Adelaide River FLUXNET Release 2025_r1 

This release consists of flux tower measurements of the exchange of energy and mass between the surface and the atmospheric boundary-layer using eddy covariance techniques. Data were processed using PyFluxPro (v3.4.21) as described by Isaac et al. (2017) for the quality control and post-processing steps. The final, gap-filled product containing Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) partitioned into Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) and Ecosystem Respiration (ER) has been produced using the ONEFlux software as described in Pastorello et al (2020). This data set has been produced as part of the FLUXNET Shuttle project.
The Adelaide River flux station was was established in November 2007 and decommissioned in May 2009. It was located approximately 10.5km south east of Bachelor, Northern Territory, coordinated by Prof Jason Beringer and Prof Lindsay Hutley. The flux tower site was classified as Savanna dominated by Eucalyptus tectifica and Planchonia careya. Elevation of the site was close to 90m and mean annual precipitation at a nearby Bureau of Meteorology site is 1730mm. Maximum temperatures range from 31.4°C (in June) to 36.8°C (in October) while minimum temperatures range from 16.2°C (in July) to 25.1°C (in December). Maximum temperature vary seasonally by approximately 5.4°C and minimum temperatures vary by approximately 8.9°C.

The instrument mast was 15 meters tall. Heat, water vapour and carbon dioxide measurements were taken using the open-path eddy flux technique. Temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, rainfall, incoming and reflected shortwave radiation and net radiation were measured above the canopy. Soil heat fluxes are measured and soil moisture content was gathered using time domain reflectometry. 

We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. 

The purpose of the Adelaide River Flux Station is to:

• Provide information as part of a larger network of flux towers established along the North Australian Tropical Transect (NATT) gradient, which extends ~1000km south from Darwin 12.5S. The towers provide flux data across the savanna’s heterogeneous ‘top end’ ecosystems including open forest savanna, open savanna woodland and seasonally inundated floodplains.
• Examine spatial patterns and processes of land-surface-atmosphere exchanges (radiation, heat, moisture, CO2 and other trace gasses) across scales from leaf to landscape scales within Australian savannas.
• Determine the climate and ecosystem characteristics (physical structure, species composition, physiological function) that drive spatial and temporal variations of carbon, water and energy fluxes from north Australian savanna.
• Determine if fluxes of carbon, water vapor and heat over the various ecosystems as derived from the various measurement techniques can be combined to form a comprehensive and consistent estimate of the regional fluxes and budgets across the landscape.
• Provide longer term measurements for future projects.

 

Data collected using standard eddy covariance and meteorological instrumentation on a 15m tower at the Adelaide River site. The data were quality controlled using the PyFluxPro software package, see Isaac et al (2017), which is available at https://github.com/OzFlux/PyFluxPro. Gap filling and partitioning has been done using the ONEFlux software package, see Pastorello et al 2020, which is available at https://github.com/fluxnet/ONEFlux.