2013 Summer Field Tour (with High Sierra SAF)
Science & forest management in the mixed-conifer forest
Sierra National Forest - Providence Creek & other sites
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Sierra, STAFF
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Sierra, STAFF
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Sierra, INVESTIGATOR
High Sierra Chapter - Society of American Foresters
Visitors on a past field trip to the Providence Creek research site get a close look at installed instrumentation and explanations from SSCZO researchers and staff.
2013 Summer Field Tour
Shaver Lake, CA - July 13
“Science & forest management in the mixed-conifer forest”
Tour will include visiting the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory and the Kings River Experimental Watershed (KREW). The site is home to two collaborative field studies run by University of California, Merced, and the USFS Pacific Southwest Research Station. Research includes an integrated watershed study, impacts from forest management, and the study of physical processes that connect bedrock to the lower atmosphere. Site location visits under discussion include the eddy covariance flux tower at subcatchment P301, Critical Zone tree 1, meteorological stations at the Providence Creek site, stream gauging stations, and other research locations associated with the KREW and SSCZO projects.
Preliminary Agenda:
10:00 Meet at Shaver Lake Community Center and depart for Providence Creek
If you drive your personal vehicle, it will need to have high clearance.
Please carpool if possible, we will have vehicles available.
10:30 Critical Zone:
A. vegetation-atmospheric interaction
B. snow distribution and monitoring
11:30 Timber management in an experimental watershed
12:00 Lunch stop
12:30 Southern California Edison timber management
13:00 Water and sediment monitoring
14:30 Depart for Shaver Lake
Bring: water, sack lunch, sunblock, and anything else to make your day comfortable.
RSVP by July 11th with Erin Stacy: estacy@ucmerced.edu
Or
With Ryan, Patrick or Mike at the Edison Forestry office: (559) 841-3194
Visitors on a past field trip to the Providence Creek research site get a close look at installed instrumentation and explanations from SSCZO researchers and staff.
Photos
SSCZO - 2011 field trip
Carolyn Hunsaker (US Forest Service researcher) runs through the agenda for the day.
Roger Bales (professor and SNRI Director at UC Merced) explains the eddy covariance flux tower setup from his perch on the tower's base scaffolding.
The tower is 50 m (160 ft) tall in order to accurately capture the activity of the mixed conifer forest. Among the items around the base of this tower are a infrared gas analyzer (IRGA) for gas samples, a gas tank with reference CO2, a storage chest, and solar panels. The elevated scaffolding, where Roger Bales is sitting, allows for easier access when snows are high.
Roger Bales (red hat) and Matt Meadows (SSCZO field hydrolgist, green hat in background) explain one of the most heavily instrumented sites - a white fir (Abies concolor) known as "Critical Zone Tree-1".
Carolyn Hunsaker explains instrumentation at one of the Providence streams. Two flumes track stream discharge, and below those flumes, a settling basin captures sediment.
This July 2011 outing allowed stakeholders and the public to see the cutting-edge research being conducted at the site. Five congressional staff and 2 state senate staff members attended, along with representatives of several local organizations.
With SSCZO researchers Roger Bales, Matt Meadows and Carolyn Hunsaker, attendees toured the Providence flux tower, Critical Zone Tree-1, and meadow instrumentation, all located in subcatchment P301.
Explore Further
