posted on 2011-08-19, 09:52authored byManuela Balzarolo, Karen Anderson, Caroline Nichol, Micol Rossini, Loris Vescovo, Nicola Arriga, Georg Wohlfahrt, Jean-Christophe Calvet, Arnaud Carrara, Sofia Cerasoli, Sergio Cogliati, Fabrice Daumard, Lars Eklundh, Jan A. Elbers, Fatih Evrendilek, Rebecca N. Handcock, Jörg Kaduk, Katja Klumpp, Bernard Longdoz, Giorgio Matteucci, Michele Meroni, Leonardo Montagnani, Jean-Marc Ourcival, Enrique P. Sánchez-Cañete, Jean-Yves Pontailler, Radoslaw Juszczak, Bob Scholes, Maria Pilar Martín
This paper reviews the currently available optical sensors, their limitations and opportunities for deployment at Eddy Covariance (EC) sites in Europe. This review is based on the results obtained from an online survey designed and disseminated by the Co-cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action ESO903—“Spectral Sampling Tools for Vegetation Biophysical Parameters and Flux Measurements in Europe” that provided a complete view on spectral sampling activities carried out within the different research teams in European countries. The results have highlighted that a wide variety of optical sensors are in use at flux sites across Europe, and responses further demonstrated that users were not always fully aware of the key issues underpinning repeatability and the reproducibility of their spectral measurements. The key findings of this survey point towards the need for greater awareness of the need for standardisation and development of a common protocol of optical sampling at the European EC sites.