An Overview of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) and How You Can Use It to Enhance Your Research.

The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a 30-year National Science Foundation-funded facility for understanding and forecasting the impacts of climate change, land use change, and invasive species on aspects of continental-scale ecology such as biodiversity, biogeochemistry, infectious diseases, and ecohydrology. Here I provide an overview of NEON’s design, explain how researchers can make use of the Observatory, and provide an update on its construction. NEON will measure ecological parameters at 60 terrestrial sites and 36 aquatic sites, and all data will be made freely available via state-of-the-art cyberinfrastructure. NEON’s core sites were strategically chosen to represent major US ecosystems and are relatively undisturbed, while associated relocatable sites focus on ecological changes due to human or natural drives such as agricultural intensification, urbanization, climate change, and invasive species. Measurements will be made using standard procedures across all sites to facilitate scaling to the continent. Measurements can be broadly classified into four types: 1) terrestrial sensor-based measurements that include carbon, water, and energy fluxes; 2) terrestrial organismal measurements focusing on the biodiversity and phenology of a range of taxa; 3) aquatic biogeochemistry and biodiversity measurements; and 4) airborne remote sensing measurements that cover ~300 km² around each site. Data will be rigorously checked with QA/QC procedures and detailed metadata will be made available with each data product. Scientists can make use of NEON in several ways, including 1) using the freely available data produced by NEON; 2) deploying sensors or field crews to collect additional measurements at NEON sites for PI-driven research; 3) requesting NEON’s taskable assets (remote-sensing aircraft, flux towers, soil sensors, and field crews) for PI-driven research at non-NEON sites; and 4) establishing a NEON satellite site. Construction of the Observatory has begun and update on the construction schedule and data availability will be presented.