A number of projects are ongoing at KFFL which collect data on a variety of physical processes.  These include:

The National Trends Network (NTN) site OK17 of the National Atmospheric Deposition Program was established at the farm in 1983, and is part of the nationwide network of approximately 140 stations (4 in Oklahoma) that monitor rainfall chemistry.  Wetfall data are collected at the site along with daily precipitation data.  The site is managed by NOAA and the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, OK.  Rainfall samples are collected and undergo preliminary analysis by the site operator who is trained at the Central Analytical Laboratory in Champagne, IL. Dr. Kessler is the site supervisor.  Long-term precipitation data include Ca, Mg, NH4, NO3, pH, K, Na, Cl, SO4, H+, inorganic N and precipitation amount. 

A wind profiling radar with RASS (radar acoustic sounding system) capabilities measures vertical wind profiles to 16 km and temperature up to 4.5 km. This facility is managed from NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratories in Boulder, CO and is serviced by technicians based in Oklahoma City. It is one of only 35 such sites in the nation (4 of which are in Oklahoma) collectively called the NOAA Profiler Network (NPN).

The U.S. DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program Manages the Southern Great Plains site in Kansas and Oklahoma.  It is the largest and most extensive climate research field site in the world and consists of 29 measurement facilities. ARM scientists focus on obtaining field measurements and developing models to better understand the processes that control solar and thermal infrared radiative transfer in the atmosphere (especially in clouds) and at the earth’s surface.  The Southern Great Plains regional site consists of 29 different sites within Kansas and Oklahoma. KFFL hosts one of the measurement facilities (Boundary Facility 6), which contains one microwave radiometer used to measure vertical column-integrated amounts of water vapor and liquid water, one ceilometer used to measure cloud base height and potential back scatter by aerosols, and one temperature, humidity, wind and pressure measuring system. 

The Oklahoma Mesonet maintains a site at KFFL known as the Washington site (WASH).  The Washington Mesonet station is one of 116 Mesonet stations located across Oklahoma. Oklahoma Mesonet data are used by students and faculty at OU, scientists at other universities, Oklahoma public safety officials, K-12 outreach, Oklahoma Electric Cooperatives, and the Oklahoma agricultural community.  The Washington Mesonet station is one of only 10 Mesonet stations classified as a “Super Site”.  Super Sites measure sensible, latent, and ground heat fluxes in addition to standard weather observations of air and soil temperature, soil moisture, relative humidity, incoming photosynthetically active radiation, wind speed and precipitation.  Data are collected and uploaded to a central computer on the OU campus every 5 minutes and are made available for public access in near real time.

A long-term global warming experiment is sited at KFFL, under the direction of Dr. Yiqi Luo.  This project consists of 6 paired plots, one warmed continuously by a quartz heater and the other with a dummy heater.  Within each plot are nested subplots, either clipped annually or left unclipped to mimic one of the dominant land use practices in the area, mowing for hay.  Warming has taken place since November, 1999.  To date, 15 papers, 6 manuscripts, and 6 dissertations and theses have been written on this important project, the first of its kind to sample warming effects in a warm temperate ecosystem. Work on the project has included studies on plant and microbial responses, phenology, ecosystem fluxes, mycorrhizal fungi and soil structure.  

An environmental monitoring station is maintained at KFFL primarily for teaching purposes.  In 2001, the Department of Geography reorganized its undergraduate curriculum to emphasize fieldwork based on concepts of guided-inquiry learning or “learning by doing.”  To implement this new pedagogy, the Department secured funding from the National Science Foundation CCLI-A&I (NSF DUE0127130) and acquired several items of field equipment includinga ET106 weather station.  Installation of the station was carried out with the support of the Oklahoma Climatological Survey (OCS). It conforms to standard OCS, NWS and USGS criteria. The station measures rainfall, air temperature, relative humidity, sunshine hours, intensity of insolation, wind speed, wind direction, evapotranspiration and soil moisture. All measurements are recorded automatically and stored in a CR10X datalogger supplied with the system. Students utilize the installation for learning practical datalogger programming for climate monitoring as well as for investigating weather dynamics.

Two rodent-proof exclosures are maintained at KFFL.  The first exclosure is no longer in use and will be available for future experiments by 2007.  It was placed on the site in 2004 to conduct grazing studies of Sigmodon hispidus, the hispid cotton rat and consists of 9 subplots, each 100 m2 in size.  It is located near power lines, so future studies requiring electrical equipment can be done and is protected from cattle grazing by an external cattle panel fence.  The second exclosure is still in use, studying the ecosystem impact of  Dasypus novemcinctus, the nine-banded armadillo.  This small mammal creates small pits and medium sized burrows as it forages for insects and other prey.  An initial study indicated that the soil in these pits is significantly enriched in both N and P.  However, as this experiment continues, the site within the exclosure is available to other researchers or teachers wishing to use the area for their own work as long as it is complimentary to the work underway.