This dataset consists of measurements of the exchange of energy and mass between the surface and the atmospheric boundary-layer in semi-arid Mulga woodland, using eddy covariance techniques. The Alice Springs Mulga flux station is located on Pine Hill cattle station, approx. 170 km north of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The woodland is characterised by a mixed Acacia aneura and Acacia aptaneura canopy, with a total standing biomass of 32.5 t/ha and median canopy height of 4.3 m (tallest trees reach 8.9 m height). Elevation of the site is 602 m above sea level, and the terrain is flat. Mean annual precipitation at the nearby (45 km distant) Bureau of Meteorology station is 311 mm - 140 mm (1986-2025), but has ranged between 33 mm in the hydrological years of 2018/2019 to 712 mm in 2016/2017 since the tower is operational. Predominant wind directions are from the southeast and east. The extent of the woodland is 11 km to the east of the flux station and 16 km to the south. The soil is characterised as a red kandosol (74:11:15 sand:silt:clay) overlying an approx. 50 m deep water table. Pine Hill Station is a functioning cattle station that has been in operation for longer than 50 years. Fluxes of heat, water vapour and carbon are measured using the open-path eddy covariance technique at 11.6 m. Supplementary measurements above the canopy include temperature and humidity (11.6 m), downwelling and upwelling shortwave and longwave radiation (12.2 m). Precipitation is monitored in a canopy gap near the tower (2 m). Supplementary measurements below the canopy include barometric pressure (1 m) and temperature and humidity (2 m). Below ground soil measurements are made in bare soil, mulga, and understory habitats and include ground heat flux (0.08 m), soil temperature (0.02 m – 0.06 m) and soil moisture (0 – 0.1 m, 0.1 – 0.3 m, 0.6 – 0.8 m and 1.0 – 1.2 m). For additional site information, see https://www.tern.org.au/tern-observatory/tern-ecosystem-processes/alice-mulga-supersite/ This data is also available at http://data.ozflux.org.au.
