Niwot Ridge NEON - United States of America

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https://deims.org/bd3322ed-0ae8-4da5-beb5-1bd5c9205fa1

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Basic Information
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Site Name
Niwot Ridge NEON
Short name
NIWO
Country
United States of America
Web Address
https://www.neonscience.org/field-sites/niwo
Site Manager
Amy Jacobs
Site Description
The Niwot Ridge Mountain Research Station (NIWO) is a terrestrial site within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, 27 km (16.8 mi.) west of Boulder, Colorado and 6 km (3.7 mi.) east of the Continental Divide. NEON collects data over 13.4 km2 (3311 acres) at the site, which is on land managed by the University of Colorado in Boulder and the U.S. Forest Service. Sitting at 3000-3600 m (9843-11810 ft.) in elevation, this site's climate and biota are representative of the diverse landscapes of the Southern Rocky Mountains. Diverse gradients allow NEON to challenge questions surrounding land use change, climate impacts, and disturbance processes at multiple elevations. NIWO is part of NEON's Southern Rockies and Colorado Plateau Domain (D13). D13 includes one other terrestrial site and two aquatic sites. NIWO is located near the COMO aquatic site.
Relationships to other sites
This site groups with:
Last modified
2025-09-18 10:09:25

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
2015
Observed properties
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
GERI✔This site is a verified "GERI" member.
NEON✔ (NIWO)This site is a verified "NEON" member.
Photos
NIWO Tower
NIWO Tower
Old Man Daisy at NIWO
Old Man Daisy at NIWO
Geographic
View in site map
Centroid/Representative Coordinates

Latitude: 40.05425 Longitude: -105.58237

Size
ca. 1340.00ha
Elevation (average)
3490.00msl
Elevation (min)
2975.00msl
Elevation (max)
3583.00msl
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Site information [.json]

Centroid/representative coordinates [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]
Bounding Box [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]
GEO-BON Biome
Terrestrial
Biome
Evergreen Forest
Ecosystem Type
Forest
Evergreen Forest
Grasslands
Air Temperature: Average Annual
0.30°C
Precipitation Annual
1005.00mm
Geology
The geology at Niwot Ridge consists of schist, migmatite, and biotitic gneiss.
Vegetation
Flora varies along an elevation gradient at NIWO. On the low-elevation east and south facing slopes, lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) and aspen (Populus tremuloides) groves dominate the landscape. The transition zone between the closed subalpine forest and alpine tundra are full of meadows interspersed with stunted patches of coniferous trees. The alpine tundra sits above the treeline and is dominated by herbaceous plants such as Ross’ avens (Geum rossii) and curly sedge (Carex rupestris). The steepest, highest regions of NIWO are dominated by microplants and scree.
Soils
The dominate soil order found at NIWO are Mollisols. Overall, soil can be described as Coarse-loamy - mixed - superactive Typic Haplocryolls.
Hydrology
NIWO is located within the Rocky Mountains, which are covered in snowmelt-fed springs and upland catchments which deliver water to downstream basins. Boulder receives most of its drinking water from these basins.
Site Type
Platform
Design of Experimentation
mainly experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
catchment scale
Design of Observation
mainly observation
Scale of Observation
beyond catchment
Permanent Power Supply
Yes
Accessible All Year
Yes
Permanent Operation
Yes