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Nevada Desert FACE Facility (NDFF)

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Image of Nevada Desert FACE Facility

Nevada Desert FACE

The Nevada Desert Free-Air CO₂ Enrichment (FACE) Facility — also known as NDFF — was a flagship experiment of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Terrestrial Carbon Process (TCP) research program. It was also a core project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP) and contributed to the U.S. Global Change Research Program.

Developed through collaboration with the National Science Foundation (NSF) and DOE-EPSCoR, the NDFF provided essential data on how dryland ecosystems function under changing atmospheric conditions. Its large-scale, collaborative approach helped researchers refine ecosystem and carbon cycle models, improve understanding of carbon storage and water dynamics, and support future strategies for managing arid landscapes.

 

Research

Desert ecosystems may experience changes in productivity and water use under shifting CO₂ conditions. To better understand these dynamics, NDFF examined how carbon, nutrients, and water interact in an arid environment over time and seeks to answer several critical questions about the future of desert ecosystems:

  • Will there be changes in the rate at which plants grow over the next hundred years?
  • Will the storage of carbon in the desert ecosystem change?
  • Will water balance change in this arid environment?
  • Will species composition of desert plant communities change?

Features

The NDFF used Free-Air CO₂ Enrichment (FACE) technology to increase carbon dioxide levels in open-air environments without disrupting natural conditions.

At the NDFF site in the Mojave Desert, CO₂ concentrations are elevated by 50% above current atmospheric levels in three large experimental plots. Six additional plots remained at natural CO₂ levels to serve as controls.

This design allowed scientists to directly compare plant and ecosystem responses to different CO₂ levels and measure how carbon, nutrients, and water cycles are regulated in desert systems.

View Site Characteristics

Data

The FACE data provided on this site are freely available and were furnished by individual FACE scientists who encourage their use. Data can be accessed at the Environmental System Science Data Infrastructure for a Virtual Ecosystem (ESS-DIVE) by clicking the links below.

Charlet D (2007): Nevada Desert Face Facility Micrometeorological Data. CDIAC, ESS-DIVE repository. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.15485/1463843 

  • Micrometeorological Data
    • Precipitation (1996-2006)
    • Wind speed (1997-2006)
    • Relative humidity (2001-2006)
    • Air temperature (1997- 2006)
    • PAR (2000-2006)
    • Solar radiation (1998- 2006)
    • CO2 concentration (1997-2006)
  • Operations     
    • CO2 usage (1997-2005)
  • Plant Responses
    • Larrea tridentata shoot growth (1998-2002)
  • Soil characteristics
    • Soil particle size (1997)
    • Soil texture (1997)
    • Soil water potential (1997-2005)
  • Operations     
    • CO2 usage (1997-2005)

Smith S ; Housman D (2007): Nevada Desert Face Facility Larrea tridentata Shoot Growth. CDIAC, ESS-DIVE repository. https://doi.org/10.15485/1463819  

  • Plant responses
    • Larrea tridentata shoot growth (1998-2007)
  • Micrometeorological Data
    • Precipitation (1996-2006)
    • Wind speed (1997-2006)
    • Relative humidity (2001-2006)
    • Air temperature (1997- 2006)
    • PAR (2000-2006)
    • Solar radiation (1998- 2006)
    • CO2 concentration (1997-2006)
  • Operations     
    • CO2 usage (1997-2005)
  • Soil characteristics
    • Soil water potential (1997-2005)

Smith S ; Housman D (2007): Nevada Desert Face Facility Larrea tridentata Shoot Growth. CDIAC, ESS-DIVE repository. https://doi.org/10.15485/1463819  

  • Plant responses
    • Larrea tridentata shoot growth (1998-2007)
  • Micrometeorological Data
    • Precipitation (1996-2006)
    • Wind speed (1997-2006)
    • Relative humidity (2001-2006)
    • Air temperature (1997- 2006)
    • PAR (2000-2006)
    • Solar radiation (1998- 2006)
    • CO2 concentration (1997-2006)
  • Operations     
    • CO2 usage (1997-2005)
  • Soil characteristics
    • Soil water potential (1997-2005)

Nowak R (2007): Nevada Desert Face Facility Soil Water Content (%Vol). CDIAC, ESS-DIVE repository. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.15485/1463807 

  • Soil Particle Fractions (1997)
  • Soil Texture (1997)
  • Soil Water Content (1997-2005) 

Zitzer S (2007): Nevada Desert Face Facility Soil Texture and Particle Size. CDIAC, ESS-DIVE repository. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.15485/1463804 

  • Soil Particle Fractions (1997)
  • Soil Texture (1997)
  • Soil Water Content (1997-2005)