You are here
Harvard Forest Symposium Abstract 2007
- Title: Cyberinfrastructure for an ecohydrological sensor network
- Primary Author: Emery Boose (Harvard Forest)
- Additional Authors: Lori Clarke (UMASS Amherst); Aaron Ellison (Harvard University); David Foster (Harvard University); Julian Hadley (Harvard Forest); Lee Osterweil (University of Massachusetts - Amherst ); Alexander Wise (UMASS Amherst)
- Abstract:
Sensor networks that provide high resolution spatial and temporal measurements will soon support real-time environmental modeling and forecasting. At the Harvard Forest we are designing a field wireless network that will integrate ongoing meteorological, hydrological, eddy flux, and tree physiological measurements on the Prospect Hill Tract. Simultaneous measurements in adjoining small watersheds will enable us to study variations in water flux caused by differences in topography, soils, vegetation, land use, and natural disturbance history. Frequent sampling will enable us to study water flux dynamics at a wide range of temporal scales, from minutes (e.g., response of evapotranspiration to light) to days (e.g., ground water response to precipitation and snow melt) to years (e.g., ecosystem response to climate, reforestation, land use, and natural disturbance). The data processing system will be designed to provide optimal real-time data and process metadata for modeling and forecasting. Features will include: (1) real-time quality control, modeling, and gap filling; (2) scheduled post-processing to update models with subsequent measurements; and (3) facilities for substituting corrected or alternate measurements as needed. Results will be posted on the Internet in real time for use by the scientific community and the public.
The reliability of the resulting datasets (including both original measurements and derivative models and forecasts) will depend on the ability to reproduce the processes used to create them and to verify that these processes are scientifically sound. This is a general and critical problem in science today, especially for complex systems. To address it, we are developing cyberinfrastructure tools that support precise description and execution of processes using on a formal process definition called an “analytic web.” This approach guarantees dataset reproducibility by providing (1) detailed process metadata that precisely describe all sub-processes, and (2) a complete audit trail of all artifacts (e.g., datasets, code, models) used or created in a particular execution of a process. It also supports rigorous evaluation of processes for errors, including logical, statistical, and propagation of measurement errors. The Harvard Forest ecohydrological sensor network will provide a good opportunity to test and refine these analytic web tools, which are specifically designed to handle such complex process features as concurrency, real-time data streaming, and exception handling.
- Research Category: Forest-Atmosphere Exchange
Watershed Ecology
