Reduced soil heat flux availability since late 2022 due to processing issue
August 29, 2023
Starting in late 2022 all NEON terrestrial sites were updated with new infrastructure that, among other things, controls the self-calibration process for the soil heat flux sensors (DP1.00040.001). While the new system continues to initiate sensor self-calibrations, the timing is slightly different. As a result, approximately half of the time the data processing code is incorrectly identifying the start and end of the calibration cycle and thus producing an incorrect calibration correction factor. Automated quality control tests are successfully catching the incorrect calibration factors and raising the final quality flag for the affected time periods. However, the amount of valid soil heat flux data has declined markedly since the new infrastructure was installed. The data processing code is being updated to correct this issue, and it is anticipated that the adjustments will allow soil heat flux availability to return to previous levels, including data collected since late 2022.
The approximate start date for this issue at each site is shown below (note that the earlier start dates may be less accurate due to early testing of the new infrastructure). An update to this issue will be provided within the next 2 months. Please use the Contact Us form for further inquiries related to this issue; select DP1.00040.001 in the Data Product dropdown list and include the term "INC0067855."
