NEON collects data at freshwater aquatic field sites across the United States including wadeable
streams, lakes, and non-wadeable rivers. Over the course of 30 years, NEON’s standardized data,
samples, and resources will enable researchers to better understand and
predict aquatic ecosystem function over time. To get a better idea of the types of data
collected at a NEON aquatic field site, let’s take a tour of Como Creek, located in Domain
13 - the Southern Rockies and Colorado Plateau. This small wadeable stream has a 4.9 square
kilometer watershed in the Roosevelt National Forest, which is managed by the US Forest Service,
and is collocated with CU Boulder’s Mountain Research Station, and the Niwot Ridge Long Term
Ecological Research site. This alpine research area has remained undisturbed for the past 50
years, free from development, logging, and fires. An instrumented micro-meteorological station,
located in the riparian area of COMO, and all aquatic field sites, is outfitted with sensors
that are also used at NEON’s terrestrial field sites for cross-site comparability.
This Met station collects measurements such as wind speed and direction,
air temperature, barometric pressure, relative humidity,
short and longwave radiation, and photosynthetically active radiation.
At lake and river sites, a similar system is also installed on a floating buoy station.
An upstream and downstream sensor set within the stream reach collects physical and chemical
characteristics of the water. Physical characteristics include water temperature,
specific conductance, turbidity, and photosynthetically active radiation.
Water chemistry properties such as nitrogen, dissolved oxygen,
pH, and fluorescent dissolved organic matter are also measured here to help researchers understand
the concentration and cycling of compounds. A water depth gauge is placed near these sensors,
and a phenocam is used to record seasonal changes of the stream and surrounding riparian area.
Four shallow groundwater wells are installed at COMO, in the riparian area, that extend from
the surface down to the bedrock to capture water elevation, temperature, and specific conductance.
This allows researchers to estimate groundwater flow paths and evaluate
linkages between surface and groundwater. NEON field technicians also collect chemical and
organismal data at COMO, and all aquatic sites. Chemistry observations include water quality,
and sediment chemistry. Properties and isotopes of aquatic plants and algae are also assessed.
Organismal data include the community composition of aquatic plants,
algae, aquatic microbes, macroinvertebrates, fish, and riparian vegetation. Additionally,
critical physical properties of the aquatic ecosystem are quantified through measurements
including, but not limited to, stream discharge, reaeration, and maps of stream morphology.
In most years, NEON’s Airborne Observation Platform can be seen flying overhead during
COMO’s peak greenness to collect a suite of complementary remote-sensing data. For this,
NEON employs a small fleet of Twin Otter aircraft boasting 3 main data-collection systems.
First, a hyperspectral imaging spectrometer measures reflected light energy. It can detect
ecosystem conditions like nitrogen content in the vegetation below.
Second, a discrete and waveform lidar system collects highly detailed 3D structure data that
are processed to produce visualizations of the vegetation and land surfaces below. And third,
a RGB camera collects high-resolution photos. The data collected from COMO and all NEON aquatic
field sites can be downloaded freely and easily from NEON’s data portal and compared with data
collected across the United States. With NEON’s standardized data and protocols, researchers and
decision makers can better understand how our ecosystems are changing over time.