18//Flux utilizes daily PhenoCam network images and field recordings from the Ameriflux US-Me6 research site near Sisters, Oregon. The PhenoCam network is an ecological observatory with over 1000 automated RGB cameras installed on research towers around the world, several of which have been operating for over a decade. The millions of images collected at 30-min intervals are available in an open source format and used by scientists across the globe to study phenology: recurring plant life cycle events like leaf-out, flowering, and senescence. By looking at color data in Phenocam images, especially “canopy greenness,” scientists learn about the state and health of a landscape over time and compare ecosystem state with other measurements of ecosystem functioning, including carbon uptake and evapotranspiration fluxes.
Julia Oldham is interested in presenting all of the available Phenocam data from the Me6 site into a form that visualizes a rapid history of the landscape. This video represents the color, light and texture changes that occur hourly from 4 AM to 9 PM throughout the year for 13 years of this site’s Phenocam operation. Each hour of daylight, or darkness, depending on the season, appears as a vertical stripe in the video frame, 4 AM on the farthest left and 9 PM on the farthest right. As the days progress, the interplay of elements across the screen reveals the numerous variations that take place throughout the year. 18//Flux shares an entire day of photographic data in every frame, and each second of video contains 24 frames, the standard for traditional film. This allows a viewer to consume one year of photographic data in approximately 15 seconds and thousands of unique moments in just a few minutes.