Fir Flux Site

ORCA project objectives:

• Continuous precise CO2 concentration measurements here and at Mary's Peak and Yaquina Head, to sample CO2 concentration in the atmospheric boundary layer in the coast range and determine regional CO2 fluxes.
• Eddy covariance flux measurements in a wet coniferous forest to enable parameterization of process models (Biome-BGC and MODIS algorithms) for this biome.
• Measurement of CO2 concentrations and fluxes here and at the Metolius and Burns site representing a climatic gradient in precipitation and a spatial transect from the coast across the Cascade range to the mid-Oregon desert.

Long-term flux site objectives:

• Measurements of carbon, water and energy fluxes in a wet coniferous forest, with ancillary measurements, to understand and quantify biogeochemical cycles in this biome, including carbon stocks and fluxes, water and energy balance.
• Measurement of carbon, water and energy fluxes across a climatic gradient in the Pacific Northwest, together with Metolius (our group) and Burns (Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center) sites to understand climatic effects on plant growth and carbon/water relations.
• Part of the worldwide Moisture Isotopes in the Biosphere and Atmosphere (MIBA) network: measurement of oxygen isotope composition of leaf water, stem water, soil water and water vapor to understand the hydrological cycle and partition water vapor fluxes between transpiration and soil evaporation.
• Planned automated measurements of stable isotopes of respired CO2, combined with MIBA measurements, to understand climatic controls on isotopic composition of CO2, and partition photosynthetic and respiratory components of carbon flux.