Molecular Observation Network
Soils contain more carbon than the atmosphere and all plants, combined. This comprises the second largest pool of carbon at Earth’s surface.
The role of soils in the global carbon cycle is a crucial one. However, the ecological processes that govern whether carbon remains in soils or is released into the atmosphere are complex. These unknowns make it complicated for scientists to predict and mitigate climate change.
To improve the understanding of the molecular and microscale processes around carbon in soils, the scientific community needs to standardize molecular and microscale soil data across regions.
It’s with these scientific questions in mind that the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) has developed the Molecular Observation Network, or MONet.
What will MONet do?
MONet aims to transform understanding of soils and provide news tools for adapting to and counteracting climate change.
This database will allow for the conversion of traditionally labor-intensive molecular analysis methods into a high-throughput workflow, providing key molecular and microscale information to climate scientists, modelers, and experimenters. By standardizing these workflows, all data will be useful and can reduce human bias and uncertainties.
Vast amounts of unique data will be collected and managed at an unprecedented scale and used to advance regional-scale and Earth system process models that cover key ecosystems across the United States. MONet data will be made available to the community in the database linked to analytical tools that enable access by modelers, experimenters, and field scientists. A key aspect of MONet is incorporating biogeochemical and microbial process data streams to facilitate parameterization of key variables of multiscale models with eventual coupling to larger-scale Earth system models. Learn more in the data section.
The MONet Team
 John Bargar, EMSL |
 Emily Graham, EMSL |
 Odeta Qafoku, EMSL |
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 Yuri Corilo, EMSL |
 Sara Leichty, EMSL |
 Tanja Woyke, JGI |
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 Christa Pennacchio, JGI |
Strategic Partners
The Joint Genome Institute (JGI) will perform and prepare sequencing, metagenome analyses, assembly files, annotation, and bins of MONet samples. Data will be available for download from the EMSL MONet database and through JGI’s portals.
The National Science Foundation's National Ecological Observatory Network will provide a national network of field and observational sites to facilitate sampling and continuous sensing opportunities.
The National Microbiome Data Collaborative will support accessibility of MONet microbiome metadata.
Review the MONet Data Access Instructions.
The data and models generated through MONet will improve prediction of ecosystem function and response to disturbances, supporting the long-term U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) goal of scientifically informed decision-making regarding the nation’s energy and environmental security and sustainability. A beta data visualization tool has been created to help people interact with the data collected in the 1000 Soils Project. We are actively working to improve visualizations and value all feedback.
