The concept of a “carbon flux super site” is being realized at the US Department of Energy's Savannah River Site near Aiken, SC. The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) is partnering with a variety of organizations and agencies to create a multifaceted monitoring system that will represent a regional view of the net ecosystem exchange (NEE) of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The infrastructure will include a flux tower based on the AmeriFlux (http://public.ornl.gov/ameriflux) protocols and the establishment of a tall tower-based trace gas monitoring system to be operated as part of NOAA's Global Monitoring Division's national network (www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/towers.html). These systems will be augmented with strategically located remote sensors (sodars, lidar, RASS) and by the considerable existing infrastructure of the SRNL meteorological monitoring system. Additionally, fine-scale mesoscale modeling will be conducted to support several field intensive campaigns designed to understand better the nocturnal transport of carbon dioxide within the forest canopy, atmospheric boundary layer and the region in general. These innovative field campaigns will include the release of atmospheric tracers both within and above the forest canopy.

After completion, the carbon flux super site will offer a unique opportunity to observe atmospheric carbon dioxide in a particularly productive, in an agricultural sense, part of the United States. Aside from offering the capability to provide regional carbon dioxide information in a data sparse location (with respect to continuous carbon dioxide measurements), potential complimentary research is particularly intriguing. For example, the ability to perform precise forest management of the tower site and its environs offers additional opportunities. The ability to observe and then subsequently alter the surrounding forest by thinning or clear-cutting select trees is practically unavailable at any other location in this part of the country if not the world. By examining the NEE of the forest both before and after forest alterations, a sound basis for determining the sequestration of carbon will be possible. Such information is of keen interest for possibly mitigating the impacts of increased carbon dioxide in the present day atmosphere. Another interesting aspect will be the ability to continuously monitor atmospheric carbon dioxide during prescribed forest fires that are designed to eliminate undesirable undergrowth. To date, there is little real data of such activities, the impact of which pertains to local and regional air quality impacts from forest fire smoke plumes.