Collaborative Research: Sustaining and amplifying the ITEX AON through automation and increased interdisciplinarity of observations

The goal of this project is to maintain the existing ITEX AON and increase the applicability of the data collected to the greater scientific community. The International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) network has collected data on phenology, plant growth, community composition and ecosystem properties as part of a greater effort to study environmental arctic change. The network, started in early 1990's, has played a key role in advancing knowledge related to the likely impacts of a warmer arctic through the use of experimentally warmed and un-manipulated plots (i.e., the controls) across a range of sites and ecosystems that span the major vegetation types of the Arctic. While of great value, most ITEX measurements are labor intensive and time consuming, which limit the frequency and spatial extent of sampling. Recent advances in sensor technology hold the promise to allow sampling of surrogates of these manual measurements rapidly and over larger areas. This work will continue the ITEX AON observations and initiate a suite of related, non-intrusive measurements using robotic sensor platforms (networked infomechanical systems, NIMS). These new measurements will enable scaling of measurements to the regional level by linking to existing 1 km2 sample grids and satellite imagery. These data are urgently needed to improve our capacity to monitor the impacts of changing tundra vegetation on the arctic system. This work should improve our understanding of the exchange of carbon and water across the land atmosphere interface and provide information on forage quality for herbivores.