Site name : TERENO
Location : Jülich, Germany (Wüstebach: 6.33412, 50.50626 - Rollesbroich: 6.30382, 50.62692 - Selhausen: 6.45149, 50.86846) - See map.
Operating institute : Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Institute for Bio- and Geosciences, Agrosphere Institute (IBG-3).
Category : HIES HIOS

MAIN PURPOSE : Long-term observation and experimentation of terrestrial systems.
ECOSYSTEM TYPE : Forest, grassland, arable land.
EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENTS : Soil management.

DESCRIPTION : The infrastructure consists of three intensive test sites (ITS): Wüstebach (ITS1), Rollesbroich (ITS2) and Selhausen (ITS3).
The infrastructures are operated by IBG-3 permanently since 2007. The sites are equipped with a wireless soil moisture networks, groundwater monitoring, runoff and solute monitoring stations, eddy covariance tower (CO2, NO2, CH4), soil respiration monitoring, climate stations with rainscanner (only Wüstebach) and lysimeter/deposition stations. A deforestation experiment (approx. 12 ha) will be done in Wüstebach in 2013 (see picture below). The Selhausen ITS is also equipped with geophysical and remote sensing monitoring systems. Within the observatory a climate feedback experiment (SoilCan) using a lysimeter network was finished in 2012.

ACCESS FOR USERS OR USER GROUPS UNDER ExpeER : The visiting scientists will have the authorisation and the facilities to work at the described sites. On average each user or user group is expected to stay 7 days at the infrastructure :
Day 1: Discussion with the TERENO team, explanations about the existing TERENO infrastructure.
Day 2: Presentation of the TERENO sites and determination of the sampling location(s).
Day 3: Installation of the material required for the measurement campaign of the visiting team.
Day 4: Measurements of the ecosystem characteristics.
Day 5: Repetition of the measurements of the ecosystem characteristics.
Day 6: Dismantling of the experimental device installed by the visiting team.
Day 7: Transfer of the data from the TERENO permanent monitoring system for the interpretation of the data collected by the visiting team.

Type of equipment/facilities/sites used : The users will have access to all installations at the test sites and they will benefit of number of facilities (electric power line, water, telecommunication to lab).

Expected output/deliverables for users : The data set concerning the meteorological conditions and the carbon, water and energy budgets of the test sites during the visiting team campaign period will be available for them.

SUPPORT OFFERED : Scientifically, users will benefit from the world-class quality of the ongoing research activities, the state-of-the-art equipment, and the outstanding expertise of the staff members. Access to the facilities will be decided on the basis of a proposal describing the research project. Within the framework of this proposal these options will be offered to outside users during a typical period of 3 to 6 months/year. Visiting scientists or research groups can rely on the support of the local group throughout their visit time. The user will be supported by at least one scientist and one technician from IBG-3. Regular transport to the installations will be assured. First-time users will be given a detailed facility-specific training, including detailed instructions on safety rules and, if needed, the use of the measurement techniques applied at our facility. They may also participate in seminars and lectures organized on site. Especially young researchers can benefit from numerous lectures organized within the Forschungszentrum Jülich.

Accomodation : On-site accommodation available. There are also several cheap hotels in the surrounding area near the test sites (30 – 50 €/day).
Contact of site manager : This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it --[+49 24 61 61 67 52]
Address : Forschungszentrum Jülich - 52425 Jülich - Germany.

Photographies : 1. Gauging station test site, Rollesbroich - 2. Gauging station test site, Wuestebach [copyright : H. Bogena].

• THANKS TO ExpeER

NEW DEVELOPMENTS:
- At the Selhausen site, two rhizotron facilities to investigate root growth and soil water dynamics under cropped fields have been constructed.
- A biodiversity scaling experiment will be accomplished at the particularly well instrumented Rollesbroich experimental grassland site.
- Together with National Park Eifel Authority, a controlled deforestation experiment in the Wüstebach site will be conducted by Forschungszentrum Jülich in September 2013.
- The SOILCan project aiming to acquire long-term data sets regarding changes in terrestrial systems as a function of climate change has started.

1. Selhausen - Rhizotron experimental facilities

At the Selhausen site, two rhizotron facilities to investigate root growth and soil water dynamics under cropped fields have been constructed. The effect of soil hydraulic properties and drought stress on crop root development and soil water dynamics will be investigated. Three experimental ‘water’ treatments are therefore planned: rain sheltering, irrigation, and natural rain. To monitor root growth, mini-rhizotubes, i.e. 12 transparent tubes 7 m long and with a diameter of ca. 5 cm have been installed horizontally at six depths (0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.2 m) along which root development can be observed using a camera (totalling 72 per facility). At same depth as the rhizotubes, soil moisture sensors (TDR probes, 12 per depth), tensiometers (6 per depth), and temperature sensors (3 per depth) have been installed to enable detailed measurements of soil water and temperature dynamics.
Left  image: View on the plot and the roof of the trench at the Selhausen TERENO site. Right image : Minirhizotubes ends in the rhizotron trench. ©Images by Jan Vanderborght, Forschungszentrum Julich.

2. Rollesbroich – The biodiversity scaling experiment

The Rollesbroich is particularly well instrumented for the collection of hydrological data, with a large suite of fixed soil moisture sensors, cosmic ray sensors and remote sensing equipment. Gaseous flux data (by Eddy co-variance towers) are collected at the heads of the catchments (See Figure 1). Additionally, some biodiversity records are collected.

To test the hypothesis that ‘Ecosystem functions and biodiversity are spatially correlated and that ecosystem functions scale differently from biodiversity’ we will in May 2013 within the framework of WP 10 of EXPEER undertake a comparative experiment at two TERENO grassland sites in Germany (Rollesbroich and a site in the Harz region). This experiment will be conducted by the EXPEER partner Leeds University. The fundamental approach is to measure the biodiversity of higher plants at a range of scales in both sites, so that plant species number and functional soil-water relations can be co-related at increasing scales.
Figure: Instrumentation of the Rollesbroich TERENO site. © Image by Heye Bogena, Forschungszentrum  Julich.

3. Wüstebach - Deforestation experiment

Together with National Park Eifel Authority, a controlled deforestation experiment in the Wüstebach site will be conducted by Forschungszentrum Jülich in September. The aim of it is to measure the subsequent changes in hydrology, greenhouse gas emissions, carbon dynamics and nutrient cycling, also in order to better parameterise process based models. The experiment will be in close collaboration with the transregional project SFB-TR32 (see website www.tr32.de for details).
Figure: Deforested site in the National Park Eifel. © Image by M. Röös, Nationalpark Eifel.

4. Selhausen, Rollesbroich und Wüstebach – SOILCan lysimeters

The SOILCan network aims to acquire long-term data sets regarding changes in terrestrial systems as a function of climate change. Long-term data sets are still scarce but essential for the development and improvement of models dealing with biosphere–atmosphere–hydrosphere exchange processes.

At the different test sites, six high precision weighing lysimeters filled with undisturbed soil monoliths were arranged in a hexagonal design around the centrally placed service unit. Each lysimeter has a surface area of 1.0 m² and a length of 1.5 m. Matric potential and temperature sensors, heat flux plates, TDR-probes, as well as CO₂ sensors were installed at different soil depths to measure different soil states and fluxes. The lysimeters’ lower boundary condition can be controlled with a unit of parallel suction pipes, which were installed at the end of the filling procedure in an inverted lysimeter. Using measurements of the matric potentials by tensiometers inside and outside the lysimeters, the vacuum line is adjusted to control the parallel suction pipes.
Left figure: Cross section of the lysimeter set-up. © Image by UMS, Germany. Right figure: View on a lysimeter hexagon with the service pit in the center and a single fully instrumented lysimeter. © Image by Th. Pütz, Forschungszentrum Jülich.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Herbst, M., L. Bornemann, A. Graf, G. Welp, G., H. Vereecken and W. Amelung 2012. A geostatistical approach to the field-scale pattern of heterotrophic soil CO2 emission using covariates. Biogeochemistry 111: 377-392, DOI 10.1007/s10533-011-9661-4

Montzka, C., H.R. Bogena, L. Weihermüller, F. Jonard, C. Bouzinac, J. Kainulainen, J. Balling, A. Loew, J. DallAmico, E. Rouhe, J. Vanderborght and H. Vereecken 2013. Brightness temperature validation at different scales during the SMOS validation campaign in the Rur and Erft catchments, Germany. IEEE Transactions on Geosciences Remote Sensing, 51(3): 1728-1743, DOI 10.1109/TGRS.2012.2206031.

Qu W., H.R. Bogena, J.A. Huisman, and H. Vereecken 2013. Calibration of a Novel Low-Cost Soil Water Content Sensor Based on a Ring Oscillator. DOI 10.2136/vzj2012.0139.

Rosenbaum, U., H. R. Bogena, M. Herbst, J. A. Huisman, T. J. Peterson, A. Weuthen, A. W. Western and H. Vereecken 2012. Seasonal and event dynamics of spatial soil moisture patterns at the small catchment scale, Water Resour. Res., 48, W10544, DOI 10.1029/2011WR011518.