Skip to main content
NSF NEON | Open Data to Understand our Ecosystems logo

Main navigation

  • About Us
    • Overview
      • Spatial and Temporal Design
      • History
    • Vision and Management
    • Advisory Groups
      • Advisory Committee: STEAC
      • Technical Working Groups (TWGs)
    • FAQ
    • Contact Us
      • Field Offices
    • User Accounts
    • Staff

    About Us

  • Data & Samples
    • Data Portal
      • Explore Data Products
      • Data Availability Charts
      • Spatial Data & Maps
      • Document Library
      • API & GraphQL
      • Prototype Data
      • External Lab Data Ingest (restricted)
    • Samples & Specimens
      • Discover and Use NEON Samples
        • Sample Types
        • Sample Repositories
        • Sample Explorer
        • Megapit and Distributed Initial Characterization Soil Archives
        • Excess Samples
      • Sample Processing
      • Sample Quality
      • Taxonomic Lists
    • Collection Methods
      • Protocols & Standardized Methods
      • AIrborne Remote Sensing
        • Flight Box Design
        • Flight Schedules and Coverage
        • Daily Flight Reports
        • Camera
        • Imaging Spectrometer
        • Lidar
      • Automated Instruments
        • Site Level Sampling Design
        • Sensor Collection Frequency
        • Instrumented Collection Types
          • Meteorology
          • Phenocams
          • Soil Sensors
          • Ground Water
          • Surface Water
      • Observational Sampling
        • Site Level Sampling Design
        • Sampling Schedules
        • Observation Types
          • Aquatic Organisms
            • Aquatic Microbes
            • Fish
            • Macroinvertebrates & Zooplankton
            • Periphyton, Phytoplankton, and Aquatic Plants
          • Terrestrial Organisms
            • Birds
            • Ground Beetles
            • Mosquitoes
            • Small Mammals
            • Soil Microbes
            • Terrestrial Plants
            • Ticks
          • Hydrology & Geomorphology
            • Discharge
            • Geomorphology
          • Biogeochemistry
          • DNA Sequences
          • Pathogens
          • Sediments
          • Soils
            • Soil Descriptions
    • Data Notifications
    • Data Guidelines and Policies
      • Acknowledging and Citing NEON
      • Publishing Research Outputs
      • Usage Policies
    • Data Management
      • Data Availability
      • Data Formats and Conventions
      • Data Processing
      • Data Quality
      • Data Product Revisions and Releases
        • Release 2021
        • Release 2022
        • Release 2023
      • NEON and Google
      • Externally Hosted Data

    Data & Samples

  • Field Sites
    • About Field Sites and Domains
    • Explore Field Sites
    • Site Management Data Product

    Field Sites

  • Impact
    • Observatory Blog
    • Case Studies
    • Spotlights
    • Papers & Publications
    • Newsroom
      • NEON in the News
      • Newsletter Archive

    Impact

  • Resources
    • Getting Started with NEON Data & Resources
    • Documents and Communication Resources
      • Papers & Publications
      • Document Library
      • Outreach Materials
    • Code Hub
      • Code Resources Guidelines
      • Code Resources Submission
      • NEON's GitHub Organization Homepage
    • Learning Hub
      • Science Videos
      • Tutorials
      • Workshops & Courses
      • Teaching Modules
      • Faculty Mentoring Networks
      • Data Education Fellows
    • Research Support and Assignable Assets
      • Field Site Coordination
      • Letters of Support
      • Mobile Deployment Platforms
      • Permits and Permissions
      • AOP Flight Campaigns
      • Excess Samples
      • Assignable Assets FAQs
    • Funding Opportunities

    Resources

  • Get Involved
    • Advisory Groups
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
    • NEON Ambassador Program
    • Collaborative Works
      • EFI-NEON Ecological Forecasting Challenge
      • NCAR-NEON-Community Collaborations
      • NEON Science Summit
      • NEON Great Lakes User Group
    • Community Engagement
    • Science Seminars and Data Skills Webinars
    • Work Opportunities
      • Careers
      • Seasonal Fieldwork
      • Postdoctoral Fellows
      • Internships
        • Intern Alumni
    • Partners

    Get Involved

  • My Account
  • Search

Search

Impact

  • Observatory Blog
  • Case Studies
  • Spotlights
  • Papers & Publications
  • Newsroom

Breadcrumb

  1. Impact
  2. Observatory Blog
  3. NEON Concludes Site Assessments

NEON Concludes Site Assessments

November 2, 2008

Science staff from the National Ecological Observatory Network have now completed detailed site assessments of all 20 candidate core sites chosen for the continental-scale ecological research platform. Each candidate site, located in a wildland area, represents the vegetation, soils, landforms, climate, and ecosystems performance of its given NEON domain (Mid-Atlantic, Southern Plains, Pacific Northwest, and so forth).

Candidate sites are located across the continental United States, including two in Alaska and one each in Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Information gained from the site assessments is enabling Observatory staff to refine the scientific, technical, logistical, and financial information needed for the upcoming reviews of NEON by the National Science Foundation. Detailed pre-visit mapping exercises to pick candidate sampling sites within each candidate site helped the teams to effectively accomplish their site visit tasks. They evaluated elements related to the airshed and watershed measurements of the Fundamental Instrument Unit (FIU), such as tower placements, soil plots, and streams, as well as potential hazards, limits to accessibility, and logistical constraints. They also focused on the Fundamental Sentinel Unit (FSU) activities related to organism sampling. The FIU assessment teams have also determined candidate locations for the NEON relocatable instruments, which are expected to extend the reach of NEON standardized measurements and increase the usefulness of Observatory data to researchers, educators, and decision makers. They are currently preparing a variety of documents for the NSF science review. These include: Budgets for the FIU (towers, sensors, and equipment) and for STREON, the NEON aquatic experiment; an outline for FIU science requirements, including site-specific criteria; technical protocols and science requirements for the soil array; coordination of work on documentation of ecosystem productivity measurements; and design and construction activities for the FIU prototype at Table Mountain, north of Boulder, CO.

Share

Related Posts:

Google Public Sector and Battelle NEON expand data access to advance ecological research
November 15, 2022
Quick Start Guides are available for each published data product!
September 1, 2022
Aquatic Sensor Infrastructure Design Improves Uptime at "Flashy" Stream Sites
March 2, 2022
NEON Logo

Follow Us:

Join Our Newsletter

Get updates on events, opportunities, and how NEON is being used today.

Subscribe Now

Footer

  • My Account
  • About Us
  • Newsroom
  • Contact Us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Careers

Copyright © Battelle, 2019-2020

The National Ecological Observatory Network is a major facility fully funded by the National Science Foundation.

Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.