Jornada Experimental Range NEON - United States of America

DEIMS.iD

https://deims.org/9a9e1cb0-c43d-463a-87f4-e44697739d1a

This record was created automatically using information from the:
Basic Information
Site Name
Jornada Experimental Range NEON
Short name
JORN
Country
United States of America
Web Address
https://www.neonscience.org/field-sites/jorn
Site Manager
Abraham Karam
Site Description
The Jornada LTER (JORN) terrestrial NEON field site is located about 40 km (24.9 mi.) from Las Cruces, New Mexico in the northern Chihuahuan Desert, the largest desert in North America. NEON samples approximately 45.7 km2 (11,293 acres) on the Jornada Experimental Range, which is managed by the USDA and New Mexico State University. NEON research at this site happens alongside two other ecological monitoring groups: the National Science Foundation’s Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) network, and the USDA Agricultural Research Service. The region is dominated by arid grasslands and desert shrubs. JORN is encompassed within NEON's Desert Southwest Domain (D14). D14 has one other terrestrial field site and one aquatic field site. JORN is not colocated with an aquatic site.
Last modified
2025-09-17 14:09:02

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
2017
Observed properties
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
GERI✔This site is a verified "GERI" member.
NEON✔ (JORN)This site is a verified "NEON" member.
Photos
JORN tower during monsoon season. Photo credit: Robin Luna
JORN tower during monsoon season. Photo credit: Robin Luna
JORN field techs with tower in the background. Photo by Abe Karam
JORN field techs with tower in the background. Photo by Abe Karam
Geographic
View in site map
Centroid/Representative Coordinates

Latitude: 32.59068 Longitude: -106.84254

Size
ca. 4570.00ha
Elevation (average)
1324.00msl
Elevation (min)
1316.00msl
Elevation (max)
1333.00msl
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Site information [.json]

Centroid/representative coordinates [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]
Bounding Box [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]
GEO-BON Biome
Terrestrial
Biome
Desert-scrub
Ecosystem Type
Desert
Deserts and xeric shrublands
Air Temperature: Average Annual
15.70°C
Precipitation Annual
271.00mm
Geology
The geology at Jornada is characteristic of the Upper Santa Fe Group, which contains clastic sediments and other unconsolidated material.
Vegetation
Vegetation cover at Jornada is dominated by desert scrub and grassland. Large upland areas that were formerly dominated by perennial grasses, including black grama (Bouteloua eriopoda) and mesa drop seed (Sporobolus flexuosus), have been replaced by desert shrubland species, in particular creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) and honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa).
Soils
Soils at Jornada are typical of desert soils. All have low organic content with little to no organic horizon, have a high lime content, and have a caliche layer at the water percolation depth that prevents root penetration by plants. The soils are very sandy and little difference is seen in the content of surface soils when compared to subsoils. Many soils at the site are part of the subgroup Typic Petrocalcids.
Hydrology
The Jornada site is located on a closed plain with no external outlet for water drainage. Because of this, water sometimes accumulates on the surface of the playas.
Site Type
Non-stationary land-based site
Design of Experimentation
mainly experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
beyond catchment scale
Design of Observation
mainly observation
Scale of Observation
beyond catchment
Permanent Power Supply
No
Accessible All Year
Yes
Permanent Operation
No