatic sites from 9/2017 to 9/2020 were found to have incorrect calculations populating rawMicrobialAbundance data field. Data were recalculated, edited, and published to the data portal on April 5, 2021.

Can machine learning be used for accurate species identification of beetles and other invertebrates? Dr. Katie Marshall and Jarrett Blair at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and collaborators sought to answer this question using carabid beetle data from the NEON program. Eventually, they hope to leverage machine learning to identify other species caught in the NEON beetle pitfall traps. Machine learning could one day be used to classify unidentified species in the NEON bycatch (species caught other than the target species) and answer new questions about invertebrate diversity and abundance across North America.

How do you collect phenology data at a large scale for an elusive species like the deer mouse? Drs. Bryan McLean and Robert Guralnick combined mammal trapping data from the NEON program with a century of museum data to find insights into the environmental drivers of reproduction for small mammals.

Every year, the NEON program hires between 230-250 seasonal field technicians. These seasonal workers, often recent college graduates, are tasked with collecting field observations and physical samples at NEON field sites. A new internal Online Training Center makes it easier to standardize training across the NEON Domains and track training progress for new recruits.

We spoke with Dr. Bala Chaudhary, assistant professor of Environmental Science and Studies at DePaul University, about her career, about how the lack of representation of people of color – both while she was in school and in her professional career – drives her to work toward creating a more equitable academic system, and she shared insightful ways that universities and labs can improve.

Recently, SciTeens partnered with Florida State University to offer a virtual Data Science Camp for high school students in Florida. Participants learned how to manipulate and analyze data in the Python computer language and present data at a college level. The students in the Ecological Data Science Camp explored data from the NEON program and had an introduction into techniques for importing and analyzing the data.

Are you interested in investigating spatial and spectral relationships between high resolution airborne hyperspectral data and satellite observations? Learn more about our September 2020 data collection campaign at CPER in conjunction with Landsat7, Landsat8, and Sentinal 2A.

Happy Earth Day! Many NEON field sites are hosted by or colocated with organizations that do conservation and restoration work. The data NEON collects at these sites provide a window into how ecosystems are changing and the impact of restoration efforts.

Macroinvertebrate collection (DP1.20120.001) field data in the table inv_fieldData for all aquatic sites from 2014 through 2019 are duplicated on the NEON data portal due to an error on data transition for this table. Corrections have been made, but will not appear on the portal until the 2022 data release.

Domain 07, in the heartland of the U.S., is a land of rolling hills, steep ridges, gentle valleys, and many shades of green. The Appalachians and Cumberland Plateau feature some of the world's oldest mountains and the world's largest hardwood-forested plateau. The region's rich geologic history and temperate, moist climate have made it one of the most biodiverse areas of North America.

This month, Dr. Erin Hotchkiss talked with us about her current and upcoming projects, including a collaboration with NEON using sensors at NEON stream sites to investigate the relationships between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

This is an update to the previous post concerning wind direction data from the buoys. NEON has field-verified current wind monitor orientations at the buoy sites, and is taking multiple corrective measures.

Observing and predicting mosquito phenology could answer important questions about relationships between climate, insect activity, and the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. These relationships can be explored with phenology data from NEON and the National Phenology Network (USA-NPN).

MDPs are mobile, modular NEON field stations that can go practically anywhere with road access. They put the power of NEON's instrumented systems into the hands of PIs, academic institutions, and research organizations.

The National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) and NEON have developed an open resource onboarding document geared to support researchers beginning their postdoctoral work with NEON - it can be easily adapted for other early career scientists entering roles.

neonUtilities 2.0.1 is now available on CRAN! This new version resolves several bugs in the initial release of neonUtilities 2.0.0; update is highly recommended.