Project Number: 5348-11000-005-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Jul 31, 2008
End Date: Oct 31, 2010

Objective:
1.Develop capability to predict emission of PM10 from agricultural lands. 2.Assess impact of best management practices on factors governing aggregation and PM10 emission rates within low-precipitation zone of the Columbia Plateau (CP). 3.Develop receptor analyses for identifying and quantifying dust source using biological portion of particulates. 4.Determine tillage and cropping system effects on greenhouse gas emissions from soil. 5.Determine crop and tillage management impacts on carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycling. 6.Determine impacts of cropping and tillage systems on water quality and maintenance of soil resource base (Pendleton). 7.Develop conservation cropping and tillage systems that improve agroecosystem performance and minimize adverse environmental impacts to air, water, and soil. 8.Determine amount of crop residues that must be retained to maintain soil organic C and sustain production. 9.Estimate the tradeoff between the short-term benefits of crop residues as biofuel or biomass versus the long-term benefits to soil, water, and air resources associated with retaining crop residues to build soil organic matter and sequester carbon. 10.Develop N budget framework for N management decision-aids for conservation cropping systems.

Approach:
Obj.1: Parameterize soil water content, crust type and strength required by the Columbia Plateau (CP) fugitive dust model for estimating horizontal soil flux and PM10 emissions, and for verifying WEPS within CP. Obj.2: Compare effect of various rotations and tillage systems on soil biophysical properties, biological communities, soil surface characteristics, and PM10 emissions and establish suite of best management practices. Obj.3: Use molecular fingerprinting in addition to traditional chemical analyses to identify and quantify PM10 material. Apply receptor analysis to source detection A) within a region, B) on small samples, and C) as determined from regional dust transport model. Obj.4: Assess N2O emissions from long-term rotations and tillage systems established near Pullman, WA. Obj.5: Determine effects of C quality and quantity on soil biophysical properties and function in seed-zone, including aggregation, soil biology community and plant microbes. Document tillage disturbance and cropping system effects on soil microbial populations, community structure and activity, and soil organic and inorganic N and C. Study sites are on the Palouse Conservation Field Station and the Cook Research Farm near Pullman, and the Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center near Pendleton, OR. Obj.6: Pendleton. Obj.7: Set up permanent sites near Pullman, WA. Determine in situ gross mineralization rates, monitor the microclimate, normalize the N transformation data for each area, and predict N availability over time across the landscape to determine N efficiency and predict fertilizer needs. Treatments are conventional tillage and reduced tillage, and secondary treatments that include alternative cropping systems. Obj.8 and 9: Field-scale crop residue and soil C data from the Cook Research Farm will be analyzed including residue quantities, value as a bio-fuel, nutrient content and contribution to soil C sequestration using standard laboratory, geospatial techniques and CropSyst model. Obj.10: In collaboration with Pendleton, evaluate tillage and crop residue management practices for conservation systems. Uniform and site-specific N management treatments with extensive spatial and temporal measurements will capture full variability of each field at the Cook Research Farm. Use GIS methods to compute site-specific variable-rate N recommendations for wheat. Replacing 5348-11000-004-00D (6/08)