The FLUXNET community has begun a new synthesis activity, building on the highly successful La Thuile Workshop of 2007. The goal of the new activity is to add additional years and sites to the La Thuile database and process the data with recently developed methods for gap filling, flux partitioning, and estimating uncertainty.
Another goal is to share these enhanced data products with other scientific communities under more flexible data policies. For some data products we will continue to follow the La Thuile Data Policy, where data providers will have to write proposals to use the data. A second policy ("open policy") will allow the scientific community to write proposals to use the data. Proposals will be reviewed and approved by the FLUXNET synthesis committee. For other data products, the data will be available to all users ("FLUXNET Data policy" free fair use).
La Thuile Database: Three years ago, the La Thuile database was created as the first global FLUXNET standardized database with about 250 sites from around the world and nearly 1000 site-years of data. These data have been shared for joint scientific analysis among those contributing to the database. We think overall this has been a successful exercise, improving our understanding of the carbon cycle and ecosystem dynamics.
In this context three needs have been identified:
Update the database and extend it in terms of temporal and spatial representation,
Add new, revised or alternative schemes for the different processing steps (e.g. night-time correction, gap-filling, and flux-partitioning), and
Open these data to a wider scientific community.
New FLUXNET Synthesis Database
We will use a variety of methods for u-star threshold selection, gap-filling, and flux partitioning methods in this new synthesis database, based on contributions from the FLUXNET community. These methods will provide a more consistent and improved quantification of the flux uncertainty.
How to submit your flux tower data
We would like to receive data for sites not yet included in the La Thuile database or new data (additional years, updated versions, or additional variables) for sites already included in the La Thuile data set. The deadline for submitting data is 30 June 2010.
We request that each flux data set provided contain mandatory variables needed for data processing and variables that are strongly suggested. However all the variables are accepted. Also, please send site characteristics, ancillary information, and metadata (some also mandatory) that will be needed for detailed analysis. Data Requirements for FLUXNET Synthesis contains the mandatory and suggested variables.
Please also include variables that have been processed using PI methods (e.g., filtered, gap-filled and partitioned) along with a description of the processing applied.
The data need to be submitted to different groups/databases depending on where your site is and where you are from. All the information about where to submit data are reported in the Data Requirements for FLUXNET Synthesis.
IMPORTANT: Specify the data sharing policy for your data
Please remember to specify the data sharing policy you would like users to follow for your new data submitted. The new data, like the data already in the La Thuile database, can be shared under the La Thuile, Open, or Free data policy. Data providers need have to decide on a site-year basis under which data policy the data should be shared.
An early submission will help timely processing and early identification of problems/questions.