Agroecosystem modeling of reactive nitrogen emissions from U.S.agricultural soils with carbon amendments

Fertilizer-intensive agriculture is a leading source of reactive nitrogen(Nr)emissions that damage climate,air quality,and human health.Biochar has long been studied as a soil amendment,but its influence on Nr emissions remains insufficiently characterized.More recently,the pyrolysis of light hydrocarbons has been suggested as a source of hydrogen fuel,resulting in a solid zero-valent carbon(ZVC)byproduct whose impact on soil emissions has yet to be tested.We incorporate carbon amendment algorithms into an agroecosystem model to simulate emission changes in the year following the application of biochar or ZVC to the US.fertilized soils.Our simulations predicted that the impacts of biochar amendments on Nr emissions would vary widely(−17%to+27%under 5 ton ha^(−1) applications,−38%to+18%under 20 ton ha^(−1) applications)and depend mostly on how nitrification is affected.Low-dose biochar application(5 ton ha^(−1))stimulated emissions of all three nitrogen species in 75%of simulated agricultural areas,while high-dose applications(20 ton ha^(−1))mitigated emissions in 76%of simulated areas.Applying zero-valent carbon at 20 ton ha^(−1) exhibited similar effects on nitrogen emissions as biochar applications at 5 ton ha^(−1).Biochar amendments are most likely to mitigate emissions if applied at high rates in acidic soils(pH<5.84)with low organic carbon(<55.9 kg C ha^(−1))and inorganic nitrogen(<101.5 kg N ha^(−1))content.Our simulations could inform where the application of carbon amendments would most likely mitigate Nr emissions and their associated adverse impacts.

Advances in Nitrogen Denitrification and N_2O Emission in Agro-ecosystem

Nitrification and denitrification are two key links of nitrogen flow cycle in soil.N2O and N2,generated from biochemical process of nitrogen,can cause not only the nitrogen losses and reduction of nitrogen use efficiency,but also the boosted concentration of greenhouse gases,severely endangering the environment.Accordingly,nitrification-denitrification has been more and more concerned from whether an agricultural view,or an environmental one.Referring to the related literatures published at home and abroad in recent years,we overviewed the denitrification-caused N loss and N2O emission in various agro-ecosystems,and based on which we put forward countermeasures to reduce the denitrification-caused N loss and N2O emission and its research prospects in the future.

The effects of nitrogen fertilizer application on methane and nitrous oxide emission/uptake in Chinese croplands

The application of nitrogen（N） fertilizer to increase crop yields has a significant influence on soil methane（CH_4） and nitrous oxide（N_2O） emission/uptake.A meta-analysis was carried out on the effect of N application on（i） CH_4 emissions in rice paddies,（ii） CH_4 uptake in upland fields and（iii） N_2O emissions.The responses of CH_4 emissions to N application in rice paddies were highly variable and overall no effects were found.CH_4 emissions were stimulated at low N application rates（〈100 kg N ha^（-1）） but inhibited at high N rates（〉200 kg N ha^（-1）） as compared to no N fertilizer（control）.The response of CH_4 uptake to N application in upland fields was 15%lower than control,with a mean CH_4 uptake factor of-0.001 kg CH_4-C kg^（-1） N.The mean N_2O emission factors were 1.00 and 0.94%for maize（Zea mays） and wheat（Triticum aestivum）,respectively,but significantly lower for the rice（Oryza sativa）（0.51%）.Compared with controls,N addition overall increased global warming potential of CH_4 and N_2O emissions by 78%.Our result revealed that response of CH_4 emission to N input might depend on the CH_4concentration in rice paddy.The critical factors that affected CH_4 uptake and N_2O emission were N fertilizer application rate and the controls of CH_4 uptake and N_2O emission.The influences of application times,cropping systems and measurement frequency should all be considered when assessing CH_4 and N_2O emissions/uptake induced by N fertilizer.

Nitrogen mobility,ammonia volatilization,and estimated leaching loss from long-term manure incorporation in red soil

Nitrogen（N） loss from fertilization in agricultural fields has an unavoidable negative impact on the environment and a better understanding of the major pathways can assist in developing the best management practices. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fate of N fertilizers applied to acidic red soil（Ferralic Cambisol） after 19 years of mineral（synthetic） and manure fertilizer treatments under a cropping system with wheat-maize rotations. Five field treatments were examined： control（CK）, chemical nitrogen and potash fertilizer（NK）, chemical nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer（NP）, chemical nitrogen, phosphorus and potash fertilizer（NPK） and the NPK with manure（NPKM, 70% N from manure）. Based on the soil total N storage change in 0–100 cm depth, ammonia（NH_3） volatilization, nitrous oxide（N_2O） emission, N plant uptake, and the potential N leaching loss were estimated using a mass balance approach. In contrast to the NPKM, all mineral fertilizer treatments（NK, NP and NPK） showed increased nitrate（NO_3~–） concentration with increasing soil depth, indicating higher leaching potential. However, total NH_3 volatilization loss was much higher in the NPKM（19.7%） than other mineral fertilizer treatments（≤4.2%）. The N_2O emissions were generally low（0.2–0.9%, the highest from the NPKM）. Total gaseous loss accounted for 1.7, 3.3, 5.1, and 21.9% for NK, NP, NPK, and NPKM treatments, respectively. Estimated N leaching loss from the NPKM was only about 5% of the losses from mineral fertilizer treatments. All data demonstrated that manure incorporation improved soil productivity, increased yield, and reduced potential leaching, but with significantly higher NH_3 volatilization, which could be reduced by improving the application method. This study confirms that manure incorporationis an essential strategy in N fertilization management in upland red soil cropping system.

Validation of an Emission Model for a Marine Diesel Engine with Data from Sea Operations

In this study,a model is developed to simulate the dynamics of an internal combustion engine,and it is calibrated and validated against reliable experimental data,making it a tool that can effectively be adopted to conduct emission predictions.In this work,the Ricardo WAVE software is applied to the simulation of a particular marine diesel engine,a four-stroke engine used in the maritime field.Results from the bench tests are used for the calibration of the model.Finally,the calibration of the model and its validation with full-scale data measured at sea are presented.The prediction includes not only the classic engine operating parameters for a comparison with surveys but also an estimate of nitrogen oxide emissions,which are compared with similar results obtained with emission factors.The calibration of the model made it possible to obtain an overlap between the simulation results and real data with an average error of approximately 7%on power,torque,and consumption.The model provides encouraging results,suggesting further applications,such as in the study on transient conditions,coupling of the engine model with the ship model for a complete simulation of the operating conditions,and optimization studies on consumption and emissions.The availability of the emission data during the sea trial and validated simulation results are the strengths and novelties of this work.

A Chemical Reactor Network for Oxides of Nitrogen Emission Prediction in Gas Turbine Combustor

This study presents the use of a new chemical reactor network(CRN) model and non-uniform injectors to predict the NOx emission pollutant in gas turbine combustor. The CRN uses information from Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD) combustion analysis with two injectors of CH4-air mixture. The injectors of CH4-air mixture have different lean equivalence ratio, and they control fuel flow to stabilize combustion and adjust combustor's equivalence ratio. Non-uniform injector is applied to improve the burning process of the turbine combustor. The results of the new CRN for NOx prediction in the gas turbine combustor show very good agreement with the experimental data from Korea Electric Power Research Institute.

Managed grassland alters soil N dynamics and N2O emissions in temperate steppe

Reclamation of degraded grasslands as managed grasslands has been increasingly accelerated in recent years in China. Land use change affects soil nitrogen（N） dynamics and nitrous oxide（N2O） emissions. However, it remains unclear how large-scale grassland reclamation will impact the grassland ecosystem as a whole. Here, we investigated the effects of the conversion from native to managed grasslands on soil N dynamics and N2O emissions by field experiments in Hulunber in northern China. Soil（0-10 cm）, nitrate（NO3-）,ammonium（NH4＋）, and microbial N were measured in plots in a temperate steppe（Leymus chinensis grassland） and two managed grasslands（Medicago sativa and Bromus inermis grasslands） in 2011 and 2012. The results showed conversion of L. chinensis grassland to M.sativa or B. inermis grasslands decreased concentrations of NO3--N, but did not change NH4-N . Soil microbial N was slightly decreased by the conversion of L. chinensis grassland to M.sativa, but increased by the conversion to B. inermis. The conversion of L. chinensis grassland to M. sativa（i.e., a legume grass） increased N2O emissions by 26.2%, while the conversion to the B. inermis（i.e., a non-legume grass） reduced N2O emissions by 33.1%. The conversion from native to managed grasslands caused large created variations in soil NO3-＋-N and NH4-N concentrations. Net N mineralization rates did not change significantly in growing season or vegetation type, but to net nitrification rate. These results provide evidence on how reclamation may impact the grassland ecosystem in terms of N dynamics and N2O emissions.

Application of geovisual analytics to modelling the movements of ruminants in the rural landscape using satellite tracking data

Geovisual analytics provides a framework for the development of decision support tools for landscape design,analysis and optimisation.An important application is modelling the spatial-temporal movements of ruminants and their grazing behaviour using global positioning system(GPS)collar units.This study describes the mapping and analysis of spatial distributions of animal waste products(which correlate with farm nitrogen[N]emissions)and also determination of animal feeding preferences(which correlate with animal welfare and production).Segmentation of local regions of animal N emissions provides support in meeting targets for local and international N leaching and greenhouse gas emissions.An agent-based model was used for prescreening in order to gain insights into the clustering behaviour of sheep during feeding activities.Subsequent spatial analysis demonstrated that livestock excreta are not always randomly located,but concentrated around highly localised animal gathering points,separated by the nature of the excretion.In a separate study,the statistical significance of feeding choices was determined by testing a null hypothesis on animal boundary transitions between adjacent pastures using the binomial approximation.The analysis also included compensation for the precision of the GPS sensor,which produced a fuzzy decision boundary.

On-board measurements of gaseous pollutant emission characteristics under real driving conditions from light-duty diesel vehicles in Chinese cities

A total of 15 light-duty diesel vehicles（LDDVs） were tested with the goal of understanding the emission factors of real-world vehicles by conducting on-board emission measurements. The emission characteristics of hydrocarbons（HC） and nitrogen oxides（NOx） at different speeds, chemical species profiles and ozone formation potential（OFP） of volatile organic compounds（VOCs） emitted from diesel vehicles with different emission standards were analyzed. The results demonstrated that emission reductions of HC and NOxhad been achieved as the control technology became more rigorous from Stage I to Stage IV. It was also found that the HC and NOxemissions and percentage of O2 dropped with the increase of speed, while the percentage of CO2 increased. The abundance of alkanes was significantly higher in diesel vehicle emissions, approximately accounting for 41.1%–45.2%, followed by aromatics and alkenes. The most abundant species were propene,ethane, n-decane, n-undecane, and n-dodecane. The maximum incremental reactivity（MIR）method was adopted to evaluate the contributions of individual VOCs to OFP. The results indicated that the largest contributors to O3 production were alkenes and aromatics, which accounted for 87.7%–91.5%. Propene, ethene, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, 1-butene, and1,2,3-trimethylbenzene were the top five VOC species based on their OFP, and accounted for 54.0%-64.8% of the total OFP. The threshold dilution factor was applied to analyze the possibility of VOC stench pollution. The majority of stench components emitted from vehicle exhaust were aromatics, especially p-diethylbenzene, propylbenzene, m-ethyltoluene, and p-ethyltoluene.