AmeriFlux Tech Team
The AmeriFlux Technical Team ensures that the AmeriFlux network maintains its adherence to high quality, comparability, and continuity of observations—all the while exhibiting the flexibility necessary to foster innovation.
The Tech Team provides technical support and QA/QC resources to all sites in the AmeriFlux network. AmeriFlux QA/QC activities reduce measurement uncertainties and increase network comparability. The team deploys roving eddy covariance systems to test data acquisition and instrument performance. Such support also takes the form of supplying trace gas (CO2, CH4) standards and calibrated PAR sensors, and expert technical support whenever it is requested. In addition, the Tech Team offers certain site-specific capabilities, e.g., methane flux intercomparisons.
The Tech Team makes AmeriFlux site visits during the growing season season (typically April through September) to evaluate instrumentation and calibrate using one of their roving portable eddy covariance systems.
See the Site Visits page to find out more about this service, and to request a site visit.
You can contact the Tech Team at ameriflux-tech@lbl.gov.
Read this story on how the Tech Team helped after a wildfire swept through one AmeriFlux site…
Meet the Team!
AmeriFlux Tech Team members at 2016 AmeriFlux PI meeting (Golden, CO).
From left to right.
David Billesbach (U. Nebraska–Lincoln)—Dave has many years of experience with instrumentation used at AmeriFlux sites. He has served on the LI-COR Instrumentation Advisory Committee, and has designed, integrated and operated flux systems in ecosystems ranging from semi-arid grasslands to the arctic tundra.
Stephen Chan (SWChan@lbl.gov, LBNL)—Stephen joined the Tech Team from Oregon State U. where he was a postdoctoral research associate working on AmeriFlux QA/QC. He has been conducting site visits since 2011 and has visited the majority of Network sites. Stephen has installed, maintained, and operated numerous flux sites throughout the U.S. and internationally. He is a tower climber and rescue competent person and trainer.
Sébastien Biraud (SCBiraud@lbl.gov, LBNL)—Sébastien is the Tech Team lead. He brings many years of experience in precise trace gas measurement and QA/QC, working in South Great Plains, North Slope of Alaska, and Eastern North Atlantic DOE/ARM sites. He is the PI of the ARM Carbon (ARM Infrastructure) and Airborne Carbon (ACME) programs. Sébastien is the Climate Sciences department head within the Earth & Environmental Sciences Area at LBNL.
Sigrid Dengel (SDengel@lbl.gov, LBNL)—Sigrid joined the LBNL AmeriFlux QA/QC Tech team in fall 2015 from Helsinki University (Finland) bringing multi-year experiences in eddy flux instrumentation, data processing and analysis gained from excessive fieldwork across six continents including a wide range of ecosystems as well as managing sites in remote locations including the tropics and the Arctic.
Chad Hanson (Oregon State U.)—Chad led OSU’s AmeriFlux QA/QC Team from 2008-2013. He has built roving eddy covariance systems and played a major role in the OSU QA/QC lab’s emerging technology activities through prototype and beta testing of various environmental sensors as well as producing high-precision CO2 standards for the network and running the PAR calibration program.