Loxton 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 study was conducted in a 481 ha almond orchard located near Loxton in South Australia. The orchard was divided into 10 ha blocks (200 m by 500 m with the long axis aligned north–south) and the flux tower was situated at 34.47035°S and 140.65512°E near the middle of the northern half of a block of trees. The topography of the site was slightly undulating and the area around the tower had a slope of less than 1.5°. The orchard was planted in 2000 with an inter-row spacing of 7 m and a within row spacing of 5 m. Tree height in August 2008 was 5.5 m. The study block consists of producers, Nonpareil, planted every other row, and pollinators planted as alternating rows of Carmel, Carmel and Peerless, and Carmel and Price. All varieties were planted on Nemaguard rootstock. All but 31 ha of the surrounding orchard was planted between 1999 and 2002. 

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 Loxton flux station is to measure the water use of about 4 ha of mature high-yielding almond trees. The study area was surrounded by almonds undergoing a similar irrigation regime. Ancillary measures of orchard canopy size; water, nutrient and salinity status, and climate were also collected. Two of the weaknesses in this approach, uncertainty about the origin of fluxes and lack of energy balance closure, were addressed by calculating monthly flux footprints and deriving ET from fluxes which have been adjusted to close the energy balance. 

Data collected using standard eddy covariance and meteorological instrumentation on a 10m tower at the Loxton 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.