National Ecological Observatory Network

A continental design

The National Ecological Observatory Network was designed by ecologists in the early 2000s to observe ecological change at continental scale. The US National Science Foundation funded it, construction began in 2012, and in 2016 Battelle took over management of the observatory for the NSF. The network was completed in 2019 and full operations began in May 2019.

The sites are placed in 20 ecoclimatic domains, regions defined by climate and vegetation, which divide the continent by ecology rather than by borders. In each, a core site stands in a representative landscape, with other sites in places of change.

One protocol, every site

Every site uses the same sensors and the same protocols. A tower measures the exchange of carbon, water and energy, with sensors for weather and soil; field technicians sample plants, beetles, small mammals, mosquitoes, ticks, soil microbes and stream chemistry on a fixed schedule; and an aircraft carrying a lidar and an imaging spectrometer flies over each site every year. The data are processed to a standard and released openly in about 180 data products.

The design depends on the same protocol being followed, in the same season and the same way, for decades.

Operating a long-term network

In 2023 the NSF awarded Battelle a five-year operations and maintenance award of $416 million. The observatory is designed to run for thirty years, which makes questions of funding stability and sensor replacement as important as science. Researchers use the data to study invasive species, disease vectors, drought and changing seasons, and to calibrate satellite measurements.

A standard that must last

NEON's thirty-year design assumes that sensors and protocols can be maintained consistently for decades while the technology changes underneath. When an instrument is replaced, the observatory runs the old and new in parallel and documents the change, as the old weather stations did. The network is also an experiment in governance: a contractor operates a federal facility, with scientific oversight from the community. Its data are used far beyond ecology, from calibrating satellite products to tracking pathogens, which is a measure of how valuable a consistent, open, continental record can be. The sites are also designed to be visited: the data portal links each data product to the exact protocol and sensor that produced it, so that a researcher can see how a number was made before using it.

Instruments and technologies

• Eddy-covariance flux tower A tower with a sonic anemometer and gas analysers measures the exchange of carbon dioxide, water vapour and heat between land and air.
• Airborne Observation Platform An aircraft carrying a waveform lidar, an imaging spectrometer and a camera, flying over each site annually.
• Field sampling protocols Standardised methods for sampling organisms and soil by trained technicians, with samples archived.

Timeline

• 2012 Construction phase begins.
• 2016 Battelle assumes management of the observatory for NSF.
• 2019 Construction completed; full operations begin in May.
• 2023 NSF awards Battelle a five-year operations and maintenance award.

Key lessons for observation today

• Design by ecology, not by border The domains follow climate and vegetation. Network design should follow the phenomenon observed.
• The same method everywhere Identical sensors and protocols make sites comparable. A network is a single experiment.
• Plan for thirty years The operation and replacement of instruments is budgeted for decades. A long-term network is an operations commitment.

Sources

• NEON, Frequently asked questions
• Battelle, NSF issues extension to Battelle to operate NEON
• Battelle, Battelle awarded $416 million from NSF to operate NEON (2023)