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“土壤信号（SitS）”机会获得的，这是一项合作征集，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）研究委员会：1)自然环境研究委员会（NERC）， 2)生物技术和生物科学研究委员会（BBSRC）， 3)工程和物理科学研究委员会（EPSRC）和科学技术设施委员会（STFC）。从农田和园艺地的排水中，土壤中的硝酸盐径流进入水道，这一过程因使用含氮肥料而增加，是农业可持续性和环境保护的长期挑战。提高水和肥料使用效率，从而减少硝酸盐径流的一种有效方法是通过实时监测和近期作物灌溉和施肥需求预测指导的精准农业实践。目前，严重缺乏在不同尺度上监测土壤水分和氮浓度变化的可靠传感技术和建模工具。这项跨学科合作项目涉及美国康涅狄格大学和新罕布什尔大学，以及英国南安普顿大学和雷丁大学的研究人员，旨在通过整合四种创新解决方案来解决解码土壤中氮动态的重大挑战：1)高频无线氮传感技术；2)可现场部署的高精度土壤校准传感器；3)两种典型生态系统（玉米田和落叶林）氮素种类和土壤水分水平的实时分析；4)基于数据驱动的植物根系附近土壤氮动力学建模，该区域土壤化学和微生物学受根系生长、呼吸和养分交换的影响。提出的创新原位传感与数据驱动建模的融合研究将缩小土壤信号检测与农业管理之间的技术差距。土壤传感器开发、实验室规模测试和现场测试、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相关者产生重大影响。多种教育和推广计划，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工业伙伴、决策者和最终用户的互动。所有这些特点都有助于改善美国和英国的资源利用，改善粮食安全，减少土壤和水污染。通过针对两个关键的土壤信号，氮物种（铵态氮和硝态氮）和土壤湿度，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，实现土壤中的实时原位氮检测。其次，氮气液滴流微流体传感器（DFMS）将由英国团队开发，用于大规模部署的HS-ISM传感器的现场校准。第三，将开发低成本和低能耗的无线网络，用于从大型领域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大小的土壤湿度传感器（MSMS）一起进行高分辨率分析和无线数据传输能力的评估，并使用DFMS传感器进行原位校准。第五，无线氮传感器和MSMS传感器将部署在两个生态系统，美国的玉米农场和英国的森林生态系统，并进行13个月的检查。最后，基于原位氮剖面数据对根际氮循环的数值模型进行校正。这些新的数值模型将用于模拟和预测项目结束后不同天气和耕作方式下根际氮动态。该项目将把现有的低效率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动力学解码和现场建模策略。该项目将有助于更好地了解土壤氮动力学，并为氮传感技术和土壤建模方法提供新的视角，从而使美国和英国的主要利益相关者能够更好地管理土壤。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值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.