Discontinuation of Select NEON Data Products

Each year, the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) conducts an annual planning process to align priorities with its budget. As the operator of the Observatory and in close coordination with the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), we ensure responsible stewardship of these resources. In 2026, a key priority is enhancing the capacity of the NEON Biorepository, i.e., dedicating funds to ensure the needed storage for the biological and environmental samples that are an essential resource for the research community and have significant potential for commercial users. The nation-wide array of physical samples, including microbes, are intimately linked in space and time to over 180 data products through NEON’s leading cyberinfrastructure. Together they enable new questions to be addressed and long time-scale discoveries to be made. We are proud to support this unique archive and augment the capacity for even greater use in the future.

A second priority this year is upgrading the sensors and infrastructure and associated data pipelines to enhance data quality, improve information security, and address technological obsolescence. These efforts are multi-faceted, including new hardware and software for logging sensor data, transmitting the data to the cloud, and processing the data using algorithms that are being made open to the user community as they are developed. Of note, in 2026, we are initiating the replacement of two critical sensor suites – soil temperature and moisture and weighing gauge precipitation - across the Observatory. As an indication of the magnitude of these efforts, replacing the soil temperature and moisture sensors includes >1,300 sensors in 230 soil plots at NEON’s 46 terrestrial sites. These efforts are necessary to initiate to ensure the robust collection of these critical environmental data through time.  

To support these improvements, NEON is discontinuing nine of its approximately 180 data products (<5%) and modifying an additional 14 data products (<8%) across all data collection systems (i.e., airborne, instrumented, and observational systems). These decisions, in addressing both near-term and long-term program health, were made thoughtfully, with input from the NEON Science, Technology, and Education Advisory Committee and after discussion and concurrence of the NSF. When evaluating priorities, we considered several factors: the level of data product use to date, the scientific value for the user community, and the cost to continue data collection.

Here we summarize the nine data products that are discontinued and the associated rationale for their selection. Additional details about the fourteen modified data products are provided in a separate data notification, with all changes documented in the issue log for each affected data product. Please visit our FAQs and reach out with any questions. 

Table 1. Summary of Discontinued Data Products (n = 9)