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Long-term flux monitering sites operated by our laboratory

Kiryu Experimental Watershed (KEW), Shiga Prefecture, Japan

Visit a lecture on 'Kiryu Experimental Watershed (KEW) - a long-term monitoring site of hydrology and ecosystem fluxes'

Japanese cypress forest, where continuous hydrological observations have been made since 1972, and continuous tower flux and microclimate observations have been made since 2001.

　　　



Pasoh Forest Reseave (PSO), Peninsula Malaysia

Malaysian tropical rainforest, where multiple species of trees make up a layered canopy, and continuous tower flux and microclimate observations have been made since 2003.

　



The Forest Hydrology Laboratory conducts research to scientifically clarify the various functions of forests, such as green dams, global warming mitigation, atmospheric purification, climate mitigation, and water purification. Many of these functions are performed by water and carbon going around the forest. Transpiration is necessary to maintain photosynthesys by tree leaves, which is the root of material production and material cycles in forest ecosystems. Evapotranspiration also helps stabilize temperature, precipitation, and other factors. Water stored in forest soils provides water for transpiration of plants and slowly flows out to rivers, helping to reduce disasters and store water resources. To understand the sustainability and limits of forest functions, we are conducting research to determine how water and carbon are circulating in forests based on various observations.

At our two sites,, in addition to long-term monitoring observations of CO2 and H2O exchange rates between the atmosphere and forest using observation towers and rainfall-runoff responses using a weir, observation research related to water and material cycles is underway, including photosynthesis and transpiration of individual leaves, ecosystem respiration, methane release and absorption, water dynamics within trees and under soil surface, and water quality formation.