A comprehensive data acquisition and management system for an ecosystem-scale peatland warming and elevated CO<sub>2</sub> experiment

Abstract

Abstract. Ecosystem-scale manipulation experiments represent large science investments that require well-designed data acquisition and management systems to provide reliable, accurate information to project participants and third party users. The SPRUCE project (Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Climatic and Environmental Change, http: //mnspruce.ornl.gov) is such an experiment funded by the Department of Energy's (DOE), Office of Science, Terrestrial Ecosystem Science (TES) Program. The SPRUCE experimental mission is to assess ecosystem-level biological responses of vulnerable, high carbon terrestrial ecosystems to a range of climate warming manipulations and an elevated CO 2 atmosphere. SPRUCE provides a platform for testing mechanisms controlling the vulnerability of organisms, biogeochemical processes, and ecosystems to climatic change (e.g., thresholds for organism decline or mortality, limitations to regeneration, biogeochemical limitations to productivity, and the cycling and release of CO 2 and CH 4 to the atmosphere). The SPRUCE experiment will generate a wide range of continuous and discrete measurements.To successfully manage SPRUCE data collection, achieve SPRUCE science objectives, and support broader climate change research, the research staff has designed a flexible data system using proven network technologies and software components. The primary SPRUCE data system components are the following:1. data acquisition and control system -set of hardware and software to retrieve biological and engineering data from sensors, collect sensor status information, and distribute feedback to control components; 2. data collection system -set of hardware and software to deliver data to a central depository for storage and further processing;3. data management plan -set of plans, policies, and practices to control consistency, protect data integrity, and deliver data.This publication presents our approach to meeting the challenges of designing and constructing an efficient data system for managing high volume sources of in situ observations in a remote, harsh environmental location. The approach covers data flow starting from the sensors and ending at the archival/distribution points, discusses types of hardware and software used, examines design considerations that were used to choose them, and describes the data management practices chosen to control and enhance the value of the data.

Biophysical drivers of seasonal variability in Sphagnum gross primary production in a northern temperate bog

“…This study is located at the site of the Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Climatic and Environmental Change—SPRUCE—experiment [http://mnspruce.ornl.gov/; Hanson et al ., ; Krassovski et al ., ] on the S1 bog of the Marcell Experimental Forest [47.506°N, 93.453°W, 418 m above mean sea level; Sebestyen et al ., ]. The S1 bog is a weakly ombrotrophic peatland with a perched water table that has limited groundwater influence [ Griffiths and Sebestyen , ].…”

Photosynthetic and Respiratory Responses of Two Bog Shrub Species to Whole Ecosystem Warming and Elevated CO2 at the Boreal-Temperate Ecotone

“…This method of hydrologic isolation allows for drainage of the plots when water levels approach the acrotelm, analogous to outflow from the bog, while allowing for collection of outflow for chemical analysis and drops in the water table from treatment effects, especially increased evapotranspiration from WEW. The 10 enclosed and 2 non-enclosed plots shared a common set of measurements, both automated and manual (Krassovski et al, 2015;Hanson et al, 2017). We focused measurements on only the 10 chambered plots to keep chamber effects on environmental conditions, such as light, consistent between treated plots and controls (Hanson et al, 2017).…”

Intermediate-scale community-level flux of CO2 and CH4 in a Minnesota peatland: putting the SPRUCE project in a global context

“…Experimental work in the 8.1-ha S1-Bog includes a climate change manipulation focusing on the combined responses to multiple levels of warming at ambient or elevated CO 2 levels. SPRUCE evaluates the response of the existing biological communities to a range of warming levels from ambient to ?9°C within large, open-top enclosures (Krassovski et al 2015;Barbier et al 2012). Half of the warming treatments are also conducted at eCO 2 (*900 ppm).…”