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Cow Bay FLUXNEXT Release 2026_r1

Created 14/04/2026

Updated 14/04/2026

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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 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 Cow Bay flux station is located in lowland tropical rainforest at the Daintree Discovery Centre near Cow Bay in Far North Queensland (GPS coordinates: -16.238189, 145.427150; elevation: 86 m).The Cow Bay flux station commenced continuous collection of data in December 2008. The flux system is located on an existing tourist tower at the Daintree Discovery Centre at Cow Bay, directly adjacent to Daintree National Park, within the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.The site is flanked to the south-west by coastal ranges rising to 400 m and to the east by the Coral Sea. The red clay loam podzolic soils are of metamorphic origin and have good drainage characteristics. The Cow Bay site is gently sloping but the fetch area makes the site one of very complex terrain.The forest is classed as complex mesophyll vine forest (type 1a) and has an average canopy height of 25 m. The dominant canopy trees belong to the Arecaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Rutaceae, Meliaceae, Myristicaceae and Icacinaceae families. It is continuous for several kilometres around the Cow Bay Tower except for an area 800 m north-east of the tower, which is cleared agricultural land used for a cattle farm. A 1 Ha census plot is located in immediate proximity to the flux tower.Annual average rainfall at the site is around 3700 mm and is strongly seasonal, with 68% falling between January and April (wet season).

Daintree Discovery CentreThe flux station is located at the 23 m level viewing platform on the visitor tower at the Daintree Discovery Centre external link. The visitor centre has seen over 1 million visitors visit since it was set up in 1989 by Pam and Ron Burkett. The DDC is recognised as a leader in ecotourism in the Daintree and has won numerous state, national and international awards including the International Award for Ecotourism (Skal Congree, Budapest 2009). In 2016 the DDC was sold to the Aboriginal Development Benefits Trust (ADBT). The ADBT helps to develop indigenous community, youth and entrepreneurship programs within the Lower Gulf region.The flux tower is managed by James Cook University.

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Additional Info

Field Value
Title Cow Bay FLUXNEXT Release 2026_r1
Language eng
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/en/dataset/5220297e-2cb2-4c3a-ba3d-f8f48e0a5b52
Contact Point
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network's Data Discovery
michael.liddell@jcu.edu.au
Reference Period 01/01/2009 - 27/11/2025
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
{
  "coordinates": [
    [
      [
        145.4172,
        -16.2482
      ],
      [
        145.4372,
        -16.2482
      ],
      [
        145.4372,
        -16.2282
      ],
      [
        145.4172,
        -16.2282
      ],
      [
        145.4172,
        -16.2482
      ]
    ]
  ],
  "type": "Polygon"
}
Data Portal Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network "Cow Bay FLUXNEXT Release 2026_r1". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://geonetwork.tern.org.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/cow-bay-fluxnext-release-2026_r1