International Phenological Garden
The first IPG in CR was found in 1999 as part of the Doksany observatory. Decision to found IPG was made on the 4th phenology work colloquium of central European countries, held in Doksany (CR). Necessary wood species were obtained as a gift from Humbolt university of Berlin. Keynote of IPG founding was an effort to monitor phenological phases of selected wood species in various parts of northern hemisphere. Essential requirement for standardization was observation of genetically homogenous material. The very first IPG was found in 1959 in Offenbach (Germany), subsequently, there are IPGs founded in other countries, to date, there exist over 50 IPGs. From the beginning, there was tendency of building IPGs on sites, where standard meteorological measurements are taken as well. More information on IPG observatories net and observation program you can find here.
List of wood species: Larix decidua 1x, Picea abies early 2x, Picea abies late 3x, Picea abies northern 3x, Betula pubescens 1x, Populus tremula 1x, Prunus avium 1x, Corylus avellana 2x, Sorbus aucuparia 2x, Ribes alpinum 1x, Salix aurita 1x, Salix viminalis 2x , Forsythia intermedia 2x, Pinus sylvestris 1x.
Scanning of phenological phase
In September 2006, a year-long project of distance monitoring of phenological phases of forest-tree species was launched at the observatory. A project of Geographical Institute at university in Bern served as inspiration. The camera Canon PowerShot S3 is located on a piece of land, where there is an International Phenological Garden, and is connected via ethernet cable to a computer inside the observatory. Features of Canon: 12x optical zoom lens with Canon's Optical Image Stabilizer technology, 6.0 MP CCD, extensive movie functions, ISO 800, widescreen recording, 2.0" vari-angle LCD, 20 Shooting modes and My Colors. In intervals given in advance a set of defined points is photographed and the images are saved to a computer in the building. The camera is fully controlled from the computer thanks to a special program; it can set the parameters of photographing, focus the camera to a particular detail, and move the camera in both vertical and horizontal direction. All images are archived on DVDs for further processing. Gradually, digital images will be made available on the Internet. For the project purposes, we made a 3D model of the observatory with all adjacent buildings. The camera will also be used for monitoring of interesting meteorological phenomena. We expect that this project will increase objectivity and preciseness of phenological observations and will therefore increase predicative capability and accuracy of phenological information. We expect that information obtained in this project will be used for modelling and objectification of satellite information.
Examples of pictures (can enlarge)
