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ITEX Biology

— The International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) Arctic Observing Network (AON) was started in the early 1990′s to study environmental change in the Arctic. Multiple instruments, configured along a tram-like platform, gather detailed 3D data about the tundra ecosystem below. The project establishes a baseline of high resolution measurements of Arctic plants and helps record and decode how they are changing over time.

ITEX
ITEX

On the ITEX Robotic Tundra Tram multiple instruments configured along a tram-like platform sense the tundra below and gather detailed data about the Arctic ecosystem while traveling along a 50 meter transect. The high resolution information is more detailed than that gained by a satellite or by a meteorological station. In the video ITEX: Tram Powered Nathan Healey, post-doctoral research associate at Florida International University, describes the instruments and types of data they gather.

In a more detailed study, masters student Jose Luciani in video ITEX: Node to Node digitizes the growth variation of individual plants. Luciani wants to know if it is more advantageous for a plant to grow horizontally or vertically in the changing Arctic environment.

Steven Oberbauer, professor of biological sciences at Florida International University, said: “We collect the data, we post the data. They are going to be in a national archive, so 50 years from now, if somebody wants to come back, they can look at a 3D image, a 3D movie of the transect. They can look at specific plants that are there over the years, over the days. That’s the object of the project, to establish a baseline of high resolution measurements.”

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