OAK RIDGE, Tenn., June 2, 2010 — Carbon dioxide emissions from agricultural activity in the United States can now be tracked with unprecedented resolution because of a method developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
A team led by Tristram West uses satellite remote sensing, computational resources and high-resolution national inventory datasets to pinpoint agricultural-based carbon emissions nationwide. The method, outlined in the journal Ecological Applications (http://www.esajournals.org/doi/full/10.1890/08-2352.1), provides a link between ground-based estimates and atmospheric measurements for any given agricultural point in the nation.
“This is a significant step toward compiling datasets and establishing a method useful for carbon accounting purposes,” said West, a member of ORNL’s Environmental Sciences Division.
“Until now, we have done project-level reporting and national-level reporting as two independent exercises,” West said. “The first was for carbon credits while the second was for international reporting to the United Nations.”
West noted that, with the current system, emissions from economic sectors are reported nationally as required under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. Project-level emissions are monitored on a case-by-case basis under independent projects or regional programs.
Doing both — project- and national-level reporting — in a consistent manner will become increasingly important as the U.S. and other countries move forward with climate agreements and legislation to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, according to West.
“If the U.S. enters into national or international agreements on emissions reductions, a consistent framework for monitoring and reporting net carbon dioxide emissions from the project to national levels will prove more effective and provide more accurate and consistent reporting than independent reporting processes,” West said.
The ORNL method uses land cover data derived from NASA satellites to refine geospatial cropland carbon fluxes nationwide. Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture’s cropland data layer enables field-scale delineation of specific crops and allows for refined estimates of carbon fluxes.
Ultimately, this effort provides estimates of net ecosystem exchange of carbon for any given agricultural point in the U.S. This information about carbon flux based on crop, soil and management practices gives a measure of the total vertical carbon flux, including fossil fuel emissions occurring on site.
The research effort also provides estimates of net ecosystem carbon balance, which includes all carbon sources and sinks associated with crop production in a defined area.
“This means that upstream emissions from fertilizer production, for example, are accounted for in the same place where the crop is produced,” West said. “This method allows for an estimate of the total impact of changing cropland management on net CO2 emissions.”
Cropland management has proved to be an important consideration. For example, researchers reported that reduced tillage practices from 1990 to 2004 resulted in a net emissions reduction of 8.8 million metric tons of CO2 from burning fossil fuels in the U.S.
West notes that this version of the carbon accounting framework can be improved by anticipated improvements in annual crop species-specific biomass and crop residue production.
Co-authors from ORNL are Craig Brandt, Latha Baskaran, Varaprasad Bandaru, Bai Yang, Gregg Marland and Wilfred Post. Other authors are from the University of Tennessee, the Department of Agriculture and Kansas State University.
This research was funded in part by the NASA Earth Sciences Division and the Department of Energy Biological and Environmental Research Program’s Consortium for Carbon Sequestration in Terrestrial Ecosystems.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the DOE’s Office of Science.
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OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Juni 2, 2010 <unk> Utoaji wa kaboni dioksidi kutoka kwa shughuli za kilimo nchini Marekani sasa unaweza kufuatiliwa kwa azimio lisilo na kifani kwa sababu ya njia iliyoundwa katika Maabara ya Taifa ya Oak Ridge. Timu inayoongozwa na Tristram West hutumia utambuzi wa mbali wa satelaiti, rasilimali za kompyuta na seti za data za hesabu za kitaifa za azimio la juu ili kugundua uzalishaji wa kaboni wa kilimo nchini kote. Utafiti huo, uliochapishwa katika jarida la Ecological Applications (http: www.esajournals.org doi.com) unaonyesha uhusiano kati ya makadirio ya ardhi na vipimo vya angahewa kwa sehemu yoyote ya kilimo nchini. "Hii ni hatua muhimu kuelekea kukusanya seti za data na kuanzisha njia muhimu kwa madhumuni ya uhasibu wa kaboni", alisema West, mwanachama wa Idara ya Sayansi ya Mazingira ya ORNL. "Hata sasa, tumefanya ripoti ya kiwango cha mradi na ripoti ya kiwango cha kitaifa kama mazoezi mawili huru", West alisema. "Wakati huo huo, West alisema, ""Kwa mfumo wa sasa, uzalishaji kutoka kwa sekta za kiuchumi unaripotiwa kitaifa kama inavyotakiwa chini ya Umoja wa Mataifa.""" Mkataba wa Mfumo wa Mabadiliko ya Hali ya Hewa Utoaji wa kiwango cha mradi unasimamiwa kwa msingi wa kesi kwa kesi chini ya miradi ya kujitegemea au programu za kikanda. "Kufanya ripoti zote mbili za kiwango cha mradi na kitaifa kwa njia thabiti itakuwa muhimu zaidi wakati Marekani na nchi nyingine zinaendelea na makubaliano ya hali ya hewa na sheria za kupunguza uzalishaji wa kaboni dioksidi, ""alisema West." "Ikiwa Marekani itaingia katika makubaliano ya kitaifa au ya kimataifa juu ya kupunguza uzalishaji, mfumo thabiti wa ufuatiliaji na kuripoti uzalishaji wa kaboni dioksidi kutoka kwa mradi huo kwa ngazi za kitaifa utaonekana kuwa na ufanisi zaidi na kutoa ripoti sahihi na thabiti kuliko michakato ya ripoti ya kujitegemea. """ Mfumo wa ORNL hutumia data ya kifuniko cha ardhi inayotokana na satelaiti za NASA kusafisha mtiririko wa kaboni ya ardhi ya kilimo nchini kote. Wakati huo huo, safu ya data ya shamba la kilimo ya Idara ya Kilimo inaruhusu mpangilio wa kiwango cha shamba la mazao maalum na inaruhusu makadirio ya kusafishwa ya mtiririko wa kaboni. Kwa hivyo, kwa sababu ya hali hii, ni muhimu kuamua kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango cha kiwango. Taarifa hii kuhusu mtiririko wa kaboni kulingana na mazao, udongo na mazoea ya usimamizi hutoa kipimo cha mtiririko wa jumla wa kaboni, ikiwa ni pamoja na uzalishaji wa mafuta ya mafuta yanayotokea kwenye tovuti. Utafiti huo pia unatoa makadirio ya usawa wa kaboni wa mazingira, ambayo inajumuisha vyanzo vyote vya kaboni na sinks zinazohusiana na uzalishaji wa mazao katika eneo maalum. "Hii inamaanisha kwamba uzalishaji wa juu kutoka kwa uzalishaji wa mbolea, kwa mfano, unahesabiwa katika mahali palepale ambapo mazao hutengenezwa", alisema West. "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""mfano wa kuamua kiwango cha mabadiliko ya ardhi ya kilimo katika mazingira ya mazingira ya kilimo ni muhimu sana.""" Kwa mfano, watafiti waliripoti kuwa kupunguza mazoea ya kulima kutoka 1990 hadi 2004 ilisababisha kupunguzwa kwa uzalishaji wa jumla wa tani milioni 8.8 za CO2 kutoka kwa kuchoma mafuta ya mafuta katika Amerika Magharibi, na kwamba toleo hili la mfumo wa uhasibu wa kaboni linaweza kuboreshwa na maboresho ya kila mwaka ya aina ya mazao ya biomass na uzalishaji wa mabaki ya mazao. Waandishi wa ORNL ni Craig Brandt, Latha Baskaran, Varaprasad Bandaru, Bai Yang, Gregg Marland na Wilfred Post. Waandishi wengine ni kutoka Chuo Kikuu cha Tennessee, Idara ya Kilimo na Chuo Kikuu cha Jimbo la Kansas. Utafiti huu ulifadhiliwa kwa sehemu na Idara ya Sayansi ya Dunia ya NASA na Idara ya Biolojia na Programu ya Utafiti wa Mazingira ya Idara ya Nishati ya Uhifadhi wa Kaboni katika Mifumo ya Ikolojia ya Ardhi. UT-Battelle inasimamia ORNL kwa ajili ya Ofisi ya Sayansi ya DOE. Kwa mujibu wa taarifa ya gazeti la The New York Times, taarifa hiyo ilitolewa na majaribio ya majaribio ya Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ambayo yalifanywa na utafiti wa utafiti wa maabara ya Oak Ridge National Laboratory, na ambayo ilifanyika katika kituo cha utafiti cha Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Habari zaidi kuhusu ORNL inapatikana kwenye tovuti zifuatazo: Twitter <unk> http: www.ornl.gov.org <unk> http: www.ornl.gov.org <unk> http: www.ornl.gov.org <unk> http: www.ornl.gov.org <unk> http: www.ornl.gov.org <unk> http: www.ornl.gov.org <unk>