The TERENO Northeastern German Lowland Observatory: studying Earth surface processes and structures in a glacially formed landscape (P2 – 05)

Abstract

Since 2008 a network of Terrestrial Environmental Observatories (TERENO) has been established in Germany by the Helmholtz Association as a long-term interdisciplinary research platform, focusing on the impact of climate and land-use change on terrestrial ecosystems and on related process understanding. This observation network consists of four main observation areas that extend across Germany from the Alps to the lowlands, forming in the latter area the Northeastern German Lowland Observatory (TERENO-Northeast). TERENO-Northeast, located in a glacially formed and intensively used landscape, investigates four subject groups and is supported by a central data management. These closely cooperating subject groups work on geoarchives (lake sediment formation, dendrochronology), geopedology (present-day and historic soil carbon redistribution, soil formation, trace gas balances of peatlands), hydrology (lake-groundwater interactions, water balances of lake and river catchments), and remote sensing (soil moisture retrieval, soil mapping). Combining geoarchives (lake sediments, trees, soils) with monitoring enables us to distinguish short-time fluctuations from long-term climatic and anthropogenic trends and to extend time series into the unobserved past. Instrumentation of TERENO-Northeast started in 2011and will be completed in 2014. The observatory comprises five research sites that differ significantly in area size (from a few hectares to several thousands of hectares) and landscape structure (e.g. geology, hydrology, land cover) including intensity and history of land use. Within TERENO-Northeast one of the study sites was chosen for the future establishment of a Critical Zone Observatory, comprising a forested and lake-rich part of the Müritz National Park (CZO Fuerstensee). Several partner organizations are involved in TERENO-Northeast, forming a regional network of non-university research institutions and universities. Further information, publications and data are available via the central TERENO portal: http://teodoor.icg.kfa-juelich.de/overview-de. (Remark: The authors named represent the coordination board of TERENO-Northeast and the main partner organizations, respectively. Several further persons are involved in TERENO-Northeast.)