ICOS Station Kumpula

The station Kumpula (having ICOS code FI-Kmp) is an urban ecosystem located in Helsinki, Finland. The station is situated on the University of Helsinki campus in Kumpula around 4 Km North-East of Helsinki City Centre. The site is characterized as  an open low-rise area according the local climate zone classification. Within 1 Km radius circle around the tower, 49% of the surface is covered with vegetation, 15% with buildings and 36% with paves surfaces. The surroundings can be divided into three areas: built, road and vegetation. At the built area in the North (320-40?) in the foreground of the tower the University of Helsinki campus buildings and Finnish Meteorological Institute are located (mean height 15 m) with further away suburban apartments with low building heights and small gardens. In the road area to the East (40-180?), a large road with 44 000 vehicles per workday passes the mast at closest distance of 150 m. There are also large crossroads with several traffic lights located in the area. The area between the road and the tower is covered with mixed broadleaf forest (e.g. Betula pendula Roth, Acer platanoides L., Populus tremula L., Quercus robur L., Ulmus glabra Huds., Salix caprea L. and Prunus padus L., mean tree height 10 m) and the area behind the road is covered with combined mix of residential and commercial buildings. In the vegetation area to the west (180-320?), the University Botanical Garden and City Allotment Garden are located resulting in a high surface fraction of vegetation. Here the vegetation is highly managed and consists of both native and non-native tree and shrub species including some agricultural vegetation. As the station is located in an urban area, there have been substantial land use changes in the past, but the surroundings were stabilized in 2000s and no recent changes have taken place.