Meteorological and soil moisture data from an ambient monitoring station at the Aspen FACE Experiment, 1999-2009

This data package contains meteorological and soil moisture data that were measured electronically at an ambient meteorological tower from 1999 to 2009 as part of the Aspen FACE (Free-Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment) Experiment. The meteorological tower was located at the north end of the 32 hectare experiment site. The experiment was located on a research farm near Harshaw, Wisconsin (renamed the Rhinelander Experimental Forest in 2015) and consisted of twelve 30 meter diameter plots of aspen, birch and maple trees in which the concentrations of carbon dioxide and tropospheric ozone were controlled. Variables included in data time series TS201 (30 minute means) and TS224 (daily mean, minimum, and maximum) consist of: wind speed, wind direction (mean and standard deviation), and air temperature and relative humidity at 5 heights, photosynthetically active radiation, net radiation, leaf wetness, rain fall, pan evaporation, atmospheric pressure, and thermocouple temperatures at 6 heights. TS224 also included standard deviation and time of minimum and maximum for each variable, as well as soil temperature at 5 depths and soil moisture at 3 depths. TS202 contains 2 hour, instantaneous soil temperature at 5 depths and soil moisture at 3 depths.
The Aspen FACE Experiment was a multidisciplinary study that assessed the effects of increasing tropospheric ozone and carbon dioxide concentrations on the structure and functioning of northern forest ecosystems. The design provided the ability to assess the effects of these gasses alone, and in combination, on many ecosystem attributes, including growth, leaf development, root characteristics, and soil carbon.
Original metadata date was 03/30/2016. On 11/15/2016 the metadata were updated to reflect the Harshaw Forestry Research Farm now being designated as Rhinelander Experimental Forest, along with other minor metadata updates. Minor metadata updates on 12/19/2016 and 05/20/2020.