Daly Pasture OzFlux tower site

The Daly River Pasture flux station is located 62km south west of Pine Creek, Northern Territory: 14?03?48?S, 131?19?05?E.

The flux tower site is identified as tropical pasture, and the vegetation is dominated by species Chamaecrista rotundifolia (Round-leaf cassia cv. Wynn), Digitaria milijiana (Jarra grass) and Aristida sp. standing at approximately 0.3m tall. The soil at the site is a mixture of red kandosol and deep sand. Elevation of the site is close to 70m and mean annual precipitation at a nearby Bureau of Meteorology site is 1250mm.

Maximum temperatures range from 37.5?C (in October) to 31.2?C (in June), while minimum temperatures range from 12.6?C (in July) to 23.8?C (in January). Maximum temperatures vary on a seasonal basis between 6.3?C while minimum temperatures vary by 11.2?C.

The instrument mast is 15 meters tall. Heat, water vapour and carbon dioxide measurements are taken using the open-path eddy flux technique. Temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, rainfall, incoming and reflected shortwave radiation and net radiation are measured.

Ancillary measurements taken at the site include LAI, leaf-scale physiological properties (gas exchange, leaf isotope ratios, N and chlorophyll concentrations), vegetation optical properties and soil physical properties. Airborne based remote sensing (Lidar and hyperspectral measurements) was carried out across the transect in September 2008.