Environmental Data Acquisition and Communications Improvements at Sargent Center, New Hampshire

摘要-美国国家科学基金会提案0224822(菲利普斯、昆茨、鲁本德尔、伍德考克)在菲利普斯博士、昆茨博士、鲁本德尔先生和伍德科克博士的指导下，波士顿大学获得了一笔赠款，用于在位于新罕布夏州南部的波士顿大学户外教育萨金特中心(SCOE)对环境数据采集和通信基础设施进行物理改进。SCOE是一个独特的实地研究环境，包含了广泛的陆地和水生生境，但这个野外站目前在研究和教育方面没有得到充分开发。该项目的目标是利用数据获取和通信的改进来增加SCEE的生态研究和教育机会。该项目的范围很广，包括提供四个不同陆地和水生栖息地的数据，以及向来自新英格兰地区和世界各地的大量和多样化的学生、教育工作者和研究人员提供这些数据。这一项目将极大地促进可持续发展教育的中心目标，促进更多地了解和欣赏人类与环境的关系，并为改变世界的社会和环境未来做出贡献。首席调查员将指导安装最先进的空间分布式系统，以便自动收集各种生境的环境数据，并将其传输到SCOE的中央基地接收站。基站将连接到互联网，用于远程数据访问和显示，用于场外教育和研究。这一系统的主要组成部分是：(1)环境传感器和数据记录器，用于从SCOE的四个主要生境(森林、草地、水生动物和小型哺乳动物生境)收集数据；(2)无线电遥测装置，用于将所有生境的数据发送到中央基站；以及(3)无线电基站和联网的计算机服务器，用于在局域网和因特网内接收、管理和传播数据。此外，为了提供进入森林树冠的物理通道，以支持自动数据获取、现场研究和教育活动，NSF基金将支持建造一座安全的无电梯树冠通道塔。这座天篷通道塔将为苏黎世森林生态系统提供一个独特的设施，从广泛的学术角度研究森林生态系统的空间和功能复杂性。波士顿大学的科学家和外部合作者将获得这项建议的资金，使其能够在苏黎世森林大学进行生态学研究和综合生态教育。这些活动将包括为研究生提供研究培训，为本科生提供研究经验，以及为不同背景的在校儿童提供教育推广。在研究生一级，教科文组织最近开发的题为“生物多样性的测量和监测”的跨部门实地课程将从拟议的改进中受益匪浅。在本科阶段，所需的设备和基础设施将直接惠及波士顿大学环境科学专业的16门课程。拟议的改进还将用于改善对参加学校目前提供的五门具体环境研究课程的学童的教育推广工作。在上述所有教育和研究应用中，所要求的设备将用于调查关键环境变量如何控制各种生态过程，包括小型哺乳动物在避难所栖息地的功能和繁殖；对森林生境中的陆地-大气相互作用重要的环境变量和生物物理变量，包括光、温度、湿度及其从树冠顶部到土壤的梯度；控制森林碳增量的森林结构变量，包括叶面积和物候学；土壤科学和生物地球化学；以及对水生和两栖动物物种生存、繁殖和保护至关重要的环境变量。

Abstract - NSF Proposal 0224822 (Phillips, Kunz, Rubendall, Woodcock) A grant has been awarded to Boston University, under the direction of Dr. Phillips, Dr. Kunz, Mr. Rubendall, and Dr. Woodcock, to make physical improvements in environmental data acquisition and communications infrastructure at Sargent Center for Outdoor Education (SCOE), a field station of Boston University located in southern New Hampshire. SCOE is a unique environment for field studies, containing a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic habitats, but this field station is currently under-exploited for research and education. The goal of this project is to utilize data acquisition and communications improvements to enhance ecological research and education opportunities at SCOE. The scope of the project is broad both in terms of providing data coverage from four distinct terrestrial and aquatic habitats, and in terms of making these data available to a large and diverse range of students, educators, and researchers from the New England region and around the world. This project will greatly further the central goal of SCOE, to facilitate greater understanding and appreciation of the human relationship to the environment, and contribute to making a difference in the world's social and environmental future.The exact work to be done is as follows. The principal investigators will direct the installation of a state of the art, spatially distributed system for automatically collecting and transmitting environmental data from a wide variety of habitats to a central base receiving station at SCOE. The base station will be linked to the Internet for remote data access and display for off-site education and research. The main elements of this system are: (1) environmental sensors and data loggers for data collection from four major habitats at SCOE (forest, meadow, aquatic, and small mammal habitats); (2) radio telemetry units to send data from all habitats to a central base station; and (3) a radio base station and a web-connected computer server to receive, manage and disseminate data both within a local area network and to the Internet. In addition, to provide physical access to the forest canopy in support of automated data acquisition, in situ research, and educational activities, NSF funds will support the construction of a secure walk-up canopy access tower. This canopy access tower will provide a unique facility at SCOE to study the spatial and functional complexity of forest ecosystems from a wide range of academic perspectives.With funding for this proposal, scientists from Boston University and outside collaborators will be able to pursue ecological research and integrated ecological education at SCOE. These activities will include research training for graduate students, research experiences for undergraduate students, and educational outreach for school children from diverse backgrounds. At the graduate level, a recently developed, interdepartmental field course at SCOE, entitled "Measuring and Monitoring Biodiversity", will benefit greatly from the proposed improvements. At the undergraduate level, the requested equipment and infrastructure will directly benefit 16 courses within the Environmental Science major at Boston University. The proposed improvements will also be used to improve educational outreach to school children participating in five specific Environmental Studies courses currently offered at SCOE. In all of the above educational and research applications, the equipment requested will be used to investigate how critical environmental variables control a diversity of ecological processes, including small mammal function and reproduction in shelter habitat; environmental and biophysical variables important for land-atmosphere interactions in forest habitat, including light, temperature, humidity, and their gradients from canopy top to soil; forest structural variables that control forest carbon gain, including leaf area and phenology; soil science and biogeochemistry; and environmental variables critical to aquatic and amphibian species survival, reproduction, and conservation.