The Johnsbach river basin is situated in the Ennstal Alps (Styria) and covers an area of approximately 65 km2. Elevations range from 600–700 m in the valley to over 2,300 m in the summit regions. Due to its status as a comparatively small, high Alpine river headwatershed, research activities have a strong regional context. The Johnsbach valley is an area of high diversity in a variety of aspects, geological framework, relief energy, morphological and hydrological dynamics, or gradients in meteorological variables. Similarly, the economic interests are also varying: forest management, Alpine pasture farming, water resource economics, tourism (mountaineering, recreation, in winter skiing and dog sledding), and "no use" (national park). The catchment is situated in the administrative area of the community Johnsbach, the northern part belongs to the Gesaeuse National Park. The Johnsbachtal test site is located in a high-lying valley in the northern part of Styria and is surrounded by the Gesaeuse mountains in the North, East and West and by the Western Eisenerzer Alps in the South. The landscape is dominated by high Alpine rock formations, forests and meadows with highest elevations found at the sumit of Hochtor (2369 m). The lower altitudes of 700-900 m are partly covered by settlements. The area has been chosen for the construction of a hydrometeorological station network out of various reasons: The complex topographic, hydrological, geological, geomorphological and meteorological conditions found here pose a scientific challenge for all kinds of environmental monitoring and modelling. The region itself is a classic representative of suistanably tourism regions with, compared to other sites, a moderate number of visitors throughout the year. Covering an area of 65 km2, it is of reasonable size to allow the application of environmental models at high temporal and spatial resolution. Finally, its closeness to the city of Graz and the enormous support of the local communities make this region an ideal site for the establishment of an environmental monitoring network. The main concerns of current activities are: - hydroclimatological measurements - geomorphology and sediment budgets - long-term monitoring - research cooperations - education and training - sustainable tourism and management - model development, parameterization and validation To achieve these goals, a network of hydroclimatological stations has been installed at the following locations: - Oberkainz (920 m, recorded parameter: temperature, precipitation, wind speed and direction, humidity, global rad., shortwave rad., longwave rad., snow water equivalent) - Zinödl (2191 m, recorded parameter: temperature, wind speed and direction, humidity, global rad., longwave rad.) - Blaseneck (1969 m, recorded parameter: temperature, wind speed and direction, humidity, global rad., longwave rad.) - Schröckalm (1344 m, recorded parameter: temperature, precipitation, wind speed and direction, humidity, global rad., shortwave rad., longwave rad.) - Kölblwiese (870 m, recorded parameter: temperature, wind speed and direction, humidity, global rad., longwave rad.) - Oberkainz (920 m, recorded parameter: temperature, precipitation, wind speed and direction, humidity, global rad., shortwave rad., longwave rad.) - Gseng (633 m, recorded parameter: river discharge) - Etzbach Gauge and Etzbach spring (850 m, river discharge, water temperature, electrical conductivity) A runoff and bedload measurement station is currently (Dec 2013) under construction at the "Bachbrücke" (catchment outlet). Further meteorological data is available from four stations operated by the local national park adminsitration (Nationalpark Gesäuse), the avalanche service (LWD) and the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG).

The Dutch Wadden Sea area is a large coastal area (615510 ha) bordering the north of the Netherlands. A range of inhabited barrier islands (included in LTSER Dutch Wadden Sea Area) separate the Dutch Wadden Sea from the North Sea. The barrier islands comprise sandy beaches, dunes, grazed and ungrazed saltmarsh areas, and polders with meadows and villages. The Dutch Wadden Sea itself consists of intertidal mudflats and subtidal areas. The southern border of the area consists of inhabited polders, many of which consist of reclaimed saltmarsh areas. The Dutch Wadden Sea is part of the international Wadden Sea, extending along the coasts of Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. The international Wadden Sea comprises the largest tidal flats system in the world, where natural processes proceed to a large extent undisturbed.

Col du Lac Blanc experimental site is located at the Alpe d'Huez ski resort near Grenoble in the French Alps. Col du Lac Blanc experimental field is located around 2700 m a.s.l and is oriented north–south. The area consists of a large surface of relatively flat terrain (about 25 ha). The pass orientation and the specific configuration of the surrounding summits make the pass closely resemble a natural wind tunnel.The north–south direction accounts for 90% of the wind directions. Aeolian snow transport is observed 10% of the time in winter and occurs with concurrent snowfall 37% of the time It has been dedicated to the study of blowing snow in high mountainous regions for approximately since 1989 by IRSTEA (Snow Avalanche Engineering and Torrent Control Research Unit) and Meteo France (Snow Study Centre).

The Vernagtferner region has a long tradition of glaciological research performed by groups from Munich. It started in 1889, when Prof. Sebastian Finsterwalder from the Technical University in Munich produced the first map of a complete glacier based on terrestrial photogrammetry. Since then, numerous maps of the glacier have been made, describing the change in surface elevation for more than a century. These maps form the basis of the geodetic method of glacier mass balance determination, which provides volume changes as average data for the period between two surveys, i.e. typically for 10 years. Since the start of the glaciological method on Vernagtferner in 1964, annual as well as winter and summer mass balance data are available continuously. But only since 1973, the construction of the Vernagtbach station, approximately 1 km below the glacier margin at that time, provided the means to record a larger number of hydrological and meteorological parameters with a temporal resolution of typically 1 hour. For more information see Braun, L. & Escher-Vetter, H. (2012): Gletscherforschung am Vernagtferner. Themenband zum fünfzigjährigen Gründungsjubiläum der Kommission für Glaziologie der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, München. In: Kuhn, M.: Zeitschrift für Gletscherkunde und Glzialgeologie. Band 45/46 (2011/2012).

Whim bog offers a globally unique comparison of how the main N forms affect semi-natural vegetation, with meteorological data and treatment history since 2002. A quantified ammonia concentration / deposition gradient, is provided, plus a wet deposition system, comparing oxidized (NaNO3) and reduced N (NH4Cl), where treatments are meteorology dependent. ie. wind direction and rainfall frequency define the treatment exposure(~120 events y-1). Wet plots are large (13m²) and there are 4 replicates per treatment. Opportunities exist to evaluate a whole range of ecosystem services from conservation to carbon sequestration, GHG emissions and water chemistry in addition to understanding how changes in vegetation affect the delivery of these services.

http://meteo.gozdis.si/?page_id=44 (only in SLO language)

This Site is a macrosite that groups 5 Sites located on the Italian Alps, covered by primary or secondary Picea abies dominated forests, ranging from 800 to 1800 m a.s.l. spread from the Eastern Alps to the Central Alps. 4 of these 5 sites belong to ICP F

Mt. Jirisan is located in the southern region of South Korea. It is largest in its size, second highest and dedicated as the first national park in South Korea. It is at the southern end of Backdudaegan mountain ranges. Mt. Jirisan site in Gurae County is located in the very vicinity of the national park and is the second KLTER(Korea Long Term Ecological Research) station by Ministry of Environment and National Institute of Ecology. The site suffered natural forest fire in 1999 and 2000 in a row that combusted vegetation about 13 and 7 hectares respectively. Since that time, some tree species were planted in some of the area. In 2010, the county designated the forest area of 155 ha including the KLTER site as the Gurae Ecoforest and has managed the forest for ecological stability. The area is composed of a variety of ecosystems like secondary pine forest as major vegetation, naturally rehabilitated area, thinning area, reforested area.

Hintereisferner (glacier) is located at the end of Rofen valley between 2500 and 3750 m altitude. The glacier is situated in Naturpark Ötztal, and one of the glaciers with longest records of glacier mass balance worldwide. In addition to that, a number of hydrological and meteorological observations complete the data base. Currently, 3 weather stations and 6 rain gauges provide data. Topographic and land cover data are available, in the recent years on an annual base. The area is used for Alpine tourism (but without a hut in the basin), for limited hunting and growing a few sheeps.

O Peld Sitio 17 conta com uma boa infraestrutura, embora haja necessidade de ampliação da mesma para o amplo aproveitamento da estrutura montada. No local contamos com um bom apoio do Parna Serra do Cipó, que possui uma área construída de mais 2000m2. O parque conta atualmente com duas casas que tem sido utilizadas com certa freqüência por pesquisadores. Estas estão localizadas a 800 e 1500 metros de altitude facilitando os estudos no gradiente altitudinal. Não há problemas com água, eletricidade e telefone, embora o acesso a internet seja ainda precário. Atualmente, há necessidade de maior entendimento por parte daquela instituição para com a pesquisa, uma das funções que foram o pilar para a criação das UCs no país. Esperamos poder ampliar esta colaboração através de reunião com os dirigentes locais e federais pois tanto o ICMBio quanto pesquisadores se beneficiam com a pesquisa. Embora o ICMBio possua veículos os mesmo não podem ser utilizados por terceiros, o que representa um enorme problema. Todavia, neste edital foi propiciado a aquisição de veículos o que é importante para este e qualquer outro projeto, visto que as Universidades e institutos geralmente não fornecem este apoio sem o pagamento de diárias para os motoristas (além do número limitado de veículos e motoristas). Na e APA Morro da Pedreira há mais de 100 pousadas e três bons hotéis. A região dista apenas 60 km do Aeroporto Internacional de Confins e 100 km de B. Horizonte. A realização do projeto na fase I foi, por outro lado, garantida através da parceria estabelecida com os moradores do local, os quais estão acostumados com a figura do cientista. Assim, contamos com o apoio total de pousadas (Serra Morena, Pouso do Elefante), empresas (Cedro) e ainda da Reserva Vellozia, a qual forneceu apoio logístico, alojamento e laboratório para o desenvolvimento das atividades o projeto.