Oak Ridge NEON - United States of America

DEIMS.iD

https://deims.org/ee70c9dd-c91b-4248-a7b4-2e760b0c266c

This record was created automatically using information from the:
Basic Information
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Site Name
Oak Ridge NEON
Short name
ORNL
Country
United States of America
Web Address
https://www.neonscience.org/field-sites/ornl
Site Manager
Bill Martin
Site Description
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a terrestrial NEON field site located in the Cumberland Plateau within Anderson and Roane Counties, TN. The 57.4 km2 (14,000 acre) field site is managed by a combination of the Department of Energy (DOE) and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA). The DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory is famous for its involvement in creating atomic bombs associated with the Manhattan Project. The surrounding region includes the world’s longest expanse of hardwood-forested plateau and is home to some of North America’s greatest diversity of fish, mollusk, and wildflower species. ORNL is part of NEON Domain 07 - Appalachians & Cumberland Plateau, which includes eastern Tennessee, most of Kentucky, southern Ohio, and parts of North Carolina, Georgia, Indiana, and Illinois. D07 includes four other NEON field sites, including two additional terrestrial sites and two aquatic sites. ORNL is colocated with the WALK aquatic field site.
Relationships to other sites
This site groups with:
Last modified
2025-09-18 12:09:06

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General Characteristics and Status
Site Status
Operational
Year Established
2014
Observed properties
Affiliation and Network Specific Information
Affiliation
GERI✔This site is a verified "GERI" member.
NEON✔ (ORNL)This site is a verified "NEON" member.
Photos
ORNL landscape
ORNL landscape
Geographic
View in site map
Centroid/Representative Coordinates

Latitude: 35.96412 Longitude: -84.2826

Size
ca. 100.00ha
Elevation (average)
334.00msl
Elevation (min)
230.00msl
Elevation (max)
356.00msl
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Site information [.json]

Centroid/representative coordinates [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]
Bounding Box [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]
GEO-BON Biome
Terrestrial
Biome
Deciduous Forest
Ecosystem Type
Forest
Deciduous Forest
Evergreen Forest
Air Temperature: Average Annual
14.40°C
Precipitation Annual
1340.00mm
Geology
ORNL is part of the Cambrian-aged Upper Knox Group, consisting of dolostone and limestone. The parent materials are residuum, colluvium, and local alluvium.
Vegetation
The ridges and valleys of the Cumberland Plateau are famous for their status as the world’s largest hardwood-forested plateau. The canopy in the area is dominated by oaks and hickories and includes a mixture of deciduous species in the valleys with patches of shortleaf pine (Pinus echineta) and Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana) on the ridges. Mixed hardwoods at the site include chestnut oak (Quercus prinus), tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), red maple (Acer rubrum), white oak (Quercus alba), and American beech (Fagus grandifolia). While 91% of the plots are forested, 9% are unforested (either pasture or grassland).
Soils
The dominant soil series found at this site is Fullerton cherty silt loam (5-12% slopes), within the subgroup Typic Paleudults. Other relatively common soils found in ORNL are Montevallo, Bodine, Minvale, Sunlight, and Etwoah. Surface and subsurface horizons found in ORNL often display “soil creep” (aka limited movement).
Site Type
Platform
Design of Experimentation
mainly experimentation
Scale of Experimentation
beyond catchment scale
Design of Observation
mainly observation
Scale of Observation
beyond catchment
Permanent Power Supply
Yes
Accessible All Year
Yes
Permanent Operation
Yes