With the rapid development in data acquisition and presentation, there is a growing interest in virtual forests and computer visualization tools. Forest owners have become more aware about their property and are interested in applying different forest management methods and silvicultural techniques. The tools are also applicable in assessment of the changes to the landscape as a result of natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Virtual reality offers a good opportunity to test and compare different management options before implementing decisions which can lead to irreversible consequences. Advances in spatial and temporal data collection enable new and practical solutions for analysis and visualization of long-term natural processes with new forestry applications. In the near future, forest owners and managers will have the possibility to make management decisions without the direct need to exit the office. Furthermore, the learning process is more enthralling and also more profound through augmented reality, helping to foster better working practices even before starting a job in the forest sector.
<p>The SMEAR Estonia station was established in 2012 as southernmost &#8220;Station for Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relations&#8221; in Northern Europe. The station provides continuous data since 2014 and has steadily increased the amount of measured variables. Measurements cover atmospheric gases, air ions and particulate matter, radiation and energy fluxes, forest ecosystem and soil related parameters.&#160;<br>Located in the hemiboreal forest ecosystem at the southern edge of the boreal forest biome the forests are characterised &#160;by a mix between coniferous and broadleaved species. The SMEAR Estonia station&#8217;s location near to an old growth forest, which is the oldest Estonian forest nature reserve established in 1924, allows for comparisons of atmosphere-biosphere related processes between unmanaged and managed forests. The application of continuous multi-scale data allows us to see first trends of hemiboreal ecosystem-atmosphere interactions in relation to natural and man made disturbances and climatic drivers.<br>Here, we report and present our available multi-scale data and research results. Our focus lies on the heterogeneity and the dynamics of atmosphere-biosphere exchange processes and feedbacks in the footprint of the SMEAR Estonia station.</p>
<p>The SMEAR Estonia is an important step towards understanding how forest ecosystem and the atmosphere affect each other. The station provides long-term continuously measured eddy-covariance CO<sub>2</sub> flux data. Parameters such as wind speed and direction are not controllable by human, but forest management methods are, thus the flux tower helps to assess how human activities affect forest ecosystem-atmosphere relationship as well as to assess natural processes. In this study, the footprint for years 2015&#8211;2020 was calculated with Kljun model according to wind speed and direction. Measurements were taken from 30 m and 70 m height. Data was obtained by continuous high frequency (10 Hz) measurements by the eddy-covariance method and averaged over half-hour intervals. Results showed that the footprint area measured from 30 m over six-year period differed only by 5%. From 70 m this difference was only 1.2% over the six-year period. Average area for both 30 m and 70 m FFP was 61,5 ha and 4029,7 ha respectively. The growing stock of the forest was affected by forest management, but in general it grew by 3,2% for 30 m FFP. The main tree species growing in the area of the footprint are Scots pine (<em>Pinus sylvestris</em>), Norway spruce (<em>Picea abies</em>) and Silver birch (<em>Betula pendula</em>) with some small amount of aspen and alder species. The dominant wind directions were ranging from west to south in 2015&#8211;2017 and in 2018&#8211;2020 from south-west to south-east. The footprint area is affected mainly by wind speed and direction, and by forest management activities like harvesting and clear-cutting. Such measurements help to understand how human activity and natural processes affect formation of the footprint.</p>
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