Project Number: 1265-12130-002-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Jun 01, 2006
End Date: May 30, 2010

Objective:
1. Assessing carbon sequestration and trace gas emissions under conservation practices at the landscape scales in the Mid-Atlantic region as part of the GRACEnet CLP (cross-location project). 2. Develop methods to measure and characterize crop residues and soil carbon under different management systems at field to watershed scales. 3. Assessing impacts of soil redistribution on carbon dynamics by use of a biogeochemical model that includes landscape processes at field to watershed scales. 4. Modeling soil carbon sequestration and carbon fluxes at watershed to regional scales. 5. Integrate global soil moisture mapping from satellites into the land surface component of atmospheric prediction models.

Approach:
This project will quantify soil and crop residue C by spectroscopic characterization will provide cost-effective methods for monitoring or model validation. Trace gas emissions from winter cover crops will be monitored to assess overall global warming potential of prospective management practices for C sequestration. The C fluxes associated with soil erosion and subsequent C redistribution over a field or landscape will be assessed using Cesium-137 used as a tracer to estimate the magnitude and impact on redistribution patterns at field and watershed scales. Tower flux measurements will be used to validate spatial estimates of CO2 assimilation through the light use efficiency parameter. Combined crop growth/biogeochemical models use land cover, leaf area index, and soil and residue C for spatial model inputs and light use efficiency for model validation. Improved technologies and models developed for assessing soil moisture status will enhance global climate models for climate change predictions.