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NEON Undertakes Its First Natural Disaster Response to Colorado's High Park Wildfire
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 | | The High Park wildfire outside of Fort Collins, CO, in June |
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In response to one of the worst wildfires in Colorado history, scientists from the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University (CSU) are leading a first of its kind, large-scale wildfire impact study on the 2012 High Park wildfire, which will be bolstered by remote sensing data collected by NEON's Airborne Observation Platform (AOP). Supported by an NSF RAPID grant, the project will integrate AOP's data with ground-based data from a targeted field campaign conducted by CSU researchers. The two-tiered research approach will allow a comprehensive assessment of the natural causes and impacts of the fire, and is expected to help the scientific and management communities understand how pre-existing conditions influenced the behavior and severity of the fire.
This is the first time a comprehensive airborne remote sensing system of this caliber will be used to enhance research on wildfire causes and impacts. The system will be able to detect remaining vegetation, identify plant species, ash cover, soil properties and other details to help illustrate how the fire burned - over the span of the entire fire scar.
The first study results are expected this fall. > Read More
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CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
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 | | Instrumented tower at Sterling, CO |
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NEON began construction in Summer 2012. Here is the latest update on our progress.
NEON sites under construction will fall along a spectrum in one of the following phases, and could occur out of numerical order:
1. Civil construction
2. Sensor installation, testing and acceptance
3. Sensor system streaming data
4. Release of organismal sampling protocols, acceptance of site-specific sampling design, and data collection started
5. Site complete and data available
SITES SOON BEGINNING CIVIL CONSTRUCTION:
- Blandy Experimental Farm, VA (D2): Starts approx Oct 2012
CIVIL CONSTRUCTION:
- Sterling, CO (D10): Complete
- Ordway-Swisher Biological Station, FL (D3 core): Nearing completion
- Harvard Forest, MA (D1 core): Underway
- Central Plains Experimental Range, CO (D10 core): Underway
- Woodworth, SD (D9 core): Starting
- Dakota Coteau. SD (D9): Starting
SENSOR INSTALLATION, TESTING AND ACCEPTANCE:
- Sterling, CO (D10): Phase 1 of terrestrial instrument system has been successfully installed, testing and acceptance of instruments is underway
Stay tuned to our quarterly newsletter and www.neoninc.org for ongoing construction updates.
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Big Firsts for Citizen Science
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Summer 2012 saw two major first-evers for citizen science:
1. The first-ever cross-disciplinary conference on Public Participation in Scientific Research took place at the Ecological Society of America 2012 conference, and
2. The first-ever issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment that is devoted entirely to citizen science went to print. This issue is open-access.
Both events garnered quite a bit of media interest, and NEON's flagship citizen science program Project BudBurst is still recovering from the excitement. > Read More |
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Brainstorming the intersection between ecology and big data
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What does ecological science need to thrive in the era of big data? We've put together a three-part web feature on the intersection between ecology and big data as a platform for discussion, but we're also interested in your thoughts and input.
In the first feature installment, Chief Scientist Dave Schimel explains some of the ways ecological big data are not like big data in other science disciplines. In Part II, Chief of External Affairs Brian Wee describes some of the ongoing efforts to muster all the tools ecologists need to make full use of big data. In a forthcoming Part III, Communications Specialist Sandra Chung will survey some of the cultural challenges to working with big data in ecology.
Many of you are already thinking about and talking about these issues. We're
offering this discussion a home on our blog, where we've put out a call for words and images about big data in ecology. Please share your perspectives with us and the greater community by responding to this call. We'll highlight the first round of responses on the blog and in the winter e-newsletter.
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LTER and LTAR Explore Synergies With NEON at Colorado Meetings
| NEON was pleased to build on previous discussions about collaboration potential with the Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER) at their All-Scientists Meeting (LTER ASM), held in Estes Park, CO, last week. Several NEON staff attended the meeting to detail further plans for collaboration between LTER and NEON and strengthen communication between the two networks.
On September 10, the USDA announced the establishment of a Long Term Agro-ecosystem Research (LTAR) network. The purpose of the LTAR includes sustaining and enhancing agricultural production at large geographical scales to meet increasing demands for agricultural goods and services. The LTAR initially comprises ten USDA Agriculture Research Service (ARS) sites, three of which are co-located with NEON sites. Last week, NEON hosted a workshop at our HQ for the LTAR group to determine areas of alignment between the two environmental observatories.
NEON scientist Mike SanClements and NEON Chief of Education Brian Wee describe the meetings and future action items for both groups..
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Fall into Phenology With Project BudBurst!
September 10 - October 31, 2012
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Mark your calendars for Sept 10th to Oct 31st and share your fall observations of plants changing color, shedding leaves, and more during the 2012 Fall into Phenology campaign.
Project BudBurst was delighted that so many citizen scientists participated in 2011, resulting in many more reported plant observations than have been reported during past fall seasons. Thank you for making our first seasonal campaign a success! We hope you'll participate again this year and make the 2nd annual Fall into Phenology campaign even more successful than the first. Learn more at budburst.org/fall.
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NEON session announcement: American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting 2012 (Cincinnati, Ohio)
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What: Session 402 - The National Ecological Observatory Network
When: Wednesday, October 24, 2012: 10:00 AM-11:15 AM
Where: Duke Energy Convention Center, Junior Ballroom B, Level 3
Session info: HERE
This session will provide an overview of NEON, as well as details about the soil-related data that NEON will collect and make freely available over the next 30 years.
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The Latest From the NEON Blog
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| We're Hiring |
And many MORE!
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SPECIAL JOB POSTING:
WE'RE SEEKING AN OBSERVATORY DIRECTOR
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The NEON Observatory Director will lead a multi-disciplinary scientific, education, and technical staff responsible for ensuring that NEON is at the forefront of continental-scale ecological science. >>SEE POSTING HERE<< |
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© 2012 NEON, Inc. All rights reserved.
NEON, Inc. | 1685 38th St., Suite 100, Boulder, CO 80301 | (720) 746-4844
The National Ecological Observatory Network is a project sponsored by the National Science Foundation and managed under cooperative agreement by NEON, Inc. |
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