Instrumentation & Measurements
The WEO is comprised of several instrumentation networks, described in
detail below, that can be enhanced by measurements using relocatable,
high-precision hydrologic and atmospheric observation equipment (Fig.
4). Example deployable equipment includes scintillometers, ground
penetrating radar, neutron and time domain reflectometry, cosmic ray
probes for biomass and soil moisture, lysimeters, collars for sampling
gas flux from soils, hydrologic sondes, automated water samplers,
portable trace gas infrared analyzers, and portable aerosol
spectrophotometers. The WEO also includes databases with high resolution
LiDAR data and long-term records of environmental monitoring (e.g.,
isotopes, weather, atmospheric trace gases and chemistry, water
quality). WEO resources are augmented by hydrological, meteorological,
and ecological infrastructure managed by the USGS, US Department of
Agriculture National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), National
Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), Inc., Utah Department of
Transportation (UDOT), and Salt Lake County.