NEON Mobile Deployment Platform (MDP) A Deployable Asset for the Research Community

The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a continental-scale observation facility designed to collect long-term, open access ecological data that characterize and quantify complex and rapidly changing ecological patterns and processes. As part of the broader Observatory design, specific components of the Observatory are available to funded researchers for Principal Investigator-driven studies via NEON's Assignable Asset Program. The NEON Mobile Deployment Platforms (MDPs) are mobile infrastructure platforms that include mobile power and communications systems, tower infrastructure up to 30 meters and a selectable suite of automated and standardized NEON sensor systems for micrometeorological, soil, and surface water measurements. The MDPs are designed for rapid deployment and installation allowing for observations of stochastic events not captured by NEONs fixed data collection and sampling resources, increasing the capacity to capture spatial and/or temporal variation in ecological drivers and responses, augment existing PI and agency research, as well as be a platform for testing or validating new technologies and sampling methods. We will present information on the MDPs as well as highlight the first two MDP deployment projects: one in collaboration with Ohio State University, and the second in collaboration with Colorado State University. NEON has five MDPs available via the NEON Assignable Asset Program. NEONs ability to provide researchers with access to an MDP depends on current availability and deployment schedule. The requesting research team or agency is responsible for covering NEONs costs associated with deploying, operating, and retrieving an MDP. Learn more about the NEON MDPs at: https://www.neonscience.org/assignable-assets/request-mobile-deployment-platform-mdp, and more about NEON Research Support and the Assignable Asset Program at: https://www.neonscience.org/resources/research-support. Contact us at AssignableAssetRequests@BattelleEcology.org with any questions.