An effort led by Marta Galvagno and Dario Papale has successfully upgraded two ICOS Associated Stations in Valle d’Aosta: ICOS station Torgnon grassland (IT-Tor) and ICOS station Torgnon larch forest (IT-TrF).
Between 2nd-9th August, standard eddy covariance equipment was installed at both sites, significantly enhancing their level of standardisation. At the forest site, two permanent monitoring plots were established, equipped with a below-canopy photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) system and a set of dendrometers in accordance with ICOS standard protocols. The real-time data transmission under finalisation will further increase the scientific value of these important Alpine ICOS and eLTER stations providing high-quality data of particular interest to the remote sensing calibration and validation (cal/val) community.
Mutual support and collaboration brings results
This work represents a coordinated effort by the National Research Council of Italy Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems (CNR IRET), the Regional Environmental Protection Agency of Aosta Valley (ARPA Valle d’Aosta), and Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC).
The joint effort to upgrade the two Torgnon stations demonstrates the strength of the ICOS Research Infrastructure network, where collaboration, sharing of expertise and sensors, and joint field campaigns enable high-impact scientific results.
The upgrades were made possible thanks to the ITINERIS project (Italian Integrated Environmental Research Infrastructures System) (IR0000032 – CUP B53C22002150006), funded by the EU’s Next Generation EU programme under Mission 4 “Education and Research” - Component 2 “From research to business” - Investment 3.1.
Participation of CMCC personnel was supported through the Horizon Europe project NUBICOS (GA 101130676).
This story is adapted from a piece on the ICOS Italy website. Read the original (in Italian) here.