Sky Oaks Field Station

A new, multi-use, energy efficient and fire-safe building is being planned to replace the residential building and research lab destroyed in the 2003 Coyote Fire. The two-story building will have a large meeting area, a commercial-size kitchen, three bathrooms, a laundry room, and enough dormitory space to house 18 to 20 people.

A Cogen Solar Energy System by EdTek, Inc., will provide power to the new facilities. Energy generation and consumption will be monitored by automated sensors, with data available on FSP website at real-time. The building will be constructed using Structural Insulated Panels (SIPS) to maximize the building's insulating properties.

Sky Oaks Field Station, established in 1980, is a 1600 acre research reserve in the high desert 50 miles northeast of San Diego. Situated at 3,880 ft, the weather at Sky Oaks fluctuates from extreme heat in the summer to occasional snowfall in the winter.

The landscape at Sky Oaks includes oak woodlands, chamise chaparral, red shank chaparral, mixed chaparral, coulter pine stands, grasslands, and riparian zones. Its watersheds are well protected by the adjacent Anza Borrego State Park, Cleveland National Forest, cooperating private areas, and Bureau of Land Management properties. Soil types found at Sky Oaks include Sheephead, Tollhouse, and rough broken land over substrates of granite or micaceous schist.

Sky Oaks Field Station is linked to the Internet by a 45 Mbps dedicated link from the High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network (HPWREN). This link provides researchers the ability to deploy cutting-edge environmental sensors and monitor them around the clock.

Sky Oaks Field Station has a history of important research, ranging from fire regeneration studies to ecosystem flux studies by the Global Climate Research Group (GCRG). Sky Oaks Field Station has hosted researchers, K-12 students and educators, and general community members on its grounds and at its overnight facilities.

On July 17, 2003, the Coyote Fire burned through Sky Oaks Field Station, destroying 2 buildings and most of its environmental observatories. In a collaborative effort by Field Stations Program, HPWREN, and GCRG, Internet connectivity was restored and several environmental observatories were re-deployed. Efforts are underway to replace the destroyed buildings with an energy-efficient multi-use building.