Field Sites
Flux tower clusters
Coastal South Carolina Cluster
We have established a cluster of eddy covariance research sites in South Carolina, as described in Forsythe et al., (2020), to quantify rates of greenhouse gas exchange and carbon sequestration in unique and threatened coastal ecosystems, including salt marsh, historic rice fields and longleaf pine forest. In most cases we want to understand how land management alters ecosystem function. We are grateful to the Belle W. Baruch Foundation for hosting three sites at Hobcaw Barony.
US-HB1 - North Inlet Salt Marsh at Hobcaw Barony
US-HB1 was established in the summer of 2017 and is located in a Spartina alterniflora salt marsh in South Carolina in the North Inlet - Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NI-WB NERR). We operate the site in collaboration with Dr. Erik Smith of the University of South Carolina with support from the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium through grant NA18OAR4170091. A PhenoCam (webcam) updates every 15 minutes here. Access the tower's real-time weather data here.
US-HB2 - Hobcaw Barony Mature Longleaf Pine
US-HB2 is a 37 m tall tower in a 24 m tall mature longleaf pine forest that is periodically managed with fire. It became operational in spring 2018. A PhenoCam (webcam) updates every 30 minutes here. Access the tower's real-time weather data here.
US-HB3 - Hobcaw Barony Longleaf Pine Reestablishment (Clearcut)
US-HB3 is a 6 m tall tower in a longleaf restoration project. A clearcut field was planted with containerized longleaf pine seedlings in the spring of 2018. The tower has been operational since January, 2019. A PhenoCam (webcam) image updates at this link every 30 minutes. Watch a video of more than three years of growth in 80 seconds below. Access the tower's real-time weather data here.
HB3_Hobcaw_Clearcut_midday_Oct2022v1.mp4US-HB4 - Brackish Impounded Wetland
US-HB4 is a 6 m tall tower in a managed coastal wetland. Water levels are managed to maintain desirable wetland habitat for waterfowl. The tower became operational in March, 2020. A PhenoCam (webcam) image updates at this link every 30 minutes. Access the tower's real-time weather data here.
Virginia Cluster
In 2014, Dr. O'Halloran established the Sweet Briar College Land-Atmosphere Research Station with a tall tower in a mature loblolly pine forest. Since that time, and in collaboration with Dr. Quinn Thomas at Virginia Tech, SBC-LARS has grown to a 3-site, co-located cluster to investigate biofuels and land cover change in managed ecosystems. We gratefully acknowledge support from USDA NIFA grant # 2017-68002-26612, The Thomas F. and Kate Miller Jeffress Memorial Trust, The Global Change Center at Virginia Tech, Sweet Briar College, and Clemson University. More details are provided at the SBC-LARS website.
US-SB1 - Sweet Briar Loblolly Pine
US-SB1 is a 36.5m tall tower in a loblolly pine plantation in the Piedmont of central Virginia. Air quality measurements, including aerosol size distributions and NOx, ozone, and SO2 concentrations, began in fall of 2014. CO2 flux measurements were added in spring of 2015 and measurements continue today. A PhenoCam (webcam) updates every 15 minutes here.
US-SB2 - Sweet Briar Switchgrass
US-SB2 is a short tower in a switchgrass plantation on the campus of Sweet Briar College and is co-located with the pine tower. Switchgrass was planted in a C3 pasture field in 2013 and measurements began in 2016. A PhenoCam (webcam) updates every 15 minutes here. Results from this site are presented in Ahlswede et al., (2021).
US-SB3 - Sweet Briar Clearcut
US-SB3 was established in the spring of 2018 in a clearcut of loblolly pine that was performed over the winter of 2018. The site was replanted in loblolly seedlings in 2019. The site PhenoCam page is here.