Gatum FLUXNET Release 2026_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 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 Gatum Pasture flux station was established in January 2015, stopped in 2021 and was located on private farmland in south western Victoria, approximately 260km west of Melbourne and 15km north west of the nearest settlement, Cavendish (coordinates: -37.3903, 141.9716). Elevation of the site is 250m asl, and the local terrain has a very slight (<1°) south easterly aspect.
The ecosystem was a sown pasture dominated by phalaris (Phalaris aquatica L.) and subterrenean clover (Trifolium subteraneum L.) that was regularly fertilised with superphosphate. The pasture was intensively grazed by sheep and cattle. The grass canopy was thus generally <10cm tall, and largely died off during summer and early autumn. Mean annual precipitation was 736mm (Cavendish Bureau of Meteorology station [ID 089043], 1953-2021), and mean annual temperature was 19.2°C (Hamilton Airport Bureau of Meteorology station [ID 090173], 1983-2021).
The instrument mast was 3.5m tall. Fluxes of heat, water vapour and carbon dioxide were measured using the open-path eddy covariance technique (at height of 3m). Supplementary measurements above the canopy included temperature, humidity, windspeed, wind direction, rainfall, incoming and reflected shortwave radiation and net radiation. Soil moisture content was measured using frequency domain reflectometry, while soil heat fluxes and temperature were also measured. 

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 Gatum Pasture flux station was to: - Identify differences in water use between pastures and plantations. - Quantify evapotranspiration for use in and validation of simple catchment-scale hydrological models. - Quantify long-term carbon exchanges (photosynthesis and respiration) between ecosystem and atmosphere. 

Data collected using standard eddy covariance and meteorological instrumentation on a 3.5m tower at the Gatum 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.