Nitrous oxide emissions from soils: ‘from the bottle to the model’ (original) (raw)
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Environmental Sciences
This paper presents various methods to assess nitrous oxide emissions from soils in response to the nitrogen input in agriculture (grassland and arable land) and in forests, using available measurements and results of detailed process-based and more simple and empirical modelling approaches. The measurements and modelling approaches focus on Europe and specifically the Netherlands. Both measurements and model applications indicate that default emission factors for N2O emissions are an underestimate for fertilizer and manure application on organic soils and for N deposition on forests. These results illustrate the potential of measurements and models to improve default IPCC Good Practice Guidance emission factors. Validated detailed process oriented biogeochemical models are furthermore useful to extrapolate results of measurements to other combinations of land use, soil type and management practices, whereas more simplified models have a large potential to extrapolate N2O emission e...
Direct and indirect nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils, 1990-2003
… document on the …, 2007
Direct and indirect nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils, 1990-2003 Background document on the calculation method for the Dutch National Inventory Report Since 2005 the Dutch method to calculate the nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils has fully complied with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Good Practice Guidelines. In order to meet the commitments of the Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, nitrous oxide emissions have to be reported annually in the Dutch National Inventory Report (NIR). Countries are encouraged to use country-specific data rather than the default values provided by the IPCC. This report describes the calculation schemes and data sources used for nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils in the Netherlands. The nitrous oxide emissions, which contribute to the greenhouse effect, occur due to nitrification and denitrification processes. They include direct emissions from agricultural soils due to the application of animal manure and fertilizer nitrogen and the manure production in the meadow. Also included are indirect emissions resulting from the subsequent leaching of nitrate to ground water and surface waters, and from deposition of ammonia that had volatilized as a result of agricultural activities. Before 2005 indirect emissions in the Netherlands were calculated using a method that did not compare well with IPCC definitions and categories. The elaborate explanation here should facilitate reviewing by experts. Finally, the report also presents an overview of the nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils and the underlying data used in the 1990-2003 period.
2006
Update of emission factors for nitrous oxide from agricultural soils on the basis of measurements in the Netherlands. Alterra report 1217. 40 pp.; 4 fig.; 13 tab.; 59 refs. Emissions of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) in the Netherlands are reported to the UNFCCC on the basis of a country specific methodology. In this study we have identified and analysed the values for emission factors in measurement from in the Netherlands in the period 1993-2003. The overall averaged emission factor extracted from over 86 series of one year measurements on nitrous oxide emission from agricultural fields in the Netherlands is 1.1% and a weighed average for soil types is 1.01%. The average for mineral soils is 0.88%. The calculated emission factors are lower than the value suggested by the IPCC for EF 1 for fertilizer and animal manure of 1.25%. We recommend to use a value of 1.0% for EF 1 and to use corrections of EF 1 in reporting the use of fertilizers without nitrate (0.5%), for subsurface application of manure (1.5%) and for fertilizer, manure and urine on organic soils (2.0%).
Biogeochemistry, 2003
Based on a review of N 2 O field studies in Europe, major soil, climate and management controls of N 2 O release from agricultural mineral soils in the European Union have been identified. Data for these N 2 O emission drivers can easily be gathered from statistical services. Using stepwise multivariate linear regression analysis, empirical first order models of N 2 O emissions have been established which allow -in contrast to existing large-scale approaches -a regionally disaggregated estimation of N 2 O emissions at sub-national, national and continental level in the temperate and boreal climate regions of Europe. Arable soils showed lower mean and maximum emissions in oceanic temperate climate ("Temperate West") than in pre-alpine temperate and sub-boreal climate ("Sub-boreal Europe"). Therefore, two separate regression models were developed. Nitrous oxide emissions from arable soils the Temperate West amount to an average flux rate below 2 kg N 2 O-N ha −1 yr −1 and rarely exceed 5 kg N 2 O-N ha −1 yr −1 . They are modelled by the parameters fertiliser, topsoil organic carbon and sand content. In Sub-boreal European arable soils, N 2 O emissions vary in a much wider range between 0 and 27 kg N 2 O-N ha −1 yr −1 in dependence of available nitrogen, represented in the model by fertiliser and topsoil nitrogen content. Compared to existing methods for large scale inventories, the regression models allow a better regional fit to measured values since they integrate additional driving forces for N 2 O emissions. For grasslands, a fertiliser-based model was established which yields higher emission estimates than existing ones. Due to an extreme variability, no climate, soil nor management parameters could be included in the empirical grasslands model.
Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, 2006
The nations that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol must set up an appropriate national inventory on N 2 O emissions from agricultural land use, in order to report properly on the achievements made in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. The search for the appropriate method is a controversial topic as it is subject to high uncertainty in particular associated to the upscaling from site measurements. In this study, all available data from Germany on annual N 2 O-emission rates derived from field experiments of at least an entire year are summarized. From each study, only differences in soil properties on N input qualified as an individual data set. Under these premises, 101 treatments from 27 sites were found equally spread across Germany. The annual N application ranged from 0 to 400 kg N ha -1 and the annual emission rates from 0.04 to 17.1 kg ha -1 . Annual emission factors (EFs), uncorrected for background emission, varied considerably from 0.18% to 15.54% of N applied. There was no nationwide correlation found for the relationship between N 2 O losses and N application, soil C, soil N, soil texture, or soil pH. However, site-specific trends in the relationship between emission factor and mean soil aeration status, as expressed by the soil type and/or mean climatic conditions, were revealed. Regularly water-logged soils were characterized by low emission factors as were soils from the drier regions (<600 mm y -1 ), whereas well-aerated soils from the frost-intensive regions showed exceptionally high emission factors. Since purely physical and chemical parameterization failed to describe N 2 O emissions from agricultural land use on the national scale, there must be a biological adaptation to mean site conditions, i.e., different microbial communities react differently to similar actual conditions in terms of N 2 O dynamics. Regardless of the point of view, the chapter on N 2 O soil dynamics cannot be closed yet, and new additional model concepts, process studies, and field measurements are needed.
Modelling nitrous oxide emission from soils: a tool for exploring emission reduction strategies
Studies in Environmental Science, 1995
Possibilities to reduce nitroux oxide (N2O) emission from soils can be explored with simulation models. In this study, principal assumptions and hypotheses underlying such a simulation model under development are presented. It uses soil water content profiles as main input data and describes production, consumption and transport of N2O.Observations on sandy grassland plots in the Wageningen Rhizolab will be used in the model development. The model is to explain the shape of the nitrous oxide profiles and the relation between subsurface nitrous oxide gradients and the observed fluxes.
2012
This short review deals with soils as an important source of the greenhouse gas N 2 O. The production and consumption of N 2 O in soils mainly involve biotic processes: the anaerobic process of denitrification and the aerobic process of nitrification. The factors that significantly influence agricultural N 2 O emissions mainly concern the agricultural practices (N application rate, crop type, fertilizer type) and soil conditions (soil moisture, soil organic C content, soil pH and texture). Large variability of N 2 O fluxes is known to occur both at different spatial and temporal scales. Currently new techniques could help to improve the capture of the spatial variability. Continuous measurement systems with automatic chambers could also help to capture temporal variability and consequently to improve quantification of N 2 O emissions by soils. Some attempts for mitigating soil N 2 O emissions, either by modifying agricultural practices or by managing soil microbial functioning taking into account the origin of the soil N 2 O emission variability, are reviewed. Citation: Hénault, C., Grossel, A., Mary, B., Roussel, M. and Léonard, J. 2012. Nitrous oxide emission by agricultural soils: A review of spatial and temporal variability for mitigation. Pedosphere. 22(4): 426-433.
Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 2013
This study compiles data of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions from 13 fields on mineral soils in Finland with differing soil type, crop and management. Measurements using the chamber technique were conducted for periods of 1-3 years on each field in 2000-2009. The annual emissions varied between 0.12 and 12 kg N 2 O-N ha −1 yr −1 and the emission rates were higher for annual compared to perennial crops. Statistical mixed models were derived based on the measured emissions of N 2 O and background variables. Environmental and management data available for the analysis were the crop, fertilizer rate, type of fertilizer, soil characteristics and weather data. Models with the fertilizer rate and type of crop (annual/perennial) as variables were selected as the simplest method to estimate the flux of N 2 O from mineral agricultural soils. The effect of fertilizer type (mineral/organic) can be added to obtain a more detailed model. In the case of manures, the amount of mineral nitrogen was better related to N 2 O flux than the amount of total nitrogen. These models give realistic estimates of N 2 O fluxes in boreal conditions with frozen soils in the winter, frequently renewed grasslands and spring-sown crops as majority of the annual crops.