The Twitchell Island site is a rice paddy that is owned by the state and managed by the California Department of Water Resources. While Bare Peat field was leveled for rice planting, the tower was installed on April 3, 2009. The rice paddy was converted from corn in 2007. In Summer 2009, Bispyribac-sodium and Pendimethalin herbicides were applied to the fields prior to rice planting and flooding, then pesticide and fertilizer application took place. Each year after rice is planted in the spring by drilling, the field is flooded. Then, the field is drained in early fall, rice is harvested, and the field site is moved.

The research approach of the University of California, Berkeley Biometeorology Laboratory involves the coordinated use of experimental measurements and theoretical models to understand the physical, biological, and chemical processes that control trace gas fluxes between the biosphere and atmosphere and to quantify their temporal and spatial variations. They are also responsible for making eddy covariance measurements of H2O, CO2, sensible heat, and CH4 exchange between a rice paddy and the atmosphere. The research objectives of the Mayberry Wetland, Sherman Island, and Twitchell Island sites are as follows: 1) Describe differences in the fluxes of CO2, CH4, H2O, and energy between different land uses; 2) Understand the mechanisms controlling these fluxes; 3) Use ecosystem modeling to understand controls on these mechanisms under different environmental scenarios. These three sites were selected to capture a wide range of inundated conditions within the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The research focuses on the eddy covariance technique to measure CH4, CO2, H2O, and energy fluxes and works to combine measurements of both net fluxes and partitioned fluxes in order to achieve a mechanistic understanding of the ecological controls on current and future carbon flux in the Delta.