Soil Science Commons^™

Comparison Of Topsoil Moisture In E3sm Model Simulations And In-Situ Observations Over Illinois, Jacinda Lee Mayer

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Soil moisture stimulates land-atmosphere interactions by modifying energy and water fluxes in the boundary layer and it plays an important role in climate change studies. The objective of this research is to quantify the spatial and temporal variations of the Illinois Climate Network’s (ICN) observed topsoil moisture, as well as evaluate how accurately the new climate model, E3SM, is simulating soil moisture compared to the observed data during 2003-2014. Observed topsoil moisture averaged over growing season during the 12-year period indicates a general dry-north and wet-south pattern in Illinois, and northeast and southwest become drier with the progression of the …

An Integrative Model For Soil Biogeochemistry And Methane Processes: I. Model Structure And Sensitivity Analysis, Daniel M. Ricciuto, Xiaofeng Xu, Xiaoying Shi, Yihui Wang, Xia Song, Christopher W. Schadt, Natalie A. Griffiths, Jiafu Mao, Jeffrey M. Warren, Peter E. Thornton, Jeff Chanton, Jason K. Keller, Scott D. Bridgham, Jessica Gutknecht, Stephen D. Sebestyen, Adrien Finzi, Randall Kolka, Paul J. Hanson

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Environmental changes are anticipated to generate substantial impacts on carbon cycling in peatlands, affecting terrestrial-climate feedbacks. Understanding how peatland methane (CH₄) fluxes respond to these changing environments is critical for predicting the magnitude of feedbacks from peatlands to global climate change. To improve predictions of CH₄ fluxes in response to changes such as elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentrations and warming, it is essential for Earth system models to include increased realism to simulate CH₄ processes in a more mechanistic way. To address this need, we incorporated a new microbial-functional group-based CH₄ module into the Energy …

The Post-Wildfire Impact Of Burn Severity And Age On Black Carbon Snow Deposition And Implications For Snow Water Resources, Cascade Range, Washington, Ted M. Uecker, Susan D. Kaspari, Keith N. Musselman, S. Mckenzie Skiles

Geological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Wildfires in the snow zone affect ablation by removing forest canopy, which enhances surface solar irradiance, and depositing light absorbing particles [LAPs, such as black carbon (BC)] on the snowpack, reducing snow albedo. How variations in BC deposition affects post-wildfire snowmelt timing is poorly known and highly relevant to water resources. We present a field-based analysis of BC variability across five sites of varying burn age and burn severity in the Cascade Range, Washington State, United States. Single particle soot photometer (SP2) analyses of BC snow concentrations were used to assess the impact of BC on snow albedo, and radiative …

Conservation Agriculture As A Climate Change Mitigation Strategy In Zimbabwe, Deb O'Dell, Neal Eash, Bruce B. Hicks, Joel Oetting, Thomas J. Sauer, Dayton M. Lambert, Tarirai Muoni, Joanne Logan, James A. Zahn, John J. Goddard

Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science Publications and Other Works

There is a need to quantify agriculture’s potential to sequester carbon (C) to inform global approaches aimed at mitigating climate change effects. Many factors including climate, crop, soil management practices, and soil type can influence the contribution of agriculture to the global carbon cycle. The objective of this study was to investigate the C sequestration potential of conservation agriculture (CA) (defined by minimal soil disturbance, maintaining permanent soil cover, and crop rotations). This study used micrometeorological methods to measure carbon dioxide (CO₂) flux from several alternative CA practices in Harare, central Zimbabwe. Micrometeorological methods can detect differences in …

Methanogens, Plausible Extraterrestrial Life Forms On Mars, And Their Tolerance To Increasing Concentrations Of Illite Clay, Chandler Kern

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Methanogens, some of Earth’s most primitive prokaryotic organisms, are candidates for possible life forms capable of inhabiting Mars. Specifically, four different species (Methanobacterium formicicum, Methanococcus maripaludis, Methanosarcina barkeri, Methanothermobacter wolfeii) were analyzed for their tolerance to the presence of illite clay. Illite is a crystalline mineral that has been identified from regions of Mars’s surface. Results indicated that all four species grew with some success in the illite at different concentrations. This experimentation with methanogens’ abilities to survive and reproduce in the presence of illite allows for a more accurate understanding of the potential capability of microbial …

Advancing The Understanding Of Environmental Transformations, Bioavailability And Effects Of Nanomaterials, An International Us Environmental Protection Agency—Uk Environmental Nanoscience Initiative Joint Program, Mitch M. Lasat, Kian Fan Chung, Jamie Lead, Steve Mcgrath, Richard J. Owen, Sophie Rocks, Jason M. Unrine, Junfeng Zhang

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Nanotechnology has significant economic, health, and environmental benefits, including renewable energy and innovative environmental solutions. Manufactured nanoparticles have been incorporated into new materials and products because of their novel or enhanced properties. These very same properties also have prompted concerns about the potential environmental and human health hazard and risk posed by the manufactured nanomaterials. Appropriate risk management responses require the development of models capable of predicting the environmental and human health effects of the nanomaterials. Development of predictive models has been hampered by a lack of information concerning the environmental fate, behavior and effects of manufactured nanoparticles. The United …

Understanding The Food Water Nexus: Characterizing The Impact Of Climatological Anomalies On Agrosystems, Patrick M. Wurster Jr.

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Climate variability at global and regional scales is escalating with increased atmospheric carbon and is expected to magnify the intensity and duration of meteorological extremes, especially droughts. From the many environmental stresses that diminish crop production (e.g., soil salinity, frost, soil erosion) drought is one of the most prevalent. This study focuses on the sensitivity of three key crops produced in the northwestern United States to climatological anomalies, while controlling for attribution using anomalies in price. The study differs from similar studies in that we focus on variability in production which captures both yield (tonnes/ha) and cropping area (ha), as …

Tb196: Temperature, Soil Moisture, And Streamflow At The Bear Brook Watershed In Maine (Bbwm), Ivan J. Fernandez, Joseph E. Karem, Stephen A. Norton, Lindsey E. Rustad

Ivan J. Fernandez

The Bear Brook Watershed in Maine is a whole-ecosystem chemical manipulation initiated in 1987 to study the effects of acid deposition on forests and surface waters. The focus of this research was to understand the biogeochemical response of watersheds with emphasis on chemistry and hydrology. In 2001 a program was initiated to provide more detailed measurements of temperature and moisture to examine critical linkages amongst chemical, biological, and physical processes that ultimately work together to define ecosystem function. The purpose of this publication is to provide data from the initial phase of soil temperature, air temperature, and soil moisture measurements …

Characterization Of Tropical Clouds Using Multi-Satellite Observations, Ricardo Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

Clouds an important component of the earth-climate system and play a critical role in affecting energy and water cycle of the planet. In particular, tropical convective clouds account for the majority of the precipitation that fall on the Earth's surface. Multiple active satellite missions in recent decade such as TRMM (Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission), and CloudSat have provided fruitful new insight into the internal structures of these tropical convective clouds. In conjunction with cloud data from ISCCP (International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project), that is based passive remote sensing technology in the visible and infrared spectrum, this allows for a more …

Measuring Carbon Dioxide (Co2) Flux Of Agricultural Practices In Sub-Saharan Africa, Debra Blumberg O'Dell

Masters Theses

Agriculture has an important role in addressing two of the world’s most pressing problems: meeting global food demand and mitigating climate change. If agriculture is not practiced sustainably it will fail to meet future food demand and likely intensify the pace of global climate change. There are some agricultural practices, such as Conservation Agriculture, that can produce food sustainably and have the potential to mitigate climate change. However it is not clear which agricultural practices contribute to climate mitigation and by how much. By measuring the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of specific agricultural practices, the ability of practices to sequester …

Cosmogenic Beryllium Cycling In A Natural Forest Setting, Grace Conyers

Open Access Theses

10 Bemet , or cosmogenic beryllium, has a long half-life of 1.4 million years and quick adsorption on soil particles, which may make it ideal for dating soil erosion in historical context. However, there are questions on about the fundamental assumptions of the retentivity of 10 Bemet . This manuscript explores these assumptions and the context of nutrient cycling in a natural forest setting.

To see if 10 Bemet was being cycled through the trees, and at what rate, we looked at the[10 Bemet ] in the soil, 4 species of trees, and their leaves. The isotopic ratio 10 Be/9 …

Wetlands And Greenhouse Gas Fluxes: Causes And Effects Of Climate Change – A Meta-Analysis, Robert E. Ventura

Pomona Senior Theses

Climate change is one of the largest problems facing this generation. Anthropogenically caused increases of greenhouse gas emissions is a significant culprit to this problem. Although the obvious problems such as cars, industry, and urbanism garnish a significant amount of the criticism, natural sources such as wetlands are also beginning to contribute to this issue. This is becoming increasingly significant as wetlands shift from being sinks of greenhouse gases to becoming sources as various anthropogenic impacts, including global warming itself, begin to affect the health of the wetlands. The aim of this project is to look at four common types …

The Influence Of Soil Organic Matter Stabilization Mechanisms On Carbon Mean Residence Time Within Various Ecosystems In The United States, Vicky Lynn Giese, Kate Heckman Phd

STAR Program Research Presentations

Some terrestrial ecosystems and soils serve as carbon sinks, partially offsetting rising atmospheric CO₂ levels. Physiochemical mechanisms of soil organic matter (SOM) stabilization affect how carbon stocks respond to global warming. In order to clarify the variance in SOM stabilization mechanisms across different soil types, SOM abundance, distribution and mean residence time (MRT) were compared for thirty-two soil samples from six ecosystems across the United States. Soils were previously described, collected and archived by the United States Geological Survey. Samples were processed by LLNL at the Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (CAMS) using density fractionation to separate particulate organics …

Cave Ventilation Is Influenced By Variations In The Co2-Dependent Virtual Temperature, Enrique P. Sánchez-Cañete, Penélope Serrano-Ortiz, Francisco Domingo, Andrew S. Kowalski

International Journal of Speleology

Dynamics and drivers of ventilation in caves are of growing interest for different fields of science. Accumulated CO₂ in caves can be exchanged with the atmosphere, modifying the internal CO₂ content, affecting stalagmite growth rates, deteriorating rupestrian paintings or creating new minerals. Current estimates of cave ventilation neglect the role of high CO₂ concentrations in determining air density – approximated via the virtual temperature (T_v) –, affecting buoyancy and therefore the release or storage of CO₂. Here we try to improve knowledge and understanding of cave ventilation through the use of T …

A Paleoclimate Modeling Experiment To Calculate The Soil Carbon Respiration Flux For The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, David M. Tracy

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) (55 million years ago) stands as the largest in a series of extreme warming (hyperthermal) climatic events, which are analogous to the modern day increase in greenhouse gas concentrations. Orbitally triggered (Lourens et al., 2005, Galeotti et al., 2010), the PETM is marked by a large (-3‰) carbon isotope excursion (CIE). Hypothesized to be methane driven, Zeebe et al., (2009) noted that a methane based release would only account for 3.5°C of warming. An isotopically heavier carbon, such as that of soil and C3 plants, has the potential to account for the …

Evaluation Of The Sensitivity Of Inventory And Monitoring National Parks To Acidification Effects From Atmospheric Sulfur And Nitrogen Deposition, Northern Great Plains Network (Ngpn), T. J. Sullivan, T. C. Mcdonnell, G. T. Mcpherson, S. D. Mackey, D. Moore

United States National Park Service: Publications

Northern Great Plains Network (NGPN)

National maps of atmospheric sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) emissions and deposition are provided in Maps A through D as context for subsequent network data presentations. Maps A and B show county level emissions of total S and total N for the year 2002. Maps C and D show total S and total N deposition, again for the year 2002.

There are three parks in the Northern Great Plains Network that are larger than 100 square miles: Badlands (BADL), Missouri (MNRR), and Theodore Roosevelt (THRO). In addition, there are 10 smaller parks.

Total annual S …

Tb202: Composition And Biomass Of Forest Floor Vegetation In Experimentally Acidified Paired Watersheds At The Bear Brook Watershed In Maine, Peter Kenlan, G. B. Wiersma, A. S. White, I. J. Fernandez

Technical Bulletins

The percentage cover (abundance), frequency of occurrence, biomass, species richness, and species diversity of understory herbs was measured on a paired watershed ecosystem in eastern Maine, USA. This paired watershed site (Bear Brook Watershed in Maine, BBWM) has had the West Bear Brook Watershed treated bi-monthly with granular ammonium sulfate at a rate of 28.8 kg S ha-1 yr-1 and 25.2 kg N ha-1 yr-1 since 1989. East Bear Brook Watershed serves as the reference site. More than 100 plots were randomly located across the two watersheds. The data suggest that there is generally a lower frequency of occurrence of …

From Debate To Design: Issues In Clean Energy And Climate Change Law And Policy, Leslie Parker, Jennifer Ronk, Rachel Maxwell, Bradford Gentry, Marijn Wilder, James Cameron

Yale School of the Environment Publications Series

A report on the work of the REIL Network 2007-2008

A Study Of Land Surface Processes Using Land Surface Models Over The Little River Experimental Watershed, A. K. Sahoo, P. A. Dirmeyer, P. R. Houser, Menas Kafatos

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Three different land surface models (Hydrological improvements to the Simplified version of the Simple Biosphere model (HySSiB), Noah model, and Community Land Model (CLM)) were simulated on the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Land Information System platform at 1-km resolution over the Little River Experimental Watershed, Georgia, and the simulated results were analyzed to address the local-scale land-atmosphere processes. All the three models simulated the soil moisture in space and time realistically. The Noah model produced higher soil moisture whereas the CLM got lower soil moisture with many dry down phases. CLM and HySSiB models were oversensitive to the atmospheric …

Tb196: Temperature, Soil Moisture, And Streamflow At The Bear Brook Watershed In Maine (Bbwm), Ivan J. Fernandez, Joseph E. Karem, Stephen A. Norton, Lindsey E. Rustad

Technical Bulletins

The Bear Brook Watershed in Maine is a whole-ecosystem chemical manipulation initiated in 1987 to study the effects of acid deposition on forests and surface waters. The focus of this research was to understand the biogeochemical response of watersheds with emphasis on chemistry and hydrology. In 2001 a program was initiated to provide more detailed measurements of temperature and moisture to examine critical linkages amongst chemical, biological, and physical processes that ultimately work together to define ecosystem function. The purpose of this publication is to provide data from the initial phase of soil temperature, air temperature, and soil moisture measurements …

Lead Isotope Tracking Of Atmospheric Response To Post- Industrial Conditions In Yerevan, Armenia, Charles Dunlap, Robert Kurkjian

Charles Dunlap

Temporal gradients in environmental lead concentrations and isotopic compositions trace the rapidly shifting transition from high to low industrial emissions in Yerevan, Armenia following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Shortly after the breakup, in 1995 and 1996, atmospheric lead concentrations averaged ~0.4 µg/m3 and the combustion of leaded gasoline was the primary source of industrial lead emissions in Yerevan. But by 1998, unleaded gasoline was predominant and atmospheric lead concentrations had decreased by two orders of magnitude to ≤ 0.003 µg/m3 because industrial lead emissions from stationary sources had also been radically curtailed. The increased …

A Comparison Of No And N20 Production By The Autophic Nitrifier Nitrosomonas Europaea And The Heterotrophic Nitrifier Alcaligenes Faecalis, Iris C. Anderson, Mark Poth, Julie Homstead, David J. Burdige

OES Faculty Publications

Soil microorganisms are important sources of the nitrogen trace gases NO and N₂O for the atmosphere. Present evidence suggests that autotrophic nitrifiers such as Nitrosomonas europaea are the primary producers of NO and N₂O in aerobic soils, whereas denitrifiers such as Pseudomonas spp. or Alcaligenes spp. are responsible for most of the NO and N₂O emissions from anaerobic soils. It has been shown that Alcaligenes faecalis, a bacterium common in both soil and water, is capable of concomitant heterotrophic nitrification and denitrification. This study was undertaken to determine whether heterotrophic nitrification might be …

Grain Legume Agronomy 1976-1977, G H. Walton

Experimental Summaries - Plant Research

76B1, Lupin agronomy, high rainfall area.

CB49, Lupin crop establishment methods.

76JE7, Lupin agronomy and soil fertility improvement.

74MO11, Seedling regeneration.

75MO7, Pasture establishment under unicrop and soil fertility improvement.

76MO13, L. cosentinii cv CB49 agronomy.

76MO14, Amino acid sequence study in the maturation of lupin seed.

76MT4, Chick pea response to plant density.

76MT5, Effect of waterlogging on lupin species.

76NA9, Polyculture of wheat and lupin.

76NA10, Pasture establishment under cover crops.

76TS12, L cosentinii cv agronomy.

Laboratory Simulation Of Rainfall Erosivity For Gully Formation Study, T. Y. Kao

KWRRI Research Reports

The objective of this study was to develop a rainfall simulator, which imparts to the laboratory rainfall the more important characteristics of natural rainfall such as intensity, drop spectrum, kinetic energy, and momentum at impact, for using in soil erosion research with better results. In developing this simulator the better features of the basic types of earlier simulators, drip and nozzle, have been incorporated into this single design. The simulator developed in this study consists of a number of individual box modules placed in a rectangular pattern to form a single unit. Each module has a grid of capillary holes …