The site provides nationally consistent observations of vegetation dynamics, faunal biodiversity, micrometeorology (climate, radiation, fluxes of carbon and water), hydrology and biogeochemistry to examine the impacts of fire regime, climate on carbon stocks and GHG emissions, and impacts on habitat quality via ongoing monitoring of vegetation structure and fauna. A wide range of ground based observations of vegetation structure and floristics is planned and all will link to remote sensing of fire and vegetation change over time. Measurements of carbon sequestration through time will be achieved via the instrumentation capable of directly measuring CO2, water use and surface energy properties (energy balance, reflectance). The tower will provide longterm measurements as part of the Ozflux network and the infrastructure is partly funded through the NCRIS TERN OzFlux facilities.

The Sturt Plains flux station is located approximately 280km north of Tennant Creek, Northern Territory. It was established in August 2008 and is managed by Monash University external and Charles Darwin University. The Sturt Plains OzFlux Site is located at: Latitude: -17.1507 S Longitude: 133.3502 E

The flux tower site is 280km north of Tennant Creek, amongst a low lying plain dominated by Mitchell Grass (gen. Astrebla). Elevation of the site is close to 250m and mean annual precipitation at a nearby Bureau of Meteorology site is 640mm.

Maximum temperatures range from 28.4°C (in June/ July) to 39.1°C (in December), while minimum temperatures range from 11.2°C (in July) to 24.4°C (in December).

The instrument mast is 5 meters tall. Heat, water vapour and carbon dioxide measurements are taken using the open-path eddy flux technique. Temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, rainfall and net radiation are measured. Soil heat fluxes are measured and soil moisture content is gathered using time domain reflectometry.

Ancillary measurements taken at the site include LAI, leaf-scale physiological properties (gas exchange, leaf isotope ratios, N and chlorophyll concentrations), vegetation optical properties and soil physical properties. Airborne based remote sensing (Lidar and hyperspectral measurements) was carried out across the transect in September 2008.

Biomass Harvest - mean live biomass: 0.00 gm-2 (standard error: 0.00) , mean standing dead biomass: 163.42 gm-2 (standard error: 16.73), mean litter biomass: 148.99 gm-2 (standard error: 21.32), total mean biomass: 312.40 gm-2 (standard error: 30.80), Soil- Clay: 14.47% (volume <1µm), Silt: 51.23% (volume <1µm), Sand: 34.30% (volume <1µm), Sand (>1 µm): 1.02% (total weight)