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| Biosphere 2 Project- A Laboratory
for Global Ecology |
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| (Excerpt from : Press Release issued by Space Biospheres
Ventures in September 1993) |
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| Structure
| Human
Biomes | Wilderness
Biomes | Atmosphere
& Water Recycling systems |
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Biosphere 2 is an unprecedented ecological experiment,
built as a laboratory for global ecology. It is a tightly
sealed glass and steel structure on 3.15 acres near
Oracle, Arizona in which scientists have created seven
complete ecosystems or biomes that mirror those of Earth.
The systems include an ocean, a desert, a savannah,
a rainforest, a marsh, an area of intensive agriculture,
and a human habitat. The project is designed to last
a century, providing valuable data for research and
education to help scientists better understand how our
world works.
On September 26, 1991, eight researchers, known as
“biospherians,” sealed the airlock on this
massive enclosed ecological system—and Biosphere
2 began. Following their two-year stay, the men and
women emerged from their mini-world on September 26,
1993. A transition period of approximately five months
included intensive data collection, plant and animal
inventories, new research projects and mechanical modifications
to systems within Biosphere 2. The current mission is
one of a series of missions to take place throughout
the projected 100 years of the experiment.
Space Biospheres Ventures Space Biospheres Ventures
(SBV) is a private ecological research firm formed to
pioneer research in the field of biospherics, the study
and construction of closed, self-regulating, self-sustaining,
ecological systems. SBV was founded in 1984 by Edward
P. Bass, Margret Augustine, John Allen, and Mark Nelson.
SBV designed, built and operates Biosphere 2, the world’s
largest and most complex closed ecological research
facility. The project was organized as a private, venture
capital endeavor to promote research and develop inventions
and techniques with a wide range of applications from
environmental engineering and clean-up to agriculture
and life-support systems. |
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| The project is designed for three purposes: research,
education, and the development of environmental technologies
for use on Earth and in outer space. Biosphere 2 is a
new type of laboratory which combines state-of-the-art
architecture and mechanical and computer monitoring systems
with a wide range of living ecosystems. It is an experimental
project where everything that happens—both expected
and unexpected—provides valuable insights into our
complex and evolving world.
While the biospherians further the research of more
than 60 projects, 42 Ph.D.- level scientists are formally
analyzing the information gathered inside Biosphere
2, as they study such topics as carbon dioxide and oxygen
cycles, soil composition, coral reef health and vitality,
agricultural pest management, waste and water recycling,
and more. Every two weeks, the biospherians send the
samples they have collected through the airlock to scientific
consultants and analytic laboratories for study.
Biosphere 2 received the top Special Award in the 1992
Gold Nugget Awards competition sponsored by the Pacific
Coast Builders Conference and Sun/Coast Architect/Builder
Magazine. The Gold Nugget Awards are considered the
most prestigious design awards in the nation.
In 1994, Biosphere 2 received a Grand Award in the
Awards of Excellence competition, presented by the National
Association of Home Builders National Commercial Builders
Council. These awards are considered among the most
prestigious in the nation by the building industry.
The project was entered in tile industrial category
for buildings over 50,000 square feet.
In addition to engineering excellence, the architecture
of Biosphere 2 exhibits what architect Phil Hawes and
designer Margret Augustine term “synergetic”
architecture, with various sections exhibiting diverse
cultural references from Maya pyramids to Middle Eastern
wind towers to create a complete and harmonious design. |
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| The Biosphere 2 structure covers approximately 3.15
acres (1.28 hectares), the size of three football fields;
its volume is seven million cubic feet (204,000 cubic
meters) and stretches up to 91 feet at its highest point
(23 meters high). Its glass-and-steel superstructure is
designed to be leak-free, and its substructure is lined
with up to four inches of stainless steel which was welded
and tested for air tightness. Its steel struts are covered
with a finish that insures against corrosion from inside
or outside the biosphere. All air, water and nutrient
cycles are completely closed and recycled within this
system.
The monitoring of climate, air, soils and water within
Biosphere 2 is unprecedented. Over 1,000 sensors distributed
throughout the Biosphere send information to the sophisticated
monitoring and control system located on-site at Mission
Control. This elaborate computer network provides a
continuous display of environmental variables and the
status of engineering controls—while constantly
updating the permanent data base.
The different zones of Biosphere 2 include agriculture,
a human habitat, an ocean, a tropical rainforest, a
Savannah, a marsh, and a desert. Each biome was built
with carefully selected soils, water and plant and animal
life, collected from all over the world. Biosphere 2
sustains high biodiversity with several thousand species
living within its glass walls. |
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| The human habitat is a six-story, white domed section
of Biosphere 2 that includes apartments for resident researchers,
laboratories, a computer center, communications and office
space, workshops and a library. This portion of Biosphere
2 was designed to take on the ecological challenges of
our cities. Domestic animals (African pygmy goats and
hybrid fowl) are kept in a section of the human habitat.
Next to the animal bay and immediately south of the human
habitat, a series of arched spaceframe vaults houses the
intensive agriculture biome. Here, food crops are grown
on broad terraces in 24,000 square feet of space (.55
acre or .22 hectare).
During the transition period following the first closure,
new supplemental lighting was installed in this area
to help compensate for any extended cloud cover during
the next 10 1/2-months. New food crops were also introduced. |
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| The tropical rainforest biome occupies the tallest (approximately
91 feet or 23 meters high) section of Biosphere 2’s
spaceframe structure. A stream cascades down the mountain
in the rainforest’s center, through a flood plain
on the forest floor and into Biosphere 2’s tropical
savannah biome (atop rock cliffs beside the ocean). From
there the stream travels down to the marsh biome, both
fresh and salt water, and then into the Biosphere 2 ocean
biome. The ocean is 25 feet (8 meters) at its deepest
and includes a Caribbean coral reef ecosystem at the northern
end. Wave action, required for the coral reef ecology,
is generated mechanically. At the southern end of Biosphere
2’s central section, a thornscrub forest completes
the savannah biome and marks the ecotone (transition zone)
between the savannah and coastal thornscrub desert biomes.
During transition, all of these biomes were inventoried
to determine species success and failure. Some modifications,
such as planting additional food crops in the rainforest,
and adding trees to the coastal desert biome occurred
during this time. |
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| West and South of Biosphere 2 are two white geodesic
dome structures, called “lungs” connected
by underground tunnels to the Biosphere 2 basement. The
lungs are variable volume chambers able to expand and
contract with shifts in atmospheric volume/pressure. Otherwise,
the warming and expansion of air during the day could
blow out glass panes or break the seals on Biosphere 2.
The lungs’ total volume capacity is 1.7 million
cubic feet (50,000 cubic meters). |
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| The air is continuous throughout Biosphere 2. Air circulates
among the wilderness biomes, human habitat and lungs.
“The achievements of the biospherians go beyond
the application of state-of-the-art methods of sustainable
agriculture. Biosphere 2 recreates in miniature the
flows and balances that occur on Earth - but it moves
through these cycles on ‘fast forward.’
Carbon dioxide turnover on Earth takes about three years:
in Biosphere 2 it takes about three days. On Earth it
takes years or decades to see how changes in the rainforest
affect the growth of sorghum or sweet potatoes in another
part of the world; in Biosphere 2, the impact may be
seen in a matter of weeks. In Biosphere 2, agricultural
materials such as crop nutrients and animal wastes recycle
through the water and air systems in days, as opposed
to weeks or years on Earth. It is, in this sense, an
ecological laboratory of incalculable value—the
world’s largest test-tube.”
One of the most striking accomplishments for Biosphere
2 is its massive recycling systems. Since 1991, crew
members have used the same water and recycled all waste
products inside. Each action made by a Biospherian has
an immediate effect on this mini-world, which dramatically
demonstrates the importance of individual accountability
for the larger closed system, Earth, in which we live.
On just one-half acre of land, the biospherians grow,
harvest and process their food— while keeping
the soil highly fertile and using only non-polluting
pest control methods. Application on Earth of similar
systems show promise for reducing ground water pollution
from agricultural chemicals, production of pesticide-free
foods and more efficient food production. |
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| Biosphere 2 is a uniquely designed structure where technology
is used for the benefit of ecology. The Biospherians manage
and control all the systems from waves, tides, waterfalls
and currents to rain, temperatures and humidity.
The Biospherians are conducting research on how to
restore natural endangered habitats, such as rainforests
or coral reefs. While in this closed structure, they
are gaining knowledge about the forces that either degrade
or enhance an ecological system and will be able to
apply this information to areas that are actually threatened
on our planet.
for more information see : www.biospheres.com
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| ©2004 Wastewater Gardens® PCRF • www.pcrf.org
• Indonesia Rep. Yayasan IDEP : www.idepfoundation.org |
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