The sites are situated in different ecosystems all across the country. In addition to conducting long-term measuremts of various environmental parameters, these field sites often offer opportunities for experimental research and provide accommondation and technival support for researchers. CSC, although not being a physical site, provides data services to support the data management of the LTER Finland sites.
Helsinki Metropolitan Area (HMA) combines ecological and sociological research. At the moment there are measurements in Kumpula (SMEAR III), in Viikki (SMEAR-Agri), and in Haltiala (GHG measurements). In addition, several research project study for example the physiology of trees in cities.
Hyytiälä Forestry Field Station and SMEAR II of University of Helsinki is located in the middle of state-owned forests and peatlands in Southern Finland, and hosts year-round facilities for field work, education and meetings.
The main research fields at SMEAR II are biogeochemical cycles of carbon, water and energy, biosphere - aerosol - climate interactions and forest tree ecophysiology. Long term, continuous measurements have been conducted since 1996 and cover various fields of observations related to meteorology, atmospheric properties, aerosol formation, fluxes of energy and matter and soil and tree properties and functioning. SMEAR II is also an ICOS atmosphere and ecosystem station as well as part of ACTRIS. In addition, biogeochemical cycles and atmospheric relations are measured at a nearby lake Kuivajärvi and Siikaneva peatland.
New blog about Hyytiälä events (in Finnish).
Hyytiälä is also an AnaEE platform.
Kevo Subarctic Research Station of the University of Turku lies in the northernmost Finnish Lapland, at the forest-tundra ecotone in Utsjoki in the Sámi Homeland. It has been a base for studying and monitoring subarctic nature and interactions between nature and humans for over 60 years.
Kevo is also an AneEE platform.
Kilpisjärvi Biological Station, founded in 1964, is a scientific research station belonging to the University of Helsinki. The station (69°03’N, 20°50’E) is situated in the subalpine birch forest zone in Finnish Lapland. The situation of Kilpisjärvi in a climatic and geologic border zone results in a great variety of habitats within a restricted area. The unique fauna and flora, which differ from those of any other part of Finland, have made the region especially attractive to the biologists. The principal aim of the station is to promote biological and geographical research in the north as well as to provide students of biology and geography with information about natural phenomena. The station is open to researchers of all nationalities in all branches of science.
Most research work in Kilpisjärvi Biological Station is carried out by visiting scientists from Finnish and foreign Universities and institutes with their own research money. The staff of the station takes care of only a small part of these studies (mainly long-term monitoring) and provides the facilities and assistance for researchers.
Lake Päijänne LTER site constitutes one of the biggest lakes in Finland (and smaller lakes in catchment area) with almost 300 000 habitants in surrounding areas. The lake has been heavily polluted but its condition has been improved, and today the lake has both high economic and social importance for a significant proportion of the Finnish population. There is a long experience of lake research in the L. Päijänne area, including some long-term data series. Research at L. Päijänne is diverse and is already well-equipped with instrumentation supporting long-term monitoring. The research covers large scales from hydrology to fish stock assessment. This research area includes also another large Finnish lake, Lake Konnevesi, as a natural reference lake in the northern branch of the Lake Päijänne system.
The University of Helsinki’s Lammi Biological Station (LBS) is located in the lake district and boreal forest biome of southern Finland. Established in 1953, LBS has functioned as a base for numerous research projects in the environmental sciences for decades. LBS’s primary focus has been on aquatic freshwater research pertaining to environmental change with a wealth of long-term data sets available for lakes, streams and ponds in the region which range from pristine condition to heavily influenced by agricultural and forestry practices. Researchers at LBS also investigate terrestrial organisms and ecosystems with particular emphasis on metapopulation biology, biodiversity and evolution for which long-term monitoring also plays an important role.
Lammi is also an AnaEE platform.
Oulanka Research Station of University of Oulu promotes research and teaching in biological and geosciences, and functions as a multidisciplinary unit with a responsibility to coordinate the university's activities in the northeastern Finland. The station is situated in the Oulanka river valley within the Oulanka National Park. Data from Oulanka Research Station consist of a very large number of long-term data series sets on environmental variables. These consist mostly of physical measurements, water chemistry data but also some biological data sets. New EcoClimate project is a long-term manipulative natural experimental platform studying combined and separate effects of climate change and reindeer grazing.
Oulanka is also an AnaEE platform.
(photo by Lasse Lecklin)
Pallas-Sodankylä Observatory of Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) consists of versatile research infrastructure for monitoring and studying the atmosphere, ecosystems and their interactions. FMI has a long history of atmospheric monitoring at Pallas. The first weather station was established near Lake Pallasjärvi in 1935. In 1991, the measurements of atmospheric composition were started and in 1994 the Sammaltunturi station was established as a node of the Pallas–Sodankylä Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) station. Currently, Pallas comprises one of the most important research infrastructures in Finland and in the wider circumpolar region, contributing to numerous European and global research programmes, such as GAW, ICOS, ACTRIS and EMEP.
A wide range of top-class research encompassing multiple disciplines is conducted at the various research stations and measurement sites established within the Pallas area by the FMI. The main research themes include greenhouse gas concentrations and ecosystem–atmosphere fluxes, the climate effects of atmospheric aerosols, aerosol–cloud interactions and air quality. Pallas is one of the sites of the Finnish network for monitoring the concentrations of mercury and other heavy metals, benzo(a)pyrene, ozone and other air pollutants, as required by the European legislation on ambient air quality. Pallas also serves as a platform for scientific collaboration with international as well as national research institutes (LUKE, SYKE, University of Oulu and GTK).
Sodankylä site hosts programs exploring upper-air chemistry and physics, atmospheric column measurements, snow and soil hydrology, biosphere-atmosphere interaction and satellite calibration-validation studies. Arctic Space Centre at Sodankylä hosts also the main infrastructure of FMI for Earth Observation satellite data reception, storage and distribution.
SYKE conducts at Pallasjärvi and its catchment long-term hydrological, chemical and biological monitoring at lake and stream/river stations using manual sampling and continuous automatic measurements. The main studies utilizing these measurements include air pollution effects on ecosystems, climate change, interactions between these global pressures, and changes in hydrological processes and biogeochemical cycling of substances – particularly C and N - in the catchment and the lake itself. SYKE has built research and monitoring infrastructure particularly in Lompolojänkkä subcatchment with FMI, Luke and University of Oulu for automatic runoff, dissolved organic material and other water chemistry measurements.
Tvärminne Zoological Station (TZS) of University of Helsinki is a coastal station located at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland. The station was established in 1902 and thus provides good background data for studying long-term environmental change. Marine research at TZS focuses on the biodiversity and functioning of the Baltic Sea ecosystem, and the effects of anthropogenic stressors, such as eutrophication and climate change. Evolutionary and population biology at TZS encompass the social and genetic structure of colony-forming insects, sexual selection and reproductive biology in fish and birds, and the dispersion and reproduction of insects and rock-pool organisms in fragmented landscapes (metapopulation biology). Long-term monitoring is an important aspect of all of the above research areas.
Värriö Subarctic Research Station and SMEAR I of University of Helsinki is located in the Värriö Strict Nature Reserve in eastern Finnish Lapland. SMEAR I station was established in 1991 and the main research fields are biogeochemical cycles of carbon, water and energy, biosphere - aerosol - climate interactions and tree ecophysiology. Measurements cover meteorology, atmospheric gas and particle concentrations, ecosystem, tree and soil gas exchange and tree growth. SMEAR I is also part of ICOS and ACTRIS networks.
CSC – IT Center for Science is a Finnish center of expertise in information technology owned by the Finnish state and higher education institutions. CSC provides internationally high-quality ICT expert services for higher education institutions, research institutes, culture, public administration and enterprises to help them thrive and benefit society at large.
CSC research data management services offer support and hands on help with planning and developing research data management for organisations, infrastructures and research projects.
Data management is a set of practices to handle collected and created information. It consists of a wide range of practices, concepts, procedures, processes, policies, and of accompanying systems. It enhances the value of data by making it interoperable, easier to find and understand, less likely to be lost, and more likely to be used and reused during original use and beyond. Data management practices involve, but are not limited to, data management planning, documentation, organization, storage, dissemination, preservation, and if need be, deletion. Effective data management is an ongoing process which is structured and aligned with the use context and life cycle stages.