Neon (Natioinal Ecological Observatory Network) is a new “big science” project in .  It is a thirty year study of the various US ecosystems by gathering data standardized way over the next 30 years..

Naturally being who I am this info is coming from an economist article: http://www.economist.com/node/21560838.  Also a quick internet search found this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Ecological_Observatory_Network.

This project has major Federal funding & looks to me like it could possibly be an extremely important project.  Its major weakness may be that it confined to the U.S. however.