DOE OSTI · 2999891
A Synoptic System for Capturing Ecosystem Control Points Across Terrestrial‐Aquatic Interfaces
Abstract
Interconnected landscape features such as terrestrial‐aquatic interfaces play an outsized role in biogeochemical cycles as ecosystem control points, but it is notoriously challenging to characterize these. Here, we document a synoptic sensor network design that is (a) flexible to accommodate diverse ecosystem interfaces and gradients, (b) adaptable to monitoring and modeling needs of small and large projects alike, (c) standardized for intercomparability across sites and field experiments, and (d) adequately replicated to capture heterogeneity of each parameter monitored. This real‐time monitoring of surface water, groundwater, soil, and vegetation supports configuration and evaluation of models that span upland, wetland, open water strata, and transitions between them. We established the network at seven sites along the Chesapeake Bay and Lake Erie coastlines, including large‐scale flood manipulation experiments in both regions. A central design element is “one data logger program to rule them all”—a collection of sensor‐specific modules deployed on 40 loggers controlling ∼2,000 sensors, with the goal of streamlining maintenance, debugging, and reproducible data processing. The network generates ∼6 M observations per month, capturing system dynamics at the broad spatial and fine temporal scales needed to initialize and benchmark models; measurement frequency can be modified remotely to capture events. This network design has also revealed behaviors not represented in Earth system models, such as transient groundwater oxygen pulses. Completely documented and open source, this standardized, flexible, and efficient sensor network design can reduce barriers to understanding environmental changes and ecosystem responses across systems and scales.
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Ward, Nicholas D. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000161745581), Megonigal, James Patrick [Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000220187883), Weintraub, Michael N. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States)] (ORCID:0000000296232855), Regier, Peter J. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000283751314), Pennington, Stephanie C. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000326851092), Peixoto, Roberta Bittencourt [Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States)], Bond‐Lamberty, Ben [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000195254633), Chen, Xingyuan [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000319285555), Doro, Kennedy O. [Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States)] (ORCID:0000000174987053), Kemner, Kenneth M. [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)] (ORCID:0000000214098542), Machado‐Silva, Fausto [Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States)] (ORCID:0000000221653284), McDowell, Nate G. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)], Myers‐Pigg, Allison N. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States)] (ORCID:0000000269056841), Sandoval, Leticia [Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States)], Patel, Kaizad F. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000164377809), Thornton, Peter E. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)] (ORCID:0000000247595158), Wilson, Stephanie J. [Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000254840748), Bailey, Vanessa L. [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States)] (ORCID:0000000222488890), Rich, Roy L. [Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000204617388). 2025-10-23. A Synoptic System for Capturing Ecosystem Control Points Across Terrestrial‐Aquatic Interfaces. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025jg009335
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