NEON herbaceous biomass and leaf area index (LAI) prototype data, D10 CPER site, 2011

Four 300m transects were established in the NEON Tower footprint. At regular intervals along transects herbaceous biomass, herbaceous vegetation structure, and leaf area index (LAI) were measured. Digital hemispherical photos were acquired on the 16th of June of 2011 using a Nikon D300s camera and a 10.5 mm Nikon DX Fisheye lens. The camera was held at waist height with a monopod, and perpendicular to the ground, using bubble levels as guides. GPS metadata were acquired for each photo. All photographs were collected with the photographer oriented toward the sun, thus minimizing shadows in the images. Images were acquired in pairs spaced every 10 m along transect center lines. For each image pair, one image was taken 3 m to the left of the center line, and another was taken 3 m to the right of the center line. The sky was partly cloudy and the majority of images were collected with direct sunlight on the foliage. LAI measurements were also collected with a LICOR LAI-2200 fish-eye optical sensor in June and September of 2011. Herbaceous vegetation structure, aboveground biomass, and belowground biomass measurements were made in May and June of 2011 at 50 m intervals along the transects, inside and outside of grazing exclosures. The vegetation structure and aboveground biomass measurements were repeated in August of 2011.