CarboKorea and HydroKorea are the domestic projects aiming to improve our understanding of carbon and water cycles in a typical Korean forest located in a complex terrain with a watershed connected to large rivers. The ultimate goal is to provide a nowcasting of these cycles for the whole Peninsula. The basic strategy to achieve such goal is through the inter- and multi-disciplinary studies that synthesize the in-situ field observation, modeling and remote sensing technology. The challenge is the fact that natural ecosystems are nonlinear and heterogeneous with a wide range of spatio-temporal scales causing the variations of mass and energy exchanges from a leaf to landscape scales. Our paradigm now shifts from temporal variation at a point to spatial patterns and from spatial homogeneity to complexity of water and carbon at multiple scales. Yet, a large portion of our knowledge about land-atmosphere interactions has been established based on tower observations, indicating that the development of scaling logics holds the key to the success of CarboKorea and HydroKorea. Here, we review the pioneering work of FIFE (First ISLSCP Field Experiment) on scaling issues in a temperate grassland and discuss the lessons from it for the application to Gwangneung forest site.