Data collecting and test sites

Detailed experiments have been established on one hundred Carbon Action farms to study the impacts of carbon farming practices on soil carbon sequestration, yield and other properties of the fields. You can follow the development at 20 of these farms in Field Observatory in near-real time through soil sensors and satellite imagery, and soon by model forecasts. The data show how different fields respond to droughts and heavy rains, and make it possible to follow plant growth. Each farm is on its part involved in advancing the research and developing practices that enhance carbon sequestration into agricultural soils. The results also help farmers find ways to develop plant and soil resilience in a changing climate. The collected field survey data is published annually on a Zenodo server, to be found with keyword ‘Carbon Action’. At the intensive study sites of Qvidja and Ruukki, the fluxes and sequestration of carbon are studied using soil analysis, microbiological analysis, atmospheric measurements, remote sensing and modeling. The existing study sites are being developed and new ones established in collaboration with Carbon Action partners.

About the collected data

The Field Observatory provides a synthesis of the following data sources: Offline field and lab measurements: Carbon farming practices are tested and monitored on each Carbon Action farm and at the intensive study sites. We have collected soil samples from each plot in 2019 and will be repeating the sampling in the future. The soil samples are used to track changes in soil organic matter, microbes, nutrients and soil physical properties. Soil sampling is supplemented by field measurements of soil structure and vegetation. Online soil measurements: All study sites are equipped with four Meter TEROS-12 soil sensors that measure soil moisture, temperature and salinity. The sensors are connected to a third party data transfer hardware1, which uses Lora/WAN network to transmit measurement results every half hour.
Online Eddy-covariance tower measurements: Fluxes of carbon dioxide, water and energy between the ecosystem and the atmosphere are measured at the intensive study sites Ruukki and Qvidja. Both sites are equipped with a three-axis sonic anemometer2 and an enclosed-path infrared gas analyser3.. Gaps in the flux data are filled using an algorithm of FMI; please note that the values are provisional and will be subject to further quality control. For more information on the Eddy-covariance data, please contact the PIs of the intensive sites.
FMI open weather data: Weather information, i.e. precipitation, air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, is retrieved from the nearest FMI weather station for all Carbon Action study sites. FMI open data Sentinel-2 derived variables: All sites are monitored using remote sensing imagery. The Sentinel-2 mission high-resolution multispectral images are retrieved from Google Earth Engine cloud data platform to calculate Normalized Vegetation Index (NDVI) values and estimates Leaf Area Index (LAI) values. These values are updated minimum every 2-days if the images satisfy a set of quality control criteria. Photosynthetically Active Radiation data product: Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) data are obtained from Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS) Radiation Service.