Collaborative Research: SitS NSF UKRI: Decoding Nitrogen Dynamics in Soil through Novel Integration of in-situ Wireless Soil Sensors with Numerical Modeling

该项目是通过“土壤中的信号(SITS)”机会获得的，这是一项合作征集活动，涉及美国农业部、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：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)。从农业和园艺用地向水道排水中的土壤硝酸盐径流是农业可持续性和环境保护的长期挑战，这一过程因使用含氮化肥而增加。提高水和肥料的利用效率，从而减少硝酸盐径流的一个有效方法是在作物灌溉和施肥需求的实时监测和短期预测的指导下进行精准耕作。目前，严重缺乏可靠的传感技术和建模工具来监测不同尺度上的土壤水分和氮素浓度的变异性。这个跨学科合作项目涉及美国康涅狄格大学和新汉普郡大学以及英国南安普顿大学和雷丁大学的研究人员，旨在通过集成四种创新解决方案来解决解码土壤中氮素动态的巨大挑战：1)高频无线氮素传感技术；2)土壤中可现场部署的高精度校准传感器；3)两个典型生态系统(玉米农场和落叶森林)中的氮素物种和土壤水分水平的实时概况；4)植物根部土壤化学和微生物受根系生长、呼吸和养分交换影响的土壤氮素动态数据驱动模拟。创新的现场传感和数据驱动建模的融合研究将缩小土壤信号检测和农业管理之间的技术差距。土壤传感器开发、实验室规模测试和田间测试、无线传感器网络和模型验证的独特集成将对更广泛的科学界和关键利益攸关方产生重大影响。多种教育和推广举措，包括动手实验和在线视频剪辑，将激发学生对STEM职业的兴趣，特别是对代表性不足的群体。将通过讲习班和研讨会加强与行业合作伙伴、政策制定者和最终用户的互动。所有这些功能都有助于改善美国和英国的资源利用、更好的食品安全以及减少土壤和水污染。通过针对两个关键的土壤信号，氮素物种(氨和硝酸盐)和土壤水分，这个美英SIT合作项目将通过六个互动任务进行。首先，美国团队将开发高频精细分辨率微型水凝胶涂层固态离子选择膜(HS-ISM)无线氮传感器，以实现对土壤中氮素的实时原位检测。其次，英国团队将开发基于液滴流动的氮气微流控传感器(DFMS)，用于现场校准大规模部署的HS-ISM传感器。第三，将开发低成本、低能耗的无线网络，用于从大范围内的多个传感器收集数据。第四，在实验室规模的土壤系统中，HS-ISM氮传感器将与新开发的毫米级土壤湿度传感器(MSMS)一起进行高分辨率剖面分析和无线数据传输能力评估，并使用DFMS传感器进行现场校准。第五，无线氮传感器和MSMS传感器将部署在两个生态系统，美国的一个玉米农场和英国的一个森林生态系统，并进行为期13个月的检查。最后，将根据现场的氮素剖面数据对根际氮素循环的数值模型进行校准。这些新的数值模式将用于模拟和预测项目结束后不同天气和耕作方式下的根际氮素动态。该项目将把现有的低效和劳动密集型土壤分析实践转变为自动化和高效的土壤氮素动态解码和田间建模策略。该项目将有助于更好地了解土壤氮素动态，并在氮素传感技术和土壤建模方法方面提供新的视角，使美国和英国的主要利益相关者能够更好地管理土壤。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。

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). Nitrate runoff from soil in drainage water from agricultural and horticultural lands into waterways, a process that is increased even more by nitrogen-containing fertilizer use, is a long-standing challenge for agricultural sustainability and environmental protection. One effective approach to improve efficiency of water and fertilizer use, and thereby decrease nitrate runoff, is through precision farming practices guided by real-time monitoring and near-term forecasts of crop irrigation and fertilization needs. Currently, there is a severe lack of reliable sensing technologies and modeling tools for monitoring the variability of soil moisture and nitrogen concentration over different scales. This interdisciplinary collaborative project involving researchers at the University of Connecticut and the University of New Hampshire in the U.S., and at the University of Southampton and the University of Reading in the U.K., aims to tackle the grand challenge of decoding nitrogen dynamics in soil through integration of four innovative solutions: 1) High frequency wireless nitrogen sensing technology; 2) Field-deployable high-accuracy calibration sensors in soil; 3) Real-time profiling of nitrogen species and soil moisture levels in two typical ecosystems (corn farm and deciduous forest); and 4) Data-driven modeling of nitrogen dynamics in the region of soil in the vicinity of plant roots where the soil chemistry and microbiology are influenced by root growth, respiration, and nutrient exchange. The proposed convergent research of innovative in-situ sensing and data-driven modeling will close the technology gap between soil signal detection and agricultural management. Unique integration of soil sensor development, lab-scale tests and field tests, wireless sensor networks, and model validation will yield significant impacts on broader scientific communities and key stakeholders. Multiple education and outreach initiatives, including hands-on experiments and online video clips, will stimulate student interest in STEM careers, especially for underrepresented groups. Interactions with industrial partners, policy makers, and end users will be strengthened through workshops and seminars. All these features contribute to improving resource use, better food security, and the reduction of soil and water contamination in the US and UK.By targeting two critical soil signals, nitrogen species (ammonium and nitrate) and soil moisture, this US-UK SitS collaborative project will be conducted through six interactive tasks. First, high frequency fine-resolution miniature hydrogel-coating solid-state ion selective membrane-based (HS-ISM) wireless nitrogen sensors will be developed by the US team to enable real-time in situ nitrogen detection in soil. Second, droplet-flow microfluidic-based sensors (DFMS) for nitrogen will be developed by the UK team for in situ calibration of the mass-deployed HS-ISM sensors. Third, low-cost and low-energy wireless networks will be developed for data collection from multiple sensors across large fields. Fourth, in a lab-scale soil system, HS-ISM nitrogen sensors, in conjunction with newly developed mm-sized soil moisture sensors (MSMS), will be assessed for high-resolution profiling and wireless data transmission capability and calibrated in situ using DFMS sensors. Fifth, wireless nitrogen sensors and MSMS sensors will be deployed at two ecosystems, a corn farm in the US and a forest ecosystem in the UK, and examined for 13 months. Finally, numerical models of the rhizosphere nitrogen cycle will be calibrated based on the in-situ nitrogen profiling data. These new numerical models will be used to simulate and predict the rhizosphere nitrogen dynamics under different weather and farming practices beyond the end of the project. This project will transform existing inefficient and labor-intensive soil analysis practices to an automated and highly-efficient soil nitrogen dynamics decoding and field modeling strategy. This project will lead to a better understanding of soil nitrogen dynamics and provide a new vision in nitrogen sensing technology and soil modeling methodology, enabling better soil management by key stakeholders in both the US and UK.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.