Eddy Covariance Towers

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The four states of the Upper Division (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming), through the Upper Colorado River Commission (UCRC), and in cooperation with Reclamation initiated a study to assess and improve the accuracy of consumptive use estimates from irrigated agricultural lands in the Upper Colorado River Basin. That study, Assessing Agricultural Consumptive Use (AACU) in the Upper Colorado River Basin (Phase I, December 2013 and Phase II May 2016), resulted in a recommendation that several weather stations (existing and new) be formally identified for the purpose of providing information to research consumptive use data from irrigated lands. In addition, the study suggested the installation of four eddy covariance towers to support further independent verification of estimates. The data collected from this “Upper Basin Climate Network” (UB Network) will be utilized in ongoing research to assess consumptive water use (loss) calculations. The identified UB Network consists of existing weather stations, existing weather stations with necessary upgrades to meet the standards set by ASCE-EWRI 2005, new weather stations which will be installed in accordance with the ASCE-EWRI 2005 protocols, and four new eddy covariance tower stations (EC).This scope of work addresses the purchase, final siting, installation, operation and maintenance, and the quality control of collected research data. The tasks are divided into two phases: 1) Installation; and 2) Operational. • Installation will consist of the purchase of four complete EC tower systems and new sensors for the existing weather stations. The contractor will lead siting and installation of the same. Individual state representatives will coordinate landowner agreements for the system installations. The contractor will perform infrastructure installation. • Operations will consist of tower maintenance, sensor recalibration, data quality assurance and quality control, and data input, data analysis, and research data delivery to the UCRC.

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