1. 2/1/20161 Soil Carbon Sequestration Methods and Tools for Measurement, Monitoring and Verification Charles W. Rice University Distinguished Professor Department of Agronomy K-State Research and Extension

2. Global economic mitigation potential for different sectors at different carbon prices IPCC, 2007 Non-OECD ET OECD World Total Energy Supply Transport Buildings Industry Agriculture Forestry Waste US$/CO 2 -eq 1 Gt CO 2 -eq 2 3 4 5 6 0

3. Agriculture A large proportion of the mitigation potential of agriculture (excluding bioenergy) arises from soil C sequestration, which has strong synergies with sustainable agriculture and generally reduces vulnerability to climate change. Agricultural practices collectively can make a significant contribution at low cost –By increasing soil carbon sinks, –By reducing GHG emissions, –By contributing biomass feedstocks for energy use IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, Working Group III, 2007

4. Agricultural management plays a major role in greenhouse gas emissions and offers many opportunities for mitigation Cropland –Reduced tillage –Rotations Reduced bare fallow Increased intensity –Cover crops –Fertility management –Water management Grasslands –Grazing management –Fire management –Fertilization

5. Measurement, Monitoring and Verification  Detecting soil C changes –Difficult on short time scales –Amount of change small compared to total C  Methods for detecting and projecting soil C changes –Direct methods Field measurements

6. 6 2/1/20166 Estimating Changes in Soil Organic Carbon Issues  Choice of baseline  Comparison to current practice  Start and end time points Measure C sequestration or avoided C loss  Uncertainty and cost in estimating soil C Measure and report mean and variation  Seasonality  Soil sampling Depths Roots Carbonates Rocks

7. 7 Sampling strategies: account for variable landscapes

8. 8 Spatial variability influences estimates of soil organic C n 100 samples to detect 2-3% change in SOC n 16 samples to detect 10-15 % change in SOC Garten and Wullschleger (1999)

9. Ogle et al. (2003)

10. 10 2/1/201610

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12. 12 Geo-reference microsites n Microsites reduces spatial variability n Simple and inexpensive n Used to improve models n Used to adopt new technology n Soil C changes detected in 3 yr 0.71 Mg C ha -1 – semiarid 1.25 Mg C ha -1 – subhumid Ellert et al. (2001)

13. Soil C sequestration No-till continuous corn, started in 1990

14. 14 Monitoring and Verification LevelResolutionCost Practiced Based Individual Fields

15. 15 Measurement, Monitoring and Verification  Methods for detecting and projecting soil C changes Direct methods –Field measurements Indirect methods –Accounting -Stratified accounting -Remote sensing -Models Post et al. (2001)

16. 16 Methods to Extrapolate Measurements and Model Predictions from Sites to Regional Scales n Models CENTURY –Comet VR EPIC RothC Other models are also being developed n Spatial aggregation of soil carbon distribution Remote sensing and climatic data Indices: –Productivity –Practice monitoring

17. 17 Resources Available for National-level Assessments NRCS/STATSGO soil data Daily Climate data from NOAA 1997 NRI area weights NRCS/ERS Cropping Practices Survey NRCS/National Soils Laboratory Pedon Database

18. 18 Crop identification for spatial modeling. Courtesy: P Doraiswamy, USDA-ARS, Beltsville, MD Remote Sensing and Carbon Sequestration n Remote sensing cannot be used to measure soil C directly unless soil is bare n Remote sensing useful for assessing Vegetation –Type –Cover –Productivity Water, soil temperature Tillage intensity?

19. In Situ Measurements of Soil Carbon with Advanced Technologies R.C. Izaurralde, M.H. Ebinger, J.B. Reeves, C.W. Rice, L. Wielopolski, B.A. Francis, R.D. Harris, S. Mitra, A.M. Thomson

20. 20 Mid-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy: MIRS McCarty et al. (2002) Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 66:640-646 Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy: LIBS Cremers et al. (2001) J. Environ. Qual. 30:2202-2206  Portable  Non-destructive method measurement of C in soils In Situ Measurements of Soil Carbon with Advanced Technologies

21. 21 New Technologies Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy: LIBS Mid-Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy: MIRS

22. 22 Conclusions n By using principles of soil science Minimize spatial variability Reduce number of samples –Decrease costs –Increase efficiency Increase sensitivity for detecting change Allow adoption of new technology n Extrapolation Modeling Remote sensing

23. 23 n Websites www.soilcarboncenter.k-state.edu/ K-State Research and Extension Chuck Rice Phone: 785-532-7217 Cell: 785-587-7215 cwrice@ksu.edu