Field Equipment

Our research requires the of a range of field equipment. We use both traditional plot to landscape level sampling techniques as well as more technically advanced approaches for measuring trace gas fluxes, hyperspectral reflectance and micrometeorology.

Our trace  gas flux equipment includes a Licor 6200 and a Licor 6400 portable photosynthesis system for measuring leaf to plot level water and carbon dioxide fluxes and an Innova 1312 photoacoustic analyzer for measuring plot level water, carbon dioxide and methane fluxes. We have used our Unispec dual channel spectrometer to measure leaf to landscape-level reflectance with hand held masts, a plot level geniometer we have built with engineering students, a robotic cart riding along a tramline with our colleague John Gamon, and a helicopter.

We measure soil moisture with a soil portable Spectrum soil moisture probe and we have a series of easy to transport Hobo weather stations for measuring various meteorological paramters. At UTEP's Indio Mountains Research Station (IMRS) we manage a campbell weather station.

Like many ecologists, we increasingly find ourselves having to make our own field equipment because of the lack of available off-the-shelf options or the expense of the latter. We manufacture our own plot level flux chambers and chamber bases, and with senior engineering students we have built robotic carts, and a wirelessly-controlled unmanned ground vehicle.

Currently, we are awaiting delivery of our first Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) and an eddy covariance system to measure land-atmosphere carbon, water and energy balance.... we'll keep you posted!