Schematic overview of various methods provided and utilised in subprojects Z02, Z03 and C03.
Most CRC subprojects rely on data acquired from the central service projects Z2 and Z3, which bundle expertise and equipment for ground-based monitoring and remote-sensing data, and which will be responsible for data processing and analyses. A number of subprojects will benefit from on-site artificial irrigation experiments, which will be carried out within the framework of Z3.
In addition, Z3 will be in charge of maintaining up to 15 meteorological stations, which will be installed in each of the three CRC focus areas along transects from west to east. These stations will provide essential climatic data for all CRC subprojects and our Chilean partners. Due to decadal climatic variations in the region (e.g. El Niño-Southern Oscillation, ENSO), they are designed to provide climatic data for a minimum of 12 years, i.e. the envisaged duration of the CRC, exceeding the time span of most other projects. To achieve standardized data acquisition and post-processing, Z3 will work in close cooperation with Z2 and with other data-receiving projects throughout the CRC.