The Zotino Tall Tower Observatory (Zotto): Quantifying large scale biogeochemical changes in Central Siberia

• Main Authors: Heimann, M., Schulze, E., Winderlich, J., Andreae, M., Chi, X., Gerbig, C., Kolle, O., Kübler, K., Lavrič, J., Mikhailov, E., Panov, A., Park, S., Rödenbeck, C., Skorochod, A.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Arctic; Yenisei River; Climate change; taiga; Siberia
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11858/00-001M-0000-0024-930A-5; http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0000-B7A8-4

The boreal and arctic zone of Siberia represents an important region in the global Earth system, containing large and potentially vulnerable carbon stocks as well as sizeable exchange fluxes of carbon dioxide and methane with the atmosphere. in order to monitor long-term biogeochemical changes in Siberia as a consequence of global climate change, the zotino Tall Tower Observatory (zOTTO) has been established in the centre of the Siberian taiga, at 60° N, 90° E, about 20 km west of the yenisei River, as a joint project between the Max Planck institute of Biogeochemistry, Jena (Germany), and the i. V. Sukachev institute of Forest, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, krasnojarsk (Russian Federation). The observatory includes a 304 m tall measurement mast for continuous monitoring of carbon dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide, ozone, reactive nitrogen species, meteorology and a multitude of aerosol properties. in addition, air flask samples are taken and analysed off site in Russian and German laboratories for quality control. Furthermore, aerosol filters are analysed by a partner group at the Saint Petersburg State University for chemical analyses. Additional activities include regional monitoring of forest fires, the collection of repeated forest inventories and analyses of remote sensing data of the regional environment. The first measurements began in autumn 2006. in 2012 also two small towers were erected over a nearby forest and a bog for continuous measurements of the exchange fluxes of carbon dioxide and methane with the eddy covariance method. Here we summarize the scientific rationale of the station, its infrastructure, the local environment and some exemplary results from measurements obtained at ZOTTO.