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Site Description

The flux tower was located on ~ 60 ha of private farming land in the Coleambally Irrigation Area (CIA), which is a gravity-fed irrigation system located in the temperate semi-arid regions of the Riverina district in southern New South Wales, Australia. The CIA consists of ~ 400 000 ha, 79 000 ha of which is intensively irrigated cropland. In summer (November–April), crop production primarily consists of rice, maize, soybean and cotton; the main winter crops (May–October) include wheat, barley, canola and pasture.

The flux tower was originally placed over maize on 27 October 2010 (-34.7614, 146.0151, 120 m) which was planted 07 October 2010. At the time of flux tower installation, the maize crop was nearing the end of the early stages of juvenile growth. It was slightly re-positioned on 17 May 2011 (-34.7597, 146.0153) to improve fetch as the predominate winter winds generally originate in the south-west. The flux tower remained in-situ until 03 December 2011, 10 days post-wheat harvest.

Soils at this site are classified as transitional red-brown earth and have a bulk density of 1600 kg/m³ at depths of 0 – 0.3 m. Observed maximum daily temperatures ranged from 32.2 °C on 01 February 2010 and 5.8 °C on 08 July 2011. Observed rainfall over the 2010/11 summer growing season was ~ 476 mm; and ~ 204 mm over the 2011 winter growing season. Surface irrigation water was applied via a bed and furrow system and the total volume was 5.6 ML/ha and 2.6 ML/ha for maize and wheat, respectively. Nitrogen fertiliser in the form of urea was added at a rate of 100 kg/ha for maize which was aerially top-dressed on 18 November 2010. Fertiliser rates for the wheat crop are unknown. Crop yield and harvest index for maize and wheat were 12.0 t/ha and 5.0 t/ha; and 0.52 and 0.61, respectively.