Cumberland Plain Observatory and EucFACE

The Observatory consists of a ecosystem flux tower biodiversity monitoring site and the EucFACE (link EucFACE) elevated CO2 experiment all located in Cumberland Plain remnant eucalypt woodland in the environs of Western Sydney University s Hawkesbury Campus.

The flux tower and associated infrastructure accomodates a monitoring system that quantifies the exchanges of water, carbon and energy between the ecosystem and the atmosphere. It continuously records micrometeorological conditions (such as radiation, wind speed, humidity, temperature or air pressure), along with the concentrations of water and carbon dioxide.

The Observatory is also equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation that provides detailed measurements of a variety of processes including tree growth, fuel moisture, or changes in the cycles and processes of plants and animals.

The data from the Observatory is available to external researchers so that they can use it in experiments or models running at larger regional or even continental or global scales.

Scientists are working to understand how carbon and water is processed through forests on a variety of scales, and the Observatory and the rest of the OzFlux network is essential in being able to map these processes as they occur under natural conditions.