Project Number: 5356-11120-002-03
Project Type: Reimbursable

Start Date: Apr 01, 2008
End Date: Dec 31, 2010

Objective:
The objective of this interagency research project is to apply the soil carbon balance model ¿CQESTR¿ to analysis of advanced agriculture residue removal scenarios for ethanol production, and implement the model as part of an enterprise level case study analysis of a proposed residue removal tool framework.

Approach:
The overall goal of this project is to develop the database and tools necessary to assess long-term agronomic sustainability of removing crop residue for energy production. Using the process-based soil organic carbon (SOC) modeling tool CQESTR, this activity will have four primary responsibilities: 1) Interact with replicated field trial researchers to assure that the necessary SOC modeling data is being collected, and subsequently receive that data as available; 2) Continue to develop CQESTR for advanced residue removal scenarios; 3) Perform SOC simulation and prediction for a well defined enterprise level case study; and 4) Support the integration of the CQESTR model into a seamless, interactive residue removal tool framework which includes mapping the information flow through the model, and providing the associated code or executables for the model. The development and implementation of CQESTR within the proposed residue removal analysis tool framework will require close interaction with multiple team members. As an initial assessment the CQESTR development team will review the field trial experimental plan to assure that the necessary data will be collected as part of the field trials to support the continued development and enhancement of the CQESTR model. Any deficiencies or additional data collection requirements identified in the field trial experiments will be documented and communicated with the field trial researchers. The CQESTR development team will also interact with team members assembling enterprise level case studies with the proposed residue removal analysis tool. This interaction includes receiving the required input parameters to run the CQESTR model for the selected enterprise, and providing the SOC simulations as output by CQESTR. The CQESTR team will also support the residue removal tool framework development by providing a detailed map of the data inputs and outputs required for the integration of the CQESTR model. The source code and/or compiled executables of the model will also be provided to support the integration of CQESTR into the residue removal framework.