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

摘要- NSF提案0224822（菲利普斯、昆兹、鲁本德尔、伍德考克）在菲利普斯博士、昆兹博士、鲁本德尔先生和伍德考克博士的指导下，波士顿大学获得了一笔赠款，用于改善新罕布什尔州南部的波士顿大学野外站萨金特户外教育中心（SCOE）的环境数据采集和通信基础设施。 SCOE是一个独特的实地研究环境，包含广泛的陆地和水生生境，但这个实地站目前在研究和教育方面开发不足。 该项目的目标是利用数据采集和通信的改进，以提高在SCOE生态研究和教育的机会。 该项目的范围是广泛的，无论是从四个不同的陆地和水生栖息地提供数据的覆盖面，并在提供这些数据，以大范围的学生，教育工作者和研究人员从新英格兰地区和世界各地。 该项目将极大地推进环境问题协调委员会的中心目标，即促进对人类与环境关系的更好理解和认识，并为改变世界社会和环境的未来做出贡献。具体工作如下。 主要调查员将指导安装一个最先进的空间分布系统，用于自动收集各种生境的环境数据，并将其传送到海洋环境委员会的一个中央基本接收站。 基地站将与因特网连接，以便远程数据访问和显示，供外地教育和研究使用。 该系统的主要组成部分是：（1）环境传感器和数据记录器，用于收集SCOE四个主要栖息地的数据（森林、草地、水生动物和小型哺乳动物栖息地）;（2）无线电遥测装置，将所有栖息地的数据发送到中央基站;以及（3）无线电基站和网络连接的计算机服务器，用于在局域网内和向因特网接收、管理和传播数据。 此外，为了提供对森林树冠的物理访问，以支持自动化数据采集，现场研究和教育活动，NSF资金将支持建造一个安全的步行树冠访问塔。 这座树冠接入塔将为SCOE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。有了这项提案的资助，来自波士顿大学和外部合作者的科学家将能够在SCOE进行生态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，以及为来自不同背景的在校儿童提供教育宣传。 在研究生一级，最近在欧洲委员会开设了一个部门间实地课程，题为“衡量和监测生物多样性”，该课程将大大受益于拟议的改进。 在本科阶段，所要求的设备和基础设施将直接使波士顿大学环境科学专业的16门课程受益。 建议的改善措施亦会用于改善教育外展工作，让学生修读现时在环境教育委员会开办的五项特定环境研究课程。 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的环境变量如何控制各种生态过程，包括小型哺乳动物在庇护生境中的功能和繁殖;对森林生境中陆地-大气相互作用很重要的环境和生物物理变量，包括光、温度、湿度及其从树冠顶部到土壤的梯度;控制森林碳增益的森林结构变量，包括叶面积和物候学;土壤科学和土壤地球化学;以及对水生和两栖物种生存、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.