Cow Bay Flux Data Collection

This dataset consists of measurements of the exchange of energy and mass between the surface and the atmospheric boundary-layer in lowland tropical rainforest at the Daintree Discovery Centre near Cow Bay in Far North Queensland, using eddy covariance techniques.

The Cow Bay flux station was established in December 2008 and managed by James Cook University. The forest is classified as complex mesophyll vine forest, there are 94 species in the core 1Ha, and average tree height is 22m. Elevation of the site is 90m and mean annual precipitation is 3935mm. The Daintree Rainforest is one of the most biodiverse forests in Australia.The instruments are mounted on a walk-up tourist tower at 35m. Fluxes of heat, water vapour and carbon dioxide are measured using the open-path eddy flux technique. Supplementary measurements above the canopy include temperature, humidity, windspeed, wind direction, rainfall, incoming and reflected shortwave radiation and net radiation.The early years 2009 - 12 had several data gaps. Shadowing of the radiometric equipment continues to cause artifacts on the radiometers - these can be seen as reduction in downwelling radiation with solar inclination. The site is part of the FNQ Rainforest SuperSite - associated with the Daintree node, which is part of the TERN Australian SuperSite Network (ASN).
For additional site information, see https://supersites.tern.org.au/supersites/fnqr-daintree .
This data is also available at http://data.ozflux.org.au .

Credit
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 Cow Bay flux station is managed by James Cook University in a collaboration with the Daintree Discovery Centre. The site was co-funded by the Daintree Discovery Centre and the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN).
Past support was from the Department of Environment and Heritage - Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility Project 5ii.2. Climate Change: Scaling from trees to ecosystems.

Purpose
The purpose of the Cow Bay flux station is to :
measure exchanges of carbon dioxide, water vapour and energy between the tropical lowland rainforest in Far North Queensland and the atmosphere using micrometeorological techniques
quantify the changes in carbon and water balances of an Australian tropical rainforest on a long term basis in the face of climate change
present the results from the study in real time to the public and inform the public on what these results mean