Regional Hydroclimate Project:
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LBA (Large-Scale Biosphere - Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia)
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Brasilia
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Brasilia
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None.
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Name:Antonio Ocimar Manzi
Affiliation:
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LBA Implementation Manager / Central Office Coordinator
INPA
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Av. André Araújo, 2936 - Alojamento nº 09 - Petrópolis
Cx. Postal 478
69011-970 Petrópolis
Manaus, Brazil
Telephone: +55(92)643-3255 / 236-5205
Fax: +55(92)643-3238/ 236-5131
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Latitude: 15° 55' 48" S
Longitude: 47° 55' 11" W
Elevation: 1100 m
LBA Regional Map (click for full resolution):
Regional and Area Maps (click for full resolution):
Station Description:
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General Description:
All meteorological, radiation, soil, tower and flux measurements have been performed at Brasilia Cerrado (savanna) site.
Station Operator: The LBA Brasilia site is part of the LBA Project, managed by the Brazilian Institute for Amazon Research (INPA) which is subordinated to Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology (MCT).
Vegetation and Land Use:
Brasília, Federal District, is Brazil's capital, located in the Brazilian Central Plateau, locally known as the Cerrado region. The city is expanding very rapidly over the 5,814 km2 of the Federal District. Brasília was planned in the 1950s to be in the center of the country, strategically located in order to promote Brazil's inland development. Many of the governmental and urban facilities were built in the early sixties.
The Cerrado is the second largest biome of Brazil, after the Amazon rain forest, representing 22 % of the country, or approximately 2 million km2, quite as large as Western Europe. It is a species rich wet tropical savanna classified as a hotspot because of its large number of endemic species and the rapid loss of habitats. The soils are generally highly weathered and distrophic, being the growth of plants limited by N and P. The fragmentation of Cerrado areas and the rapid conversion into agroecosystems may lead to higher nutrient inputs in adjacent native areas. The enrichment of native areas with N and P will probably affect plant and soil microbial community and consequently change the magnitude of NOx emissions. The Cerrado has a continuous layer of herbaceous species (mainly C4 grasses) at the peak of the vegetation growth, scattered with shrubs and trees that sometimes form a continuous canopy. It has a characteristic flora, which distinguishes it from other Brazilian biomes, such as the Amazonian and coastal rain forests or the Northeastern Caatinga. The Cerrado savanna is criss-crossed with corridors of mesophytic evergreen forest that occur along the rivers (gallery forest). Other types of vegetation occur infrequently such as hyperseasonal savannas (veredas), and dry savannas (campo rupestre). Four physiognomic types of savanna are commonly recognized in the Cerrado: campo limpo (grassland), campo sujo (shrub savanna), cerrado sensu strictu (savanna) and cerradão (woodland), which differ from each other by the relative abundance of woody and herbaceous (mainlygrasses) species.
LBA Brasilia Cerrado Site (click for full resolution):
Dominant land cover at the measurement location: No information.
Canopy height: No information.
Density of Canopy: No information.
Land cover within 50 m of site: No information.
Land cover within 500 m of site: No information.
Land cover within 12 km of site: No information.
Seasonal land cover changes: No information.
Major changes in land cover at site from October 2002 to December 2004: No information.
Slope at the site: No information.
Other notes: None
Soil Type and Characterization:
The Cerrado has a high diversity of soil types, geology, geomorphology, and climate. Most Cerrado soils are very deep and well drained, on gentle slopes (commonly less than 3 %), high in clay and iron oxides, and a mix of clay and secondary minerals. However, some soils are acidic; contain a low amount of organic matter; have a low concentration of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium; have a high concentration of iron and aluminum, and have a low cation exchange capacity. The high aluminum concentration in the soils is a matter of concern and argument. While high aluminum saturation in the cation exchange capacity of the soil can decrease crop productivity, some native trees are able to accumulate large amounts of aluminum in their leaves. The Cerrado is mostly composed of five topsoils: Latisols, or oxisols (cover 46% of the Cerrado); Cambisols and Litholic Neosols (occupy 10% of the Cerrado); Quartzarenic Neosols and Argisols (cover 15% each). The remaining 14% of the Cerrado is covered with various other soil types. The Federal District is located in the Brazilian Central plateau on the South American tectonic plate. Rocks are mostly from the Pre-Cambrian period, covered with laterite from the Cenozoic period.
Surface soil type: No information.
Soil type in deeper layers: No information.
Surface soil porosity: No information.
Soil porosity in deeper layers: No information.
Soil infiltration rate: No information.
Bulk Dry Density: No information.
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity: No information.
The Soil Reference Group(s) (from World Reference Base for Soil Resources): No information.
Climate:
The annual average rainfall is around 1,500 mm. Approximately 86 % of the Cerrado receives between 1,000 and 2,000 mm of precipitation annually, putting the region into an intermediary climatic position between the rainy Amazonian and the arid Caatinga. About 90% of total precipitation falls between October and March, resulting in two distinct climatic seasons (wet and dry).
During the rainy season grasses are active and produce a large amount of green biomass that dries out during the dry season. The accumulation of dead material facilitates the occurrence of fire, especially at the end of the dry season. Cerrado has the richest flora among tropical savannas and is one of the world's environmental 'hot-spots'. Over 10,400 species of vascular plants are found, fifty of which are endemic. Fauna diversity is very high also with 180 species of reptiles, 113 of amphibians, 837 of birds and 195 of mammals.
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SURFACE METEOROLOGY AND RADIATION INSTRUMENTATION AND DESCRIPTION:
- Station pressure - measured; height and instrumentation not provided.
- Air Temperature - measured; height and instrumentation not provided.
- Dew point - measured; height and instrumentation not provided.
- Relative humidity - measured; height and instrumentation not provided.
- Specific humidity - measured; height and instrumentation not provided.
- Wind speed - measured; height and instrumentation not provided.
- Wind direction - measured; height and instrumentation not provided.
- U wind component - measured; height and instrumentation not provided.
- V wind component - measured; height and instrumentation not provided.
- Precipitation - measured; height and instrumentation not provided.
- Snow depth - Not measured.
- Incoming shortwave radiation - measured; height and instrumentation not provided.
- Outgoing shortwave radiation - measured; height and instrumentation not provided.
- Incoming longwave radiation - measured; height and instrumentation not provided.
- Outgoing longwave radiation - measured; height and instrumentation not provided.
- Net radiation measured; height and instrumentation not provided.
- Skin temperature - Not measured.
- Incoming Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) - measured; height and instrumentation not provided.
- Outgoing Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) - measured; height and instrumentation not provided.
- Sensible heat flux - 9.0 m instrumentation not provided
- Latent Heat flux - 9.0 m instrumentation not provided
- CO2 Flux - 9.0 m instrumentation not provided
- Soil heat flux - 5 cm depth instrumentation not provided
- Soil temperature - 2, 5, 10, 30, and 50 cm depths instrumentation not provided
- Soil moisture - 5, 10, 20, 30, 50, and 100 cm depths instrumentation not provided
METEOROLOGICAL TOWER INSTRUMENTATION AND DESCRIPTION:
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No data of this type available at this station.
FLUX INSTRUMENTATION AND DESCRIPTION:
SOIL INSTRUMENTATION AND DESCRIPTION:
RADIOSONDE INSTRUMENTATION AND DESCRIPTION:
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No information.
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Web:
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None provided.
Literature:
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None provided.
- LBA (10 March 2004; Irvine, CA, USA)
- LBA (31 March 2003; Berlin, Germany)
- LBA (2 April 2003; Berlin, Germany)
- LBA (6 March 2002; Tokyo, Japan)
- EOP-3/4 and beyond Data Sets and Documentation
- Surface Meteorological Data: Current Status and Browse Plots
- Soil Temperature and Moisture Data: Current Status and Browse Plots
- Flux Data: Current Status and Browse Plots
- Meteorological Tower Data: Current Status and Browse Plots
- EOP-1 Converted Format Data Sets and Documentation
- EOP-1 Native Format Data Sets and Documentation