Articles | Volume 10, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3379-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-3379-2017
Methods for assessment of models
 | 
12 Sep 2017
Methods for assessment of models |  | 12 Sep 2017

FluxnetLSM R package (v1.0): a community tool for processing FLUXNET data for use in land surface modelling

Anna M. Ukkola, Ned Haughton, Martin G. De Kauwe, Gab Abramowitz, and Andy J. Pitman

Abstract. Flux towers measure ecosystem-scale surface–atmosphere exchanges of energy, carbon dioxide and water vapour. The network of flux towers now encompasses ∼ 900 sites, spread across every continent. Consequently, these data have become an essential benchmarking tool for land surface models (LSMs). However, these data as released are not immediately usable for driving, evaluating and benchmarking LSMs. Flux tower data must first be transformed into a LSM-readable file format, a process which involves changing units, screening missing data and varying degrees of additional gap-filling. All of this often leads to an under-utilisation of these data in model benchmarking. To resolve some of these issues, and to help make flux tower measurements more widely used, we present a reproducible, open-source R package that transforms the FLUXNET2015 and La Thuile data releases into community standard NetCDF files that are directly usable by LSMs. We note that these data would also be useful for any other user or community seeking to independently quality control, gap-fill or use the FLUXNET data.

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Short summary
Flux towers measure energy, carbon dioxide and water vapour fluxes. These data have become essential for evaluating land surface models (LSMs) – key tools for projecting future climate change. However, these data as released are not immediately usable with LSMs and must be post-processed to change units, screened for missing data and gap-filling. We present an open-source R package that transforms flux tower measurements into a format directly usable by LSMs.