Swift, Lloyd W. Jr.; Ragsdale, Harvey L. 1985. Meteorological data stations at long-term ecological research sites. In: Hutchison, B. A.; Hicks, B. B., eds. The forest-atmosphere interaction: Proceedings of forest environmental measurements conference; 1983 October 23-28; Oak Ridge, TN. Holland: Reidel: 25-37.
Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites have beendesignated in eleven ecosystems under the auspices of theNational Science Foundation. Meteorological observations arepart of the needed baseline data. An early accomplishment ofthis coordinated research program is a standard for LTERmeteorological stations. National goals of the LTER program andthe research objectives at each site are related in this report
to specific needs for meteorological data that defined the conceptand structure of the station standards. Each meteorologicalstation must serve two purposes, support ongoing research at thesite and provide climatic data for long-term studies and inter-site comparisons. The recommended standard is flexible. Itestablishes a core level of participation yet allows for con-siderable variation in data requirements of different ecosystems.