Cap Prud'homme (CAP) is located on the coast of the Antractic Ice sheet (Dumont d'Urville station). Mass balance is measured alo,g 3 different stake networks at the camp and over 150 km inland. Meteorological information are recorded at 2 stations. Dynamics of the ice is measured on the Astrolabe glacier. CAP is a part of the French Glacier Observatory GLACIOCLIM/CRYOBS-CLIM.

Zongo Glacier is located in the Huayna Potosi region (Cordillera Real, Bolivia) 30 km north of La Paz city, between the dry Altiplano plateau in the west and the wet Amazonian basin in the east, under outer tropics meteorological conditions (strong seasonality in precipitation, low seasonality in temperature).

Concordia is a joint French-Italian research facility opened in 2005 on the Antarctic Plateau, Antarctica (-75.1, 123.33), managed together by PNRA (Italian National Antarctic Programme) and IPEV (Institut Polaire Francais Paul Emile Victor). It is built at 3,233 m above sea level on the third highest summit of Antarctica: Dome C.

Saint-Sorlin glacier (SSO) is located in the Arvan valley, between 2700 and 3400 m altitude. The glacier is situated in the Grandes Rousses massif, and one of the glaciers with longest records of glacier mass balance worldwide. Data series are continuous and cover few decades (more than 50 years of mass balance measurements).This site is also characterized by the complete glaciological parameters performed annually to complete annual and seasonnal mass balance : ice velocity, ice thickness variation, snout position.In addition, meteorological observations complete the data base. 1 weather station, running since 2005, is located on the moraine, close to the snout of the glacier. SSO is a part of the French Glacier Observatory GLACIOCLIM/CRYOBS-CLIM.

The Mase rice paddy site is a flux station in the AsiaFlux micrometeorological tower network. Located in a regularly cultivated rice paddy area of the Kanto plain in Japan, the site was established in 1999. The initial motivation was to quantify the energy and carbon balance in the rice paddy (ca, 54 a) where the tower was situated. Because of the accessibility and line-power availability, the site has involved many researchers and students from universities and institutes, broadening its target to studies on satellite and field remote sensing, ecosystem modelling, and nutrient cycling.

It is located in the region of the Grand Causses, south of the Massif Central. The karstic aquifer of Durzon represents a surface of 100 km² which feeds the spring of Durzon. This spring supplies the drinking water of the Aveyron part of Larzac. The observatory has a set of sites dedicated to gravimetric, inclinometric and hydro-geodesic observations, as well as a flow tower for evapotranspiration measurements.

Otsuchi bay is one of the bays on the Sanriku ria coast of northern Japan opening into the western North Pacific Ocean, which was heavily impacted by the mega-earthquake and following massive tsunami occurred on March 11, 2011.

The Victorian Dry Eucalypt SuperSite is a member of the Australian SuperSite Network (SuperSites, http://www.supersites.net.au/), a facility within the Australian Terrestrial Ecosystem Network (TERN, http://www.tern.org.au/) and has two nodes (Whroo and Wombat). The Victorian Dry Eucalypt SuperSite - Whroo site near Shepparton was established in 2011. The vegetation is dominated by two main Eucalypt species: Eucalyptus microcarpa (Grey Box) and Eucalyptus leucoxylon (Yellow Gum). Smaller numbers of Eucalyptus sideroxylon (Ironbark) and Acacia pycnantha (Golden Wattle) are also found on site. The surrounding area includes the Whroo Historical area, and Rushworth State containing remnant native vegetation. Key research objectives include: • What are the elements of structure, composition, functions and processes of the dry eucalypt forests of South Eastern Australia required for the sustainable management of these ecosystems? • What is the carbon sink/source strength of a dry sclerophyll forest and what is their contribution to Australia’s National Carbon Inventory? • What is the magnitude of emission and/or uptake of non-CO2 greenhouse gases, such as nitrous oxide and methane of dry eucalypt forest? • How will climate variability, drought or fire influence the ecosystem processes of dry eucalypt forest? . The site is on the lands of the Ngurai-illam-wurrung Aboriginal people.

Kuršių nerija, the Curonian Spit, is a narrow strip of sand stretching 98 kilometres along the Baltic Sea in western Lithuania. The Curonian Spit is a unique and vulnerable, sandy and wooded cultural landscape on a coastal spit which features small Curonian lagoon settlements. The Spit was formed by the sea, wind and human activity and continues to be shaped by them. Rich with an abundance of unique natural and cultural features, it has retained its social and cultural importance. Local communities adapted to the changes in the natural environment in order to survive. This interaction between humans and nature shaped the Curonian Spit cultural landscape. The history of the Curonian Spit is dramatic: 5,000 years ago, a narrow peninsula (98 km in length and 0.4-3.8 km in width), the Great Dune Ridge separating the Baltic Sea from the Curonian Lagoon, was formed on moraine islands from sand transported by currents, and later covered by forest. After intensive logging in the 17th and 18th centuries, the dunes began moving towards the Curonian Lagoon, burying the oldest settlements. At the turn of the 19th century, it became evident that human habitation would no longer be possible in the area without immediate action. Dune stabilisation work began, and has continued ever since. By the end of the 19th century, a protective dune ridge was formed along the seashore to prevent inland sand migration, and the Great Dune Ridge was reinforced using trees and brushwood hedges. Currently, forests and sands dominate the Curonian Spit. Urbanised areas (eight small settlements) cover just about 6% of the land. One part of the 50 kilometres long Curonian Spit belongs to the Republic of Lithuania. The other to the Russian Federation. With its still drifting sand dunes, the sea side forests cherishing the hundred-years-old pine trees, dunes covered by a mountain pines’ carpet planted by hand, white sand beaches and the old fishermen villages.

LTER site Oberes Stubachtal is a long-range research site with a main focus on the measurement of the annual mass balance of the Stubacher Sonnblickkees (SSK) and processes of different glaciers, going along with water budget estimations within the catchment area of the dam lakes Weißsee and Tauernmoos that are controlled by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and can gives you more Information about the catchment hydrology. Regular observations and systematic studies had begun with measuring the glacial length in 1960 by the brothers Heinz and Werner Slupetzky. The Massbalance of SSK is measured since 1963 and indirect back calculated till 1946. The Glaciers are photogrammetric mapped since 1963. Additionally the lake “Unterer Eisbodensee”, originated in the 1980s, is monitored with temperature, waterlevel and runoff by the Hydrographical Service of Salzburg since 2006. In the center of this researchsite is the meteorological station Rudolfshütte operated by the ZAMG since 1962. The Rudolfshütte is also a Mountain Hotel and can be use as a Basecamp. Since the year 2004 there are some TLS measurement for the generation of high resolution DTMs of the end of the glacier tongue and glacier forefield of the Odenwinkelkees and of the sourounding area of the lake “Oberer Eisbodensee”.