Modernization and Expansion of the Ecosystem Monitoring Network for Scientists, Students and Educators at the Black Rock Forest Field Station

Black Rock Forest Consortium, Inc, Cornwall NY

Investigators

Abstract

This award provides partial support for improvements in an environmental sensor network at the Black Rock Forest field station, a 1585-hectare field station in southeastern New York owned by a consortium of colleges and universities in New York City area. The students, educators and researchers who participate in activities at the station number in the thousands each year; these participants come from more than a dozen institutions from the New York Metropolitan and Hudson River Valley regions and beyond. The sensor network, first established in 1995, consists of two terrestrial stations, a hydrologic station, and sensors within the Science and Education Center at the station. The meteorological, biogeochemical, hydrologic and other data collected have been of great use in a number of research studies, in college-level and K-12 educational experiences, and in management of the field station. Currently, data from the sensors are available on-site in real-time at the Science Center, and some of the data are available over the Internet after a lag period. Recent advances in sensor technology and telecommunications have enabled the development of networks that can provide rapid access to multiple forms of environmental information with high temporal resolution and accuracy from any computer that is connected to the Internet. With funds provided through this award, the existing system will be converted into a modern, spatially distributed sensor and telecommunications network that will feature improved speed, reliability, and bandwidth, with enhanced coverage that includes up to 70% of the forest, and will deliver information rapidly to the Internet. Radios and antennae will be upgraded at the base station and at all existing stations. Using three, already-existing towers (one fire tower and two canopy-access towers), new sensors will be able to provide micrometeorology and energy balance information, and new video capabilities. The strategic location of the new sensors, in conjunction with the existing sensors, will enable coverage of most of the station's terrain.