Cooperative Support Agreement for Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) of the National Ecological Observatory

生物圈是地球上最复杂的系统之一，有无数的内部过程以及与地球物理过程和系统的相互作用。我们必须了解生物圈是如何响应和影响地球的物理系统，但我们对生物圈的理解并不匹配我们在区域，大陆和全球范围内对地球物理和化学系统的日益复杂的理解。国家生态观测站（氖）的目的是了解和预测：（1）生态系统如何运作和应对变化，特别是在大尺度上;（2）生态系统过程如何反馈以改变地球系统过程，包括气候和水文;以及（3）这些过程和反馈对人类活动的影响。氖将在与人类福祉相关的时间和空间尺度上研究气候和土地利用变化、不可持续的用水和入侵物种对国家生物生态系统的影响。氖将是第一个研究平台，也是唯一的国家实验设施，专门用于使研究能够回答关于环境变化的原因和反应以及所观察到的变化所涉及的机制的大陆规模的问题。氖将成为第一个在全国106个地点近实时收集一致和标准化生物测量的实验设施。该奖项提供主要研究设备和设施建设资金，以建设氖。提供资金部署地理上分散的现场和实验室基础设施，通过网络技术联网，形成一个综合研究平台。尖端的传感器网络、仪器、实验基础设施、网络基础设施、包括塔和木板走道在内的支持设施以及生物采样区将部署在美国大陆、夏威夷、波多黎各和阿拉斯加。将建设3个航空遥感系统和10个移动的实验室。资金用于中央技术、网络基础设施、项目管理设施和支助人员。提供资源以开发氖数据产品并整合联邦机构的操作数据资源。提供资金用于开发氖的教育和外联门户网站以及员工培训方案。来自这些资源的数据将与计算、分析和建模能力相关联，以创建氖的集成基础设施。

The biosphere is one of the planet's most complex systems with countless internal processes and interactions with the earth's physical processes and systems. It is imperative that we understand how the biosphere is responding to and affecting earth's physical systems, yet our understanding of the biosphere does not match our increasingly sophisticated understanding of the earth's physical and chemical systems at regional, continental, and global scales. The National Ecological Observatory (NEON) is designed to understand and predict: (1) how ecosystems work and respond to changes, especially at large scales; (2) how ecosystem processes feed back to alter earth system processes, including climate and hydrology; and (3) the implications of these processes and feedbacks for human endeavors. NEON will enable research on the impacts of climate and land use change, unsustainable water use, and invasive species on the Nation's living ecosystems at the temporal and spatial scales that are relevant to human well-being. NEON will be the first research platform and the only national experimental facility specifically designed to enable research to answer continental-scale questions on causes of and responses to environmental change and the mechanisms involved in observed changes. NEON will be the first experimental facility to collect consistent and standardized biological measurements across 106 sites nationwide in close to real-time.This award provides Major Research Equipment and Facility Construction funds to construct NEON. Funds are provided to deploy geographically distributed field and lab infrastructure networked via cybertechnology to form an integrated research platform. Cutting-edge sensor networks, instrumentation, experimental infrastructure, cyberinfrastructure, support facilities including towers and board walks, and biological sampling plots will be deployed in the continental US, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Alaska. Three airborne remote sensing systems and ten mobile laboratories will be constructed. Funds are provided for central technical, cyberinfrastructure, and project management facilities and support staff. Resources are provided to develop the NEON data products and to integrate federal agency operational data resources. Funds are provided to develop NEON's education and outreach portals and staff training programs. The data from these resources will be linked to computational, analytical, and modeling capabilities to create NEON's integrated infrastructure.