University of California Natural Reserve System - Cyberinfrastructure Renovation

University Of California, Office Of The President, Oakland, Oakland CA

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This project involves the renovation of cyberinfrastructure at 17 of the 36 sites in the University of California Natural Reserve System (NRS). The renovation will update the telecommunications infrastructure at these sites, enabling the deployment of networks of sensors and instrumentation by researchers and transforming the flow of data to researchers. The NRS is a network of 36 reserves that encompass more than 135,000 acres across twelve ecological regions in California. The 17 reserves in the proposed project have older cyberinfrastructure in need of renovation and/or are heavily used by a wide variety of researchers. 13 of the 17 reserves to be renovated are "full facility" reserves, possessing the facilities, equipment, and professional staff necessary to support long-term research projects and multi-week field courses remote from campus services. Several of the NRS reserves are testbeds for researchers developing novel ecological sensors and observing systems, including a range of new instruments and networked systems developed by the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing. The James Reserve is the site for the National Ecological Observatory Network's first Fundamental Instrument Unit prototype. The scope of research that will benefit from the renovation is broad. The evolution of sensing technology is a driver for the need for reliable, low-cost broadband Internet access to the reserves and the instruments within them. Research to be pursued includes how climate change will affect California's plant and animal species and the ecosystems that provide essential services such as fresh water. Examples of projects that will make use of the renovated communications infrastructure include: an investigation of the ecological links between rivers and upland areas; a study of how water moves through the landscape and into deeper, rocky geology; the development of a Stream Experimental and Observational Network; and the development of the Very Large Ecological Array, a new class of environmental sensor network intended to observe micro-environmental conditions above and below ground and plant phenology at multiple scales. In addition to providing infrastructure for research, the University of California Natural Reserves are used by educational institutions within California, including those in the K-12 system and the state higher education system. The reserves serve as training centers for students and teachers. Data from the reserves is available to students online, including climate data, hydrological data, ecological data, and webcam imagery. The work proposed includes the upgrading of communications infrastructure at the following 17 reserves: the Angelo Coast Range Reserve, Blue Oak Ranch Reserve, Boyd Deep Canyon Desert Research Center, Chickering American River Reserve, Coal Oil Point Natural Reserve, Dawson Los Monos Canyon Reserve, Elliott Chaparral Reserve, Hastings Reserve, James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve, Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve, Motte Rimrock Reserve, Sagehen Creek Field Station, Santa Cruz Island Reserve, Sedgwick Reserve, Sweeney Granite Mountains Desert Research Center, Sierra Nevada Aquatic Research Laboratory, and Valentine Camp.