CEOP LBA Brasilia Reference Site

The LBA Brasilia site is part of the LBA Project, managed by the Brazilian Institute for Amazon Research (INPA) which is subordinated to Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology (MCT). All meteorological, radiation, soil, tower and flux measurements have been performed at Brasilia Cerrado (savanna) site. Brasilia, Federal District, is Brazil's capital, located in the Brazilian Central Plateau, locally known as the Cerrado region. The city is expanding very rapidly over the 5,814 km2 of the Federal District. Brasilia was planned in the 1950s to be in the center of the country, strategically located in order to promote Brazil's inland development. Many of the governmental and urban facilities were built in the early sixties. The annual average rainfall is around 1,500 mm. Approximately 86 % of the Cerrado receives between 1,000 and 2,000 mm of precipitation annually, putting the region into an intermediary climatic position between the rainy Amazonian and the arid Caatinga. About 90% of total precipitation falls between October and March, resulting in two distinct climatic seasons (wet and dry). During the rainy season grasses are active and produce a large amount of green biomass that dries out during the dry season. The accumulation of dead material facilitates the occurrence of fire, especially at the end of the dry season. Cerrado has the richest flora among tropical savannas and is one of the world's environmental 'hot-spots'. Over 10,400 species of vascular plants are found, fifty of which are endemic. Fauna diversity is very high also with 180 species of reptiles, 113 of amphibians, 837 of birds and 195 of mammals.