SitS NSF-UKRI: Collaborative Research: Dynamic Coupling of Soil Structure and Gas Fluxes Measured with Distributed Sensor Systems: Implications for Carbon Modeling

据估计，土壤中的碳含量大约是大气的三倍，因此，改善土壤管理对减缓气候变化至关重要。然而，我们目前对土壤管理对碳循环和主要温室气体排放的影响的了解是有限的。土壤的碳排放在很大程度上受根系呼吸和土壤有机质(包括根际有机碳)的微生物呼吸的控制。所有这些过程都对土壤结构高度敏感。该项目利用分布式光纤传感技术和地下无线传感器网络技术，将土壤结构的变化与主要温室气体的实测浓度联系起来。这将提高人们对植被覆盖土地的碳负荷如何在田间范围内发生的科学理解。外联战略的重点是与更广泛的社区和专业人员接触，以提高对这些问题的认识，并提供探索解决办法的工具。加州大学伯克利分校和科罗拉多矿业学院(CSM)的研究人员与英国Rothamsted Research(RR)的研究小组合作，将开发基于埋置光纤和无线传感器网络传感器的空间分布式测量技术，以测量土壤应变、水分和各种土壤气体的浓度。它的目的是在田间尺度上以低成本准确测量关键的土壤水分参数。把土壤气体的产生与土壤结构变化联系起来的研究假设将通过在CSM的实验室中使用耦合的多孔介质/气候风洞设施和在RR的现场进行测量来检验。这些数据将被用来探索在土壤碳模型中包括微观土壤结构的范围，从而提高我们对发生在不同空间尺度上的生化过程的基本理解。这些新模型将在未来预测土壤管理对碳动态的影响，从而了解不同土壤管理策略(如耕作)对土壤可持续发展的影响。该项目是通过“土壤中的信号(SITS)”机会获得的，这是一个由美国农业部、国家粮食和农业研究所(USDA NIFA)和以下英国研究与创新(UKRI)研究理事会参与的合作征集活动：1)自然环境研究理事会(NERC)，2)生物技术和生物科学研究理事会(BBSRC)，3)工程和物理科学研究理事会(EPSRC)和科学和技术设施理事会(STFC)。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

It is estimated that soil contains approximately three times as much as carbon as the atmosphere, and improving soil management thus plays a critical in mitigating climate change. However, our current understanding of the effects of soil management on carbon cycling and the emission of major greenhouse gases is limited. Carbon effluxes from soils are largely controlled by root respiration, and microbial respiration of soil organic matter including rhizospheric organic carbon. All of these processes are highly sensitive to soil structure. Using the distributed fiber optic sensing technology and underground wireless sensor network technology, this project aims to link the changes in soil structure to the measured concentrations of major greenhouse gases. This will improve the scientific understanding of how carbon loading from vegetated land occurs at field scale. The outreach strategy is focused on engaging with the wider community and the profession to raise awareness of the issues and provide tools to explore solutions. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and Colorado School of Mines (CSM), in collaboration with the research group at Rothamsted Research (RR) in the UK, will develop spatially distributed measurement technology, based on the use of buried fiber optics and wireless sensor network sensors, to measure soil strain, water content and the concentrations of various soil gases. It aims to accurately measure critical soil-water parameters at low-cost at the field scale. The research hypothesis that links soil gas generation to soil structure changes will be examined by conducting measurements in the laboratory using the coupled porous media/climate wind tunnel facility at CSM and in the field at RR. These data will be used to explore the scope for including microscopic soil structure in soil carbon models and hence improve our fundamental understanding of biochemical processes occurring across various spatial scales. These new models will in the future allow the effects of soil management on carbon dynamics to be predicted, and hence give an understanding of the impact of different soil management strategies (e.g. tillage) on soil sustainability.This project was awarded through the "Signals in the Soil (SitS)"opportunity, a collaborative solicitation that involves the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) and the following United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) research councils: 1) The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), 2) the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), 3) the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.