Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Infrastructures: Challenges and Opportunities reveals how environmental research infrastructures (RIs) provide new valuable insights on ecological processes that cannot be realized by more traditional short-term funding cycles and are integral to understand our changing world. This book bonds the latest state-of-the-science knowledge on environmental RIs, the challenges in creating them, their place in addressing scientific frontiers, and the new perspectives they bear. Each chapter is thoughtfully invested with fresh viewpoints from the environmental RI vantage as the authors explore and explain many topics such as the rationale and challenges in global change, field and modeling platforms, new tools, challenges in data management, distilling information into knowledge, and new developments in large-scale RIs. This work serves an advantageous guide for academics and practitioners alike who aim to deepen their knowledge in the field of science and project management, and logistics operations.

This open access book summarises the latest developments on data management in the EU H2020 ENVRIplus project, which brought together more than 20 environmental and Earth science research infrastructures into a single community. It provides readers with a systematic overview of the common challenges faced by research infrastructures and how a ‘reference model guided’ engineering approach can be used to achieve greater interoperability among such infrastructures in the environmental and earth sciences. The 20 contributions in this book are structured in 5 parts on the design, development, deployment, operation and use of research infrastructures. Part one provides an overview of the state of the art of research infrastructure and relevant e-Infrastructure technologies, part two discusses the reference model guided engineering approach, the third part presents the software and tools developed for common data management challenges, the fourth part demonstrates the software via several use cases, and the last part discusses the sustainability and future directions.

Eddy covariance method is a modern high-precision technique for direct measurements of the movement of gases, water vapor, heat, and momentum between the surface and the atmosphere. It is used for measurements of carbon sequestration and emission rates in natural, agricultural, industrial, and urban environments, atmospheric exchange rates of greenhouse gases, direct mea­surements of evapotranspirative water loss, heat exchange, turbulence rates, and momentum fluxes. The wide range of applications includes numerous fundamental and applied sciences, regulatory and industrial monitoring, multiple aspects of agricultural management, as well as carbon trading and offsets, corporate sustainability and neutrality, among many others. The book “Eddy Covariance Method for Scientific, Regulatory, and Commercial Applications” has been created to familiarize the reader with the general theoretical principles, requirements, applica­tions, planning, processing, and analysis steps of the eddy covariance method. It is intended to assist readers in furthering their understanding of the method and provide refer­ences such as academic textbooks, flux network guidelines, and journal papers. In particular, it is designed to help scientific, industrial, agricultural, and regulatory projects and monitoring programs with experiment design and field deployment of the eddy covariance method. Some of the topics covered in “Eddy Covariance Method for Scientific, Regulatory, and Commercial Applications” include: · Overview of eddy covariance principles · Planning and design of an eddy covariance experiment · Implementation of an eddy covariance experiment · Processing and analysis of eddy covariance data · Networking multiple flux stations · Alternative flux methods · Useful resources, training and knowledge base · Example of planning, design and implementation of a comprehensive automated flux station

The first comprehensive treatment of data science as a new and powerful way to understand and manage human-environment interactions.

Ecological and biodiversity-based monitoring has been marked by an appalling lack of effectiveness and lack of success in Australia for more than 40 years, despite the billions of dollars that are invested in biodiversity conservation annually. What can be done to rectify this situation? This book tackles many aspects of the problem of biodiversity monitoring. It arose from a major workshop held at The Australian National University in February 2011, attended by leaders in the science, policy-making and management arenas of biodiversity conservation. Chapter contributors examine what has led to successful monitoring, the key problems with biodiversity monitoring and practical solutions to those problems. By capturing critical insights into successes, failures and solutions, the authors provide high-level guidance for important initiatives such as the National Biodiversity Strategy. Ultimately, the authors hope to considerably improve the quality and effectiveness of biodiversity monitoring in Australia, and to arrest the decline of biodiversity. KEY FEATURES * Engaging style * Practical information that is based on very high quality scientific information