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OzCZO page

Banner photo to come
OzCZO Network

Monitoring the Earth’s thin skin

The OzCZO community looks at what happens after scratching the earth’s surface to inform better understanding of above ground ecosystem processes.

The Network

OzCZO monitoring network

TERN’s Ecosystem Research Infrastructure is supporting OzCZO monitoring sites. Located across a diversity of Australia’s geologies, biomes, land uses and climates, OzCZO uses dedicated infrastructure, unavailable at other environmental monitoring sites, to monitor and track above- and underground processes and make data available through the TERN Data Discovery Portal.

Select a site to view its location, soil profile, climate and data streams.

OzCZO site

Site

Site PI

The Science

What is the Critical Zone?

The OzCZO network monitors the Earth’s thin skin, those few metres sandwiched between the atmosphere above and the geological system below. By monitoring critical processes such as soil dynamics, root zones, hydrology and biomantles, the network records the stocks and flows of carbon, water, energy and mass across this Critical Zone. In doing so, it seeks to better understand and manage the sustainability of food, clean water, mineral resources and Australian ecosystems.

The Critical Zone: services and OzCZO measurements by layer Cross-section of the Critical Zone from atmosphere to bedrock, with the ecosystem services and the OzCZO measurements for each layer. The Critical Zone Earth’s living skin, from the top of the canopy to fresh bedrock Critical Zone services What each layer provides OzCZO measurements What the observatories monitor Flux tower Fluxes Rain gauge Soil sensors Mycorrhizal network Bore Atmosphere Land surface Soil Groundwater Bedrock Carbon fixationThermal regulationAir quality Carbon, water, energy andmomentum fluxesRain, wind, humidity and light Agricultural productionHabitat and amenitySurface water resources Surface water flow Mycorrhizal networksSoil microbiomeCarbon sequestrationNutrient cycling Water content at multiple scalesSampling of solutes, water,energy flux, microbiomecomposition and activity Groundwater resources Groundwater depth and sampling Mineral resources

Select a layer to highlight its services and the OzCZO measurements. Select it again to clear.

Our Story

Open data on Australia’s life-sustaining resources

OzCZO is a national research infrastructure initiative, providing independent, open-access data to support better understanding and management of Australia’s life-sustaining resources.

Video: Professor David Chittleborough explains Critical Zone Observatories.

[Photo to come: below-ground instrumentation]
The Gap

Processes other networks cannot see

Many below-ground processes, such as the transfer of carbon between the soil and groundwater, cannot be monitored by existing environmental observation networks. OzCZO fills this gap by gathering data showing the interaction between above and underground environmental processes, and their responses to disturbance and change.

[Photo to come: OzCZO site]
The Approach

Standard protocols, one data home

TERN, as Australia’s Ecosystem Observatory, supports the OzCZO network by ensuring standardised monitoring and data protocols and a central data repository through TERN’s Data Discovery Portal.

[Photo to come: landscape or groundwater bore]
The Impact

From the land surface to the groundwater

OzCZO provides insights into ecosystem dependency on below-ground processes and, in turn, how changes to the land surface propagate underground and the impacts this has for the future sustainability of Australia’s food, water and ecosystems. This includes insights into urgent questions such as the fate and stability of carbon in deep soils and how sensitive groundwater recharge is to changing vegetation and climate.

What We Measure

Data streams

OzCZO data streams are grouped by the layer of the Critical Zone they observe, from the atmosphere down to the groundwater.

Atmosphere

[Short description from the network]

Carbon, water and energy fluxesEddy covariance flux tower
Rain, wind and humidityWeather station

Land surface

[Short description from the network]

Surface water flowInstrument to confirm
Sap flowSap flow monitor

Soil

[Short description from the network]

Subsurface material mappingERT array
Ground temperatureHeat needle
Soil moistureInstrument to confirm

Groundwater

[Short description from the network]

Carbon and water (stream to confirm)Vadose zone monitoring system
Groundwater depthBore
OzCZO infrastructure cross-section Cross-section of a critical zone observatory site showing the new OzCZO instrumentation beside the existing or proposed infrastructure, from the flux tower down to the groundwater bores. Water table OzCZO infrastructure What is installed at each observatory site, from the flux tower down to the groundwater bores New OzCZO instrumentation Existing or proposed infrastructure Below-ground FDR Permanent ERT array Logging, sample ports and power Vadose zone monitoring systemTDR, gas and solute sampling Groundwater depth, qualitymonitoring and sampling Energy balanceand gas fluxes Weather station Soil heat flux plates Logging and power

Select an instrument, or a category in the legend, to highlight it. Select it again to clear.

The People

Meet the team

Associate Professor Martin AndersenSite PI, Wellington (NSW)
Professor David ChittleboroughSite PI, Moreton Bay (QLD)
Dr Caitlin MooreSite PI, Gingin (WA)
Professor Sally ThompsonSite PI, Avon River (WA)
Professor Lucy ReadingSite PI, Springbrook (QLD)
Dr Sami RifaiSite PI, Calperum (SA)
[Name to confirm]Site PI, Fletcherview (QLD)
Get In Touch

Contact

OzCZO network

[Network contact name and email to confirm]

General enquiries

TERN Long Pocket Precinct
Foxtail Building #1019, Level 5
The University of Queensland
80 Meiers Road
Indooroopilly QLD 4068, Australia