Brief description
This release consists of flux tower measurements of the exchange of energy and mass between the surface and the atmospheric boundary-layer using eddy covariance techniques. Data were processed using PyFluxPro (v3.4.21) as described by Isaac et al. (2017) for the quality control and post-processing steps. The final, gap-filled product containing Net Ecosystem Exchange (NEE) partitioned into Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) and Ecosystem Respiration (ER) has been produced using the ONEFlux software as described in Pastorello et al (2020). This data set has been produced as part of the FLUXNET Shuttle project. The Robson Creek flux station commenced continuous collection of data in August 2013. The flux tower is located at Robson Creek, 24 km northeast of Atherton on the western slopes of the Lamb Range in Danbulla National Park, within the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.
The Robson Creek tower is located in tropical rainforest, approximately 30 km northwest of Atherton in Far North Queensland. It lies on the western slopes of the Lamb Range in Danbulla National Park, within the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area (WTWHA). The tower is located to the NW of a 25 Ha census plot established by CSIRO in 2012. Vegetation type: the forest is mapped as Regional Ecosystem (RE) 7.3.36a, complex mesophyll vine forest (Queensland Government 2006). The forest type changes to RE 7.12.16a, simple to complex notophyll vine forest, with increasing altitude to the north of the 25 Ha plot. In structure the forest is very tall to extremely tall closed forest with canopy heights ranging from 23 to 44 m. The tower is located at the southern base of the Lamb Range which rises to 1276 m ASL. The landform of the 25Ha plot which is in the dominant wind direction from the tower is moderately inclined with a low relief, a 30 m high ridge running north/south through the middle of the plot and a 40 m high ridge running north/south on the eastern edge of the plot. Three permanent creeks flow through the 25 Ha plot, joining with Robson Creek which in turn meets the Tinaroo Dam approximately one kilometre south of the plot. The climate of the area is considered seasonal with 61% of the annual rainfall occurring in the months of January to March. Based on the first 10 years of site rainfall data the MAP 2292 mm indicates the OzFlux site is slightly wetter than the nearby locations.
Lineage
Data collected using standard eddy covariance and meteorological instrumentation on a 40m tower at the Robson Creek site. The data were quality controlled using the PyFluxPro software package, see Isaac et al (2017), which is available at https://github.com/OzFlux/PyFluxPro. Gap filling and partitioning has been done using the ONEFlux software package, see Pastorello et al 2020, which is available at https://github.com/fluxnet/ONEFlux.Data Creation
Data is measured using standard micro-meteorological instrumentation on a flux tower.
Data is recorded on a data logger and is collected by the site PI.
Data quality control including removal of data outside plausible ranges, removal of spikes, exclusion of particular date ranges and removal of data based on the dependence of one variable on another is done using PyFluxPro.
Filtering for low-ustar conditions, gap filling and partitioning of NEE into GPP and ER are done using ONEFlux.
Notes
CreditWe at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
The purpose of the Robson Creek flux station is:
- to measure exchanges of carbon dioxide, water vapour and energy between the tropical upland rainforest in Far North Queensland and the atmosphere using micrometeorological techniques
- to quantify the changes in carbon and water balances of an Australian tropical rainforest on a long term basis in the face of climate change
- to present the results from the study in real time to the public and inform the public on what these results mean.
This flux station provides primary site meteorological and radiometric data for Robson Creek, a reference calibration site (GEOTREES) with a 25 Ha Census vegetation plot.
Data Quality Assessment Scope
local :
dataset
The data have been quality controlled using the PyFluxPro software. Quality control checks applied to the data include:<ul style="list-style-type: disc;">
<li>range checks for plausible limits</li>
<li>spike detection and removal</li>
<li>dependency on other variables</li>
<li>manual rejection of date ranges</li></ul>
<br>
Specific checks applied to the sonic and IRGA data including rejection of points based on the sonic and IRGA diagnostic values and on either automatic gain control (AGC) or CO2 and H2O signal strength, depending upon the configuration of the IRGA.</br>
<br>If the data quality is poor, the meteorological data is filled from ERA5 reanalysis data and fluxes are filled using the Marginal Distribution Sampling method. Filled data can be identified by the Quality Controls flags in the dataset. </br>
<br>The ONEFlux software used to gap fill and partition this data set also applies a Median Absolute Deviation (MAD) filter to the carbon dioxide, latent heat and sensible heat before the gap filling step.</br>
Isaac P., Cleverly J., McHugh I., van Gorsel E., Ewenz C. and Beringer, J. (2017). OzFlux data: network integration from collection to curation, Biogeosciences, 14: 2903-2928
doi :
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-2903-2017
Data Quality Assessment Result
local :
Quality Result
No anomalous data detected after quality control.
Created: 2026-03-11
Issued: 2026-04-07
Modified: 2026-04-07
Data time period: 2013-08-01 to 2026-01-01
text: The Robson Creek tower is located in tropical rainforest, approximately 30 km northwest of Atherton in Far North Queensland.
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Point-of-truth metadata URL
Isaac P., Cleverly J., McHugh I., van Gorsel E., Ewenz C. and Beringer, J. (2017). OzFlux data: network integration from collection to curation, Biogeosciences, 14: 2903-2928
doi :
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-2903-2017
PyFluxPro
uri :
https://github.com/OzFlux/PyFluxPro
ONEFlux
uri :
https://github.com/fluxnet/ONEFlux
Pastorello, G., Trotta, C., Canfora, E. et al. The FLUXNET2015 dataset and the ONEFlux processing pipeline for eddy covariance data. Sci Data 7, 225 (2020).
- URI : geonetwork.tern.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/0d503985-bb9d-471f-80b0-5b3a67c2af07
- global : 0d503985-bb9d-471f-80b0-5b3a67c2af07
