NEON Operations and Maintenance: Evolving from a Strong Foundation

美国未来的健康、福利和安全取决于各种自然系统，这些系统可以被不断变化的世界所改变。国家生态观测站网络是世界上第一个大陆规模的设施，通过获取从地方到大陆规模的标准化生物和环境测量数据，研究这些变化的性质及其原因。它提供了关键数据，使科学家能够理解和预测变化，并使政策制定者能够减少有害影响。氖正在以前所未有的方式民主化这一科学领域，向任何有兴趣进行高级生态和气候研究的人免费提供高质量的数据。氖在其20个生态区域中的每个区域提供全国范围的外展服务，以建立多元化，包容性和跨学科的下一代研究人员。氖与合作伙伴一起为各种利益相关者提供数据技能培训和教育材料。氖的使命是通过广泛的科学参与提供免费提供的高质量大陆和十年尺度生态数据和样本，更好地了解和预测生态变化的驱动因素和应对措施。该项目的管理实体实现了这一使命，并通过强大、安全和可访问的网络基础设施、教育和推广计划、可查找、可访问、可互操作和可重复使用的FAIR数据合作伙伴以及氖生物储存库，提供快速和广泛的高质量氖数据和样本访问，从而提高发现的潜力。强大的氖网络基础设施提供免费和开放的数据和分析工具，将继续授权实践社区开发开源代码，分析工具，标准化协议和衍生生态数据产品。氖基础设施在横跨美国大陆、阿拉斯加、夏威夷和波多黎各的20个不同生态区域的81个地点持续运营。利用传感器网络、航空遥感和人工实地观测和收集收集了180多个数据产品。这些免费和公开的数据通过氖数据门户网站（https：//data.tagscience.org/）提供给科学家、教育工作者和公众，以造福社会。收集物理样品并通过氖生物储存库（https：//biropo.bioscience.org/portal/）提供。氖通过可收回成本的可分配资产计划，为其基础设施的许多部分（包括人员）提供定制访问。集中式规划推动高效管理，确保数据的一致性和质量; 20个氖域的分散式执行可适应美国环境的多样性。氖推进跨学科知识的潜力将通过广泛的战略合作伙伴关系得到放大。氖将通过提供使用氖数据的培训，支持氖大使和合作伙伴，以及进行标准化生态实地采样协议的培训，建立多元化，包容性和跨学科的下一代研究人员和劳动力。氖业务的持续改进，包括培训和外展活动，将通过定期的外部评估来驱动，以衡量天文台的绩效指标。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

The future health, welfare, and security of the U.S. depend upon diverse natural systems that can be altered by the changing world. The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), the first continental-scale facility of its kind in the world, addresses the nature of these changes and their causes by acquiring standardized biological and environmental measurements from the local to continental scale. It provides key data to enable scientists to understand and predict the changes and enable policy makers potentially to lessen detrimental effects. NEON is democratizing access to this area of science in unprecedented ways by providing high-quality data free of charge to anyone interested in pursuing advanced ecological and climate research. NEON provides outreach nationwide in each of its 20 ecological regions to build a diverse, inclusive, and interdisciplinary next generation of researchers. With its partners, NEON provides data skills training and educational materials to a wide variety of stakeholders. The NEON mission is to enable better understanding and prediction of the drivers of, and responses to, ecological changes by providing freely available, high-quality continental and decadal-scale ecological data and samples informed by broad scientific engagement. The managing entity for this project realizes this mission and advances the potential for discovery by providing rapid and broadened access to high-quality NEON data and samples through robust, secure, and accessible cyberinfrastructure, educational and outreach programs, findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable - FAIR - data partners, and the NEON Biorepository. The robust NEON cyberinfrastructure that provides free and open access to data and analytic tools will continue to empower a community of practice to develop open-source code, analytic tools, standardized protocols, and derived ecological data products. NEON infrastructure is continuously operated at 81 sites in 20 distinct ecological regions spanning the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Over 180 data products are collected using a sensor network, airborne remote sensing, and manual field observations and collections. These free and openly available data are provided to scientists, educators, and the public for societal benefit through the NEON data portal (https://data.neonscience.org/). Physical samples are collected and made available for use through the NEON Biorepository (https://biorepo.neonscience.org/portal/). NEON provides customized access to many parts of its infrastructure, including personnel, through a cost-recoverable Assignable Assets program. Centralized planning drives efficient management with consistency and quality in data; decentralized execution across the 20 NEON Domains accommodates the diversity of environments in the US. The potential for NEON to advance interdisciplinary knowledge will be amplified by engaging in extensive strategic partnerships. NEON will build a diverse, inclusive, and interdisciplinary next generation of researchers and workforce by providing training in the use of NEON data, supporting NEON ambassadors and partners, and conducting training in standardized ecological field sampling protocols. Continual improvement of NEON operations, including training and outreach activities, will be driven by regular external evaluation against Observatory performance metrics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.