Calperum Chowilla 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 Calperum Chowilla site was established in July 2010 and is managed by the University of Adelaide, coordinated by Prof Wayne Meyer and Prof David Chittleborough of the Landscape Futures Program as part of the Environment Institute. This is a former sheep grazing property that has been destocked and is being managed as a conservation area in this type of ecosystem. The landscape is flat with a series of low east–west sand dunes. The dunes are remnants of a previous dry era and are mostly now stabilized by mallee (multi-stemmed Eucalypt trees) and various shrubs. It is a semi-arid environment fringing the River Murray floodplains of the Riverland. 

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 Calperum Chowilla flux station is to:

• measure the energy, CO2 and H2O balance of mallee shrub land for short term (days) and long term (years)
• link vegetation and ecosystem response to soil, atmosphere and local management conditions to explain daily and seasonal variation in exchange processes
• use the site data to broaden environmental monitoring data for Ozflux and climate interpretation at the continental scale
• use the measured data to develop and test predictive models of vegetation and related ecosystems that can be used to improve restorative actions in conservation of this type of ecosystem.

 

Data collected using standard eddy covariance and meteorological instrumentation on a 20m tower at the Calperum 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.