BIOSPHERE ATMOSPHERE INTERACTIONS - INTEGRATED RESEARCH IN A EUROPEAN CONIFEROUS FOREST ECOSYSTEM

For the determination of regionally averaged fluxes and budgets of atmospheric trace constituents, the ultimate goal of the European Environment Research Program EUROTRAC, several ecosystems must be investigated, each representative of larger areas. One of the most wide-spread vegetation types is the coniferous forest, in which several compartments exist such as soil, trunk space, canopy and 'free' atmosphere above, which differ considerably in biology, chemistry and meterology, but interact strongly by feedback processes caused by turbulent mixing and chemical reactions. To understand forest/atmosphere relations in detail, measurements are needed which provide concentration, emission and deposition data of various chemical compounds as well as micrometeorological quantities. These measurements have to be carried out simultaneously in all storeys of a forest over extended periods and must be highly resolved with respect to time and space. In a first step detailed small-scale studies must be performed. This paper describes the scientific approach for integrated multi-disciplinary studies at Schachtenau, a research site in Central Europe's largest continuous forest, and presents first results from joint experiments.