Progress 09/22/16 to 09/13/21
Outputs
PROGRESS REPORT Objectives (from AD-416): Objective 1: Characterize and improve accounting of N emissions as N2O and NH3 losses from cropping systems. Subobjective 1.1: Quantify the soil and environmental factors contributing to N2O production by nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. Subobjective 1.2: Assess the effect of cover crops on N2O production in the field. Subobjective 1.3: Assess manure injection/incorporation methods for impact on residue/surface cover, soil disturbance, and N emissions. Objective 2: Enhance process-level characterization of agrochemical emissions, fate and transport across spatial scales from micro- environments to regions. Subobjective 2.1: Determine the effect tillage practices have on agrochemical volatilization losses from agricultural fields. Subobjective 2.2: Improve measurement and modeling approaches to describe agrochemical emissions and transport from agricultural operations. Subobjective 2.3: Determine the emission flux of NH3 and other gases from cattle feedlot surfaces using flux-gradient technique. Subobjective 2.4: Compare particulate plume data measured with LiDaR to conventional model (ex. AERMOD) predictions to assess model accuracy for both near facility and downwind transport. Subobjective 2.5: Develop an improved physics-based model on the dispersion of herbicide droplets from mechanical sprayers by incorporating ambient turbulence conditions, the turbulent kinetic energy generated by the motion of the sprayer, and atmospheric stability. Objective 3: Develop strategies to manage the effects of manure properties and air flow on NH3 emissions. Subobjective 3.1: Manipulate swine diet formulations to improve N utilization, and reduce N excretion and NH3 emission along with other gaseous emission into the environment. Subobjective 3.2: Evaluate and develop ventilation practices for reducing NH3 and other air quality emissions. Approach (from AD-416): This project will focus on knowledge gaps that exist in the loss of N and agrochemicals from cropping and animal systems. Three approaches will be pursued for addressing knowledge gaps: 1) quantify soil and environmental factors contributing to N2O and NH3 emissions in animal production and field cropping systems; 2) determine soil properties that drive volatile loss and transport of agrochemicals and N compounds, and 3) determine effectiveness of N control strategies for reducing NH3 emissions. In cropping systems, there are large gaps in our understanding of the N budget in soil including both mechanisms and magnitude of losses through emissions. Laboratory studies on N2O emissions will use stable isotopes to quantify both the effect of temperature and kinetics of denitrification under varying NH3 concentrations. Field studies using chambers will be used to quantify N2O emission for a range of soil and nitrogen management strategies. Assessing the effect residue/surface cover and soil disturbance have on N loss from manure application in cropping systems will be conducted during late fall and early spring. Whole field emissions loss of N will be quantified using both an open path laser system coupled with inverse dispersion modeling for NH3 and eddy covariance with a quantum cascade laser system for N2O emissions. Quantifying the transport parameters controlling volatile losses of pesticides from cropping systems based on tillage practices will use eddy covariance micrometeorology techniques to determine turbulent flux from whole fields. The relaxed eddy accumulation technique will be used to provide more accurate eddy diffusivities for pesticide vapor transport to improve agrochemical volatilization flux estimates. In addition, LiDaR will be used to develop dispersion models for droplets from mechanical sprayers for physics-based models on the loss of agrochemicals from fields due to spray drift. Quantifying the transport parameters controlling volatile losses of N compounds and particulates from animal production systems will involve LiDaR- to measure plume dynamics and produce a remote-sensing approach to quantify emissions and compare these results to conventional modeling approaches. In animal production systems, NH3 is the dominant form of N emissions, but gaps exist in effective N control/mitigation strategies that reduce N emissions. Reducing NH3 emissions from animal production will focus on improving N utilization in animal diets by use of feed additives and improving grind size of feed particles. Ventilation practices will be evaluating and optimized for reducing NH3 emissions. Knowledge gained through this research will provide producers and regulatory agencies scientific data to improve sustainability of agricultural production facilities in U.S. farming systems. This is the final report for project 5030-11610-004-00D, terminating September 2021. Progress was made on all three objectives and their sub- objectives. Objective 1. Experiments were conducted to quantify the interactive relationship between nitrous oxide (N2O) production, temperature, and soil water content. The following results were found: 1) temperature response of short-term N2O production from water-saturated soil decreased when the atmosphere was made anaerobic; 2) N2O emissions had a dual control of temperature and soil water content; and 3) soil water content largely explained N2O emissions variability, but a significant portion of the variability was driven by diurnal soil temperature patterns. These results can improve ecosystem models estimation of temperature dependency of nitrous oxide emissions. We compiled and analyzed historical data (2012-2014) of N2O emissions under contrasting tillage and cover crop production practices in a corn soybean rotation (corn, soybean, corn). Treatments included chisel plow without a cover crop, chisel plow with oat cover crop, no-till management without a cover crop, no-till with rye cover crop and no-till receiving zero nitrogen (N) fertilizer. All treatments except the zero N treatment received the same fertilizer regime. Cover crop and tillage treatments did not influence N2O emissions over the three-year period, but the zero N fertilizer treatment led to 45-69% reduction in cumulative N2O emissions. These data highlight the limitations of traditional conservation management practices (cover crops and reduced tillage) to mitigate N2O emissions. A field monitoring study was conducted to quantify N2O emission under different fertilizer management and cropping system treatments. Treatments at the Upper Mississippi River Basin Long-Term Agroecosystem Research common experiment include: 1) fall chisel plow with spring- applied fertilizer (basic practice (BP); 2) no-tillage (NTNC), 3) no-till with winter rye cover crop (RC), 4) spring tillage with cover crop and winter camelina relay crop between corn and soybean (LTAR aspirational); and 5) a zero N fertilizer treatment that was otherwise managed as the NTNC (ZN). Nitrogen fertilizer applications in all treatments except the BP and ZN treatments correspond to ⿿4R⿿ fertilizer management of right time, right amount, right place, and right formulation, with a split planting and sidedress N rate established by the late spring nitrate test. 4R N management led to an approximately 55% reduction in N2O emissions compared to the BP treatment. This decrease is attributed to fertilizer management and not tillage system, as tillage did not lead to increased emissions when fertilizer management was maintained (2012-2014 site years described above). Shifts in the management system to accommodate a winter camelina relay crop erased the N2O reductions that were gained from 4R management during the corn phase. The increase in N2O emissions appear to result from increased fertilizer application used to support the camelina crop and increased susceptibility to large fluxes during the spring thaw. The mechanism for increased emissions during the spring thaw are unclear, but these results point to the need for careful optimization of aspirational treatments to ensure environmental benefits are achieved. This study is currently in its sixth year and a manuscript will be prepared at the end of this year. A field method was developed for assessing NH3 loss from soil during manure field application. The field validation was developed over a two- year period from two field sites. Due to adverse weather conditions, coordination with growers, and a global pandemic over the last two years only three sites have been studied. Ammonia emission differences were seen between manure applicators using truck transport compared to growers using dragline manure transport with dragline transport being lower. More work needs to be done to confirm this observation. Future work is expanding the number of fields monitored and using an unmanned aerial vehicle for assessing field conditions. Objective 2. The long-term field monitoring of fluxes for two common pre- emergent herbicides, metolachlor and atrazine, continued for the 17th year and added volatilization losses from reduced tillage. The long-term database (15 years) for pesticide emissions was screened for emissions associated with daytime heating and high turbulence called ⿿unstable air and low turbulence associated with nighttime cooling called ⿿stable air. Four years have been identified as ideal candidates for developing model expressions of volatilization losses under stable nighttime conditions. However, travel and field activity restrictions in response to the COVID- 19 pandemic has delayed the project 24 months. A Relaxed Eddy Accumulation (REA) instrument was designed and developed to improve the accuracy of pesticide volatilization loss estimates. Validation studies were developed for the REA instrument to accommodate high-precision, fast-acting solenoid valves of the REA instrument. Additional validation was required for a second season as the sampling protocol had to be further refined to accommodate new valves delaying the project by 12 months. However, travel and field activity restrictions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic further delayed the project 24 months. Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) technology in conjunction with an array of turbulence and near surface meteorological measurements were used to detect particulate emission plumes from animal feeding operations, enabling a new remote sensing approach to estimate plume emissions. Landscape and facility structures all impacted transport processes. Transport processes often follow patterns of distribution involving gradual dispersion from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentrations called Gaussian. However, during conditions of summer heating, distribution patterns are more chaotic and follow non-Gaussian processes. These distribution patterns are strongly influenced by local meteorological conditions. New analysis techniques were being developed to differentiate when Gaussian and non-Gaussian processes prevail. However, loss of Lidar instrumentation and key collaborators ended the project prematurely. Lidar technology was used to determine whether spray drift model characterizations were accurate. Two-dimensional data from water vapor spray operations showed mechanical turbulence generated by large booms of agrochemical spray rigs that are used for multiple crop types. They lifted spray droplets close to 100 meters above the canopy, increasing the overall drift of droplets. This pilot study confirmed the need for a wider range of conditions to include stable and unstable conditions that establish drift loss potentials based on local meteorological conditions and the speed of the spray rig. However, the loss of Lidar instrumentation and key collaborators ended the project prematurely. Data from a two-year cattle feedlot were correlated and put into a database at the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment. Ammonia concentrations collected from an open path laser and photoacoustic analyzer were synchronized with micrometeorology data. Ammonia emission flux from cattle feedlot surfaces was modeled using commercial software based on recommendations from the Environmental Protection Agency-USDA ammonia working group. Screening parameters were set up on turbulence data. Data from the study showed that the area associated with high animal activity (loading areas) had increased ammonia (NH3) emissions compared to holding pens and that extreme weather events with high winds led to emissions fluxes almost an order of magnitude higher than under typical conditions. Objective 3. A set of diet formulations were tested to quantify the impact that feed ingredients have on animal performance, manure and gas emissions. The diet formulations tested included: 1) crude protein level; 2) protein source; 3) antibiotics supplement; and 4) feed particle size. Lower crude protein (CP) diets reduced manure solids, pH, total N and sulfur (S), volatile fatty acids (VFA), and phenols, with NH3 levels in manure being reduced by 7.6% for each 1% reduction in CP. Ammonia emissions and odor emissions were reduced by 8.9% and 4.2%, respectively for each 1% reduction in CP. Animal retention increased by 7.0% for each 1% reduction in CP. Dietary protein sources affected manure solids, pH, and organic N and impacted manure retention of both carbon (C) and sulfur (S). Dietary fiber levels in protein sources reduced NH3 emissions, but dietary protein sources had no effect on odor emissions. Supplementing diets with antibiotics to increased performance had no impact on performance or gas emissions, but antibiotics in feed increased manure total solids, C and S. Reducing feed particle size increased animal daily gain while reducing manure solids, N, C, NH3, total VFA, total phenols and total indoles concentrations. Emissions of total VFAs and volatile organic compounds were lower from manures of animals fed smaller particle size diets, but NH3 emissions were higher. Greenhouse gas emissions were not impacted by any diet formulation. A study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of wet scrubber manure handling systems in swine finishing operations to control emissions of ammonia, particulate matter (PM), and odor. A commercial 2500 head swine finishing operation with a wet scrubber system was monitored for the control of air and PM emissions. Analysis of the air exiting the building showed concentrations of NH3 were initially reduced by 20-35% but as scrubber water solution aged differences became insignificant. Dust was controlled throughout. Additional research is being conducted to optimize the dosing solution of water for the wet scrubber system. Record of Any Impact of Maximized Teleworking Requirement: Maximum telework has impacted the team and project through delays in field research, lab activities and cancelled projects. Several field projects were delayed or cancelled due to requirements of social distancing and maximized teleworking; including: 1) Pesticide field trials using the Relaxed Eddy Accumulation Pesticide Flux (REAPF) system to monitor emission flux of metolachlor and atrazine; 2) Characterizing nitrous oxide emissions within a long-term cropping system experiment; and 3) Characterizing N emissions from field applied manure. Several laboratory projects were delayed or cancelled due to requirements of social distancing and maximized teleworking. The laboratory projects included the following: 1) Processing and analysis of samples for metolachlor and atrazine concentrations in the REAPF project; 2) Delays in analysis of soil microbial community composition in long-term cover cropping research plots; and 3) Delays in chemical analysis of applied field manure. The maximum telework posture has delayed new scientist⿿s ability to establish a working lab, set up equipment, and train technical staff for new research methodologies. These delays will impact productivity well beyond the end of maximum telework. ACCOMPLISHMENTS 01 Manure odor control and microbial community linkages. Manure management systems control odor through changes in the microbial community composition. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa, and Florence, South Carolina, in collaboration with scientists from South Korea and Iowa State University compared the impacts of deep-pit manure management systems vs. those of pit-recharge manure management systems on odor control. Increasing the recharge rate (i.e., dilution rate) changed the dominant microorganisms in the manure, shifting them away from organisms that grow strictly in the absence of air to microorganisms that grow both in the presence and absence of air. Manure odor was lowest with manure management systems that diluted the manure. However, odor in air was not associated with any groups of microorganisms in manure. Information from this research will inform growers and engineers of limitations when designing manure management systems for the control of odor by microorganisms. 02 Dietary carbohydrate sources impact on manure characteristics and gas emissions. Livestock producers seeking to reduce the impacts of corn costs have turned to alternative feed grains and cheaper feed ingredients derived from industrial processing of food crops, commonly referred to as co-products. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa, in collaboration with an Iowa State University researcher, conducted a swine feeding trial to evaluate the effects of carbohydrate source on animal performance, manure and gas emissions. Animals fed barley, an alternative feed grain, showed no difference in growth, manure composition, or gas profile compared to animals fed corn-based diets. Higher fiber supplemental diets based on co-products had no impact on swine performance, but the resulting manures tended to have higher levels of solids and nutrients than did animals fed corn or barley diets. Manures of animals fed the co-product diets had a 33% lower release from manure of NH3, an odorant and irritant gas. Dietary carbohydrate sources had no impact on total odor. Information from this research will be of value to researchers and growers looking for alternative feed ingredients to reduce diet cost or understand the environmental impact of animal diet source material. 03 Origins of swine foaming pits. Foam accumulation in swine manure has been linked to explosions and flash fires from sudden and unexpected release of flammable gases, including methane. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa, in collaboration with scientists from Iowa State University and the University of Illinois conducted a field study to survey physical, chemical, and biological parameters that correlate to foam accumulation. The results showed that higher foaming rates were correlated with increased methane production, lower digestible feed ingredients, and a changing microbial community. Information in this report will be of value for growers, engineers, and scientists working on foaming issues associated with waste processing and potential mitigation measures to reduce methane production in swine manure.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Hwang, O., Scoggin, K.D., Andersen, D., Ro, K.S., Trabue, S.L. 2021. Swine manure dilution with lagoon effluent impact on odor reduction and manure digestion. Journal of Environmental Quality. 50(2):336-349. https://doi. org/10.1002/jeq2.20197.
- Trabue, S.L., Kerr, B.J., Scoggin, K.D., Anderson, D., Van Weelden, M. 2021. Swine diets impact manure characteristics and gas emissions: Part I protein level. Science of the Total Environment. 755. Article 142528. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142528.
- Trabue, S.L., Kerr, B.J., Scoggin, K.D., Andersen, D., Van Weelden, M. 2021. Swine diets impact manure characteristics and gas emissions: Part II protein source. Science of the Total Environment. 763. Article 144207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.144207.
- Emmett, B.D., Levesque-Tremblay, V., Harrison, M.J. 2021. Conserved and reproducible bacterial communities associate with extraradical hyphae of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. The ISME Journal: Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology. 15:2276-2288. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-021- 00920-2.
- Gan, H., Emmett, B.D., Drinkwater, L.E. 2021. Soil management legacy alters weed-crop competition through biotic and abiotic pathways. Plant and Soil. 462:543-560. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-021-04891-3.
- Dold, C., Wacha, K.M., Sauer, T.J., Hatfield, J.L., Prueger, J.H. 2020. Measured and simulated carbon dynamics in Midwestern U.S. corn-soybean rotations. Global Biogeochemical Cycles. 35(1). Article e2020GB006685. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GB006685.
- Knipper, K.R., Kustas, W.P., Anderson, M.C., Nieto, H., Alfieri, J.G., Prueger, J.H., Hain, C.R., Gao, F.N., McKee, L.G., Mar Alsina, M., Sanchez, L. 2020. Using high-spatiotemporal thermal satellite ET retrievals to monitor water use over California vineyards of different climate, vine variety and trellis design. Agricultural Water Management. 241. Article 106361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2020.106361.
- Coopersmith, E., Cosh, M.H., Starks, P.J., Bosch, D.D., Holifield Collins, C.D., Seyfried, M.S., Livingston, S.J., Prueger, J.H. 2021. Understanding temporal stability: A long-term analysis of USDA ARS watersheds. International Journal of Digital Earth. https://doi.org/10.1080/17538947. 2021.1943550.
- Yang, Y., Anderson, M.C., Gao, F.N., Johnson, D., Yang, Y., Sun, L., Dulaney, W.P., Hain, C., Otkin, J., Prueger, J.H., Meyers, T., Bernacchi, C.J., Moore, C. 2021. Phenological corrections to a field-scale, ET-based crop stress indicator: an application to yield forecasting across the U.S. Corn Belt. Remote Sensing of Environment. 257:112337. https://doi.org/10. 1016/j.rse.2021.112337.
- Whitcomb, J., Clewley, D., Colliander, A., Cosh, M.H., Powers, J., Friesen, M., McNairn, H., Berg, A., Bosch, D.D., Coffin, A.W., Holifield Collins, C.D., Prueger, J.H., Entekhabi, D., Moghaddam, M. 2020. Evaluation of SMAP core validation site representativeness errors using dense networks of in situ sensors and random forests. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. 13:6457-6472. https://doi. org/10.1109/JSTARS.2020.3033591.
- Liu, P., Bindlish, R., Fang, B., Lakshmi, V., O'Neill, P., Yang, Z., Cosh, M.H., Bongiovqnni, T., Bosch, D.D., Holifield Collins, C.D., Starks, P.J., Prueger, J.H., Seyfried, M.S., Livingston, S.J. 2021. Assessing disaggregated SMAP soil moisture products in the United States. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. 14:2577-2592. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2021.3056001.
- Chu, H., Luo, X., Ouyang, Z., Chan, W., Dengel, S., Biraud, S.C., Torn, M. S., Metzger, S., Kumar, J., Arain, M.A., Arkebauer, T.J., Baldocchi, D., Bernacchi, C.J., Knowles, J.F., Prueger, J.H., et al. 2021. Representativeness of Eddy-Covariance flux footprints for areas surrounding AmeriFlux sites. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 301-302. Article 108350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2021.108350.
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Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): Objective 1: Characterize and improve accounting of N emissions as N2O and NH3 losses from cropping systems. Subobjective 1.1: Quantify the soil and environmental factors contributing to N2O production by nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. Subobjective 1.2: Assess the effect of cover crops on N2O production in the field. Subobjective 1.3: Assess manure injection/incorporation methods for impact on residue/surface cover, soil disturbance, and N emissions. Objective 2: Enhance process-level characterization of agrochemical emissions, fate and transport across spatial scales from micro- environments to regions. Subobjective 2.1: Determine the effect tillage practices have on agrochemical volatilization losses from agricultural fields. Subobjective 2.2: Improve measurement and modeling approaches to describe agrochemical emissions and transport from agricultural operations. Subobjective 2.3: Determine the emission flux of NH3 and other gases from cattle feedlot surfaces using flux-gradient technique. Subobjective 2.4: Compare particulate plume data measured with LiDaR to conventional model (ex. AERMOD) predictions to assess model accuracy for both near facility and downwind transport. Subobjective 2.5: Develop an improved physics-based model on the dispersion of herbicide droplets from mechanical sprayers by incorporating ambient turbulence conditions, the turbulent kinetic energy generated by the motion of the sprayer, and atmospheric stability. Objective 3: Develop strategies to manage the effects of manure properties and air flow on NH3 emissions. Subobjective 3.1: Manipulate swine diet formulations to improve N utilization, and reduce N excretion and NH3 emission along with other gaseous emission into the environment. Subobjective 3.2: Evaluate and develop ventilation practices for reducing NH3 and other air quality emissions. Approach (from AD-416): This project will focus on knowledge gaps that exist in the loss of N and agrochemicals from cropping and animal systems. Three approaches will be pursued for addressing knowledge gaps: 1) quantify soil and environmental factors contributing to N2O and NH3 emissions in animal production and field cropping systems; 2) determine soil properties that drive volatile loss and transport of agrochemicals and N compounds, and 3) determine effectiveness of N control strategies for reducing NH3 emissions. In cropping systems, there are large gaps in our understanding of the N budget in soil including both mechanisms and magnitude of losses through emissions. Laboratory studies on N2O emissions will use stable isotopes to quantify both the effect of temperature and kinetics of denitrification under varying NH3 concentrations. Field studies using chambers will be used to quantify N2O emission for a range of soil and nitrogen management strategies. Assessing the effect residue/surface cover and soil disturbance have on N loss from manure application in cropping systems will be conducted during late fall and early spring. Whole field emissions loss of N will be quantified using both an open path laser system coupled with inverse dispersion modeling for NH3 and eddy covariance with a quantum cascade laser system for N2O emissions. Quantifying the transport parameters controlling volatile losses of pesticides from cropping systems based on tillage practices will use eddy covariance micrometeorology techniques to determine turbulent flux from whole fields. The relaxed eddy accumulation technique will be used to provide more accurate eddy diffusivities for pesticide vapor transport to improve agrochemical volatilization flux estimates. In addition, LiDaR will be used to develop dispersion models for droplets from mechanical sprayers for physics-based models on the loss of agrochemicals from fields due to spray drift. Quantifying the transport parameters controlling volatile losses of N compounds and particulates from animal production systems will involve LiDaR- to measure plume dynamics and produce a remote-sensing approach to quantify emissions and compare these results to conventional modeling approaches. In animal production systems, NH3 is the dominant form of N emissions, but gaps exist in effective N control/mitigation strategies that reduce N emissions. Reducing NH3 emissions from animal production will focus on improving N utilization in animal diets by use of feed additives and improving grind size of feed particles. Ventilation practices will be evaluating and optimized for reducing NH3 emissions. Knowledge gained through this research will provide producers and regulatory agencies scientific data to improve sustainability of agricultural production facilities in U.S. farming systems. Objective 1: Field monitoring study was conducted to quantify nitrous oxide (N2O) emission under various tillage and cover crop production practices. For corn, no-till and no-till with rye cover-crop management systems reduced N2O emissions by 40% and 50%, respectively, and for soybeans, tillage and cover crops had no effect on N2O emissions. Shifts in the management system to accommodate a winter camelina cash crop erased the N2O gains associated with the no-till and cover crop treatments for corn production. Future analysis will focus on the timing of N2O emissions to inform management practices to balance N2O loss with system productivity. Monitored spring field application of manure from a swine finishing operation using a dragline manure transport. Loss of ammonia (NH3) occurred primarily over the first three days after manure application and continued for more than seven days. Loss of NH3 was higher for manure applied using truck transport compared to manure pumped to field using a dragline, but the loss was not significant. More work needs to be done to confirm this observation. Future work is expanding the number of fields monitored and using an unmanned aerial vehicle for assessing field conditions. Objective 2: A relaxed eddy accumulation pesticide flux system was beta tested. The system was run for five days in a field that was treated with metolachlor and atrazine. Vertical wind away from the soil surface was correlated with metolachlor concentrations indicating volatilized herbicide was transported away from the soil surface to the atmosphere. However, additional vertical winds in the downward direction toward the soil surface were also correlated with metolachlor but at lower concentrations. The dual nature of pesticide transport is consistent with turbulence transport theory. Future work will be focused on determining the net (upward -downward) flux of field applied metolachlor and atrazine from bare soil. A spray drift experiment to measure the impact of a large moving tractor with spray implements on turbulence during a spray event used four eddy covariance (EC) systems at different heights. The EC design allowed for measuring disturbances in turbulence momentum and vertical velocity during a spray event. As the spray rig moved through the field past the EC systems, the EC systems measured distinct episodic vertical wind velocities at the leading edge of the tractor. This observation confirmed the hypothesis that a large bluff body such as a tractor spray rig produces enough momentum to transfer winds in the upward direction away from the soil surface. This upward movement results in spray droplets being ejected upwards more than 10 m above the ground surface and increasing the potential loss of herbicides through spray drift. However, due to the loss of the LiDAR instrumentation and retirement of a key collaborator, this project has been terminated. Ammonia emission flux from cattle feedlot surfaces was modeled using Windtrax software based on recommendations from the EPA-USDA ammonia working group. Screening parameters were set-up on turbulence data. Preliminary data runs showed that the area associated with high animal activity (loading areas) had increased NH3 emissions compared to holding pens and that extreme weather events with high winds lead to emissions fluxes almost an order of magnitude higher than under typical conditions. In future analysis, pen moisture, animal density, and weather conditions will be correlated with NH3 emission fluxes. Objective 3: A monitoring study was started to compare indoor air quality in tunnel ventilated buildings without pit-fans. In general, barn concentrations of NH3, CH4, and H2S were highest near the fan, while particulate matter (PM) and CO2 were lowest near fans. These results suggest that the source of PM and CO2 originated mainly from animals and feed and NH3, CH4, and H2S originated from manure. As the animals matured, PM and CH4 and H2S concentrations all increased, whereas, NH3 concentration tracked more with the outdoor temperature and ventilation than animal maturity. In future research, the tracking of C, N and S in the animal diet with animal growth, gas emission, and manure is being considered. Agitation of swine manure in pits beneath the confinement buildings and pumping for manure application to fields are the most odor intensive events associated with swine finishing operations. Manure samples from a swine feeding trial were agitated to simulate a pumping event and gas emissions was monitored. Agitation increased CH4 and H2S emissions by two orders of magnitude and doubled carbon dioxide emissions, while ammonia remained largely the same. Odor from volatile sulfur compounds rose rapidly with agitation and accounted for over 98% of the total odor. In general, volatile organic compound emissions remained largely unchanged with agitation except for ketone and alcohol compounds that increased by an order of magnitude but were minor odorants overall. This work informs researchers which compounds are the most problematic in terms of odor during agitation and gives scientist and engineers targets for controlling odor during agitation and pumping of manure for field application. Accomplishments 01 Dietary particle size formulation effect on manure and odor emissions. Nutrients excreted from livestock affect manure and gas composition emitted from manure storage facilities. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa, in collaboration with an Iowa State University researcher conducted a swine feeding trial to evaluate potential interactive effects between feed particle size and diet composition on manure and gas emissions. In general, diets higher in fiber increased manure nitrogen (N), carbon (C) , and total volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations, and increased manure VFA emissions, but decreased manure ammonia emissions. Decreasing the particle size of the diet lowered manure N, C, VFA, phenolics, and indole concentrations, and decreased manure emissions of total VFA. Neither diet composition nor particle size had an impact on manure greenhouse gas emissions. Information from this research will be useful for growers and engineers as they consider formulations technologies to reduce manure output and gas emissions. 02 Swine manure management odor control. Manure management systems have a major impact on odor from swine finishing operations. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa, and Florence, South Carolina in collaboration with scientists from South Korea and Iowa State University compared deep-pit manure management systems to flushing barn manure management systems for odor reduction and organic matter digestion. Total solids (TS) in the manure were positively correlated to total nitrogen, total carbon, volatile fatty acids (VFA), phenol compounds, indole compounds, and volatilized odorants including VFAs, ammonia, phenol compounds, and indole compounds. Carbon dioxide was the main C source evolved averaging over 90% of the carbon evolved. Methane production increased significantly with dilution. Diluting manure by four-fold reduced TS and headspace odorants by equal amounts and doubled the rate of organic matter consumption, but high levels of dilution increased overall manure volume. Information from this research will be useful for growers and engineers as they consider manure management flushing systems impact on odor control and manure treatment.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Trabue, S.L., Kerr, B.J., Scoggin, K.D. 2019. Swine diets impact manure characteristics and gas emissions: Part I sulfur level. Science of the Total Environment. 687:800-807.
- Logsdon, S.D., Cambardella, C.A., Prueger, J.H. 2019. Technique to determine water uptake in organic plots. Agronomy Journal. 111(4):1940- 1945.
- Dold, C., Hatfield, J.L., Prueger, J.H., Moorman, T.B., Sauer, T.J., Cosh, M.H., Drewry, D.T., Wacha, K.M. 2019. Upscaling Gross Primary Production in corn-soybean rotation systems in the Midwest. Remote Sensing. 11(14) :1688.
- Reichle, R., Liu, Q., Koster, R., Crow, W.T., Delannoy, G., Kimball, J., Ardizzone, J., Bosch, D.D., Colliander, A., Cosh, M.H., Kolassa, Mahanama, S., McNairn, H., Prueger, J.H., Starks, P.J., Walker, J. 2020. Version 4 of the SMAP level-4 soil moisture algorithm and data product. Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems. 11:3106-3130.
- Knipper, K.R., Kustas, W.P., Anderson, M.C., Alsina, M., Hain, C., Alfieri, J.G., Prueger, J.H., Gao, F.N., McKee, L.G., Sanchez, L. 2019. Using high- spatiotemporal thermal satellite ET retrievals for near-real time water use and stress monitoring in a California vineyard. Remote Sensing. 11(18) :2124.
- Kraatz, S., Jacobs, J., Schroeder, R., Cho, E., Cosh, M.H., Seyfried, M.S., Prueger, J.H., Livingston, S.J. 2019. Evaluation of SMAP freeze/thaw retrieval accuracy at core validation sites in the contiguous United States. Remote Sensing. 10(9):1483.
- Walker, V., Hornbuckle, B., Cosh, M.H., Prueger, J.H. 2019. Seasonal evaluation of SMAP soil moisture in the U.S. corn belt. Remote Sensing. 11(21):248.
- Hatfield, J.L., Prueger, J.H., Sauer, T.J., Dold, C., O'Brien, P.L., Wacha, K.M. 2019. Applications of vegetative indices from remote sensing to agriculture: past and future. Inventions. 4(4):71.
- Aboutalebi, M., Torres, A., McKee, M., Kustas, W.P., Nieto, H., Alsana, M., White, W.A., Prueger, J.H., McKee, L.G., Alfieri, J.G., Hipps, L., Coopmans, C., Dokoozlian, N. 2019. Incorporation of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) point cloud product into remote sensing evapotranspiration models. Remote Sensing. 12(1):50.
- Wilson, T.G., Kustas, W.P., Alfieri, J.G., Anderson, M.C., Prueger, J.H., McKee, L.G., Alsina, M., Sanchez, L., Alsted, K. 2020. Relationships between soil water content, evapotranspiration, and irrigation measurements in a California drip-irrigated Pinot noir vineyard. Agricultural Water Management.
- Trabue, S.L., Kerr, B.J., Scoggin, K.D. 2019. Swine diets impact manure characteristics and gas emissions: Part II Sulfur source. Science of the Total Environment. 698:1115-1124.
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Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): Objective 1: Characterize and improve accounting of N emissions as N2O and NH3 losses from cropping systems. Subobjective 1.1: Quantify the soil and environmental factors contributing to N2O production by nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. Subobjective 1.2: Assess the effect of cover crops on N2O production in the field. Subobjective 1.3: Assess manure injection/incorporation methods for impact on residue/surface cover, soil disturbance, and N emissions. Objective 2: Enhance process-level characterization of agrochemical emissions, fate and transport across spatial scales from micro- environments to regions. Subobjective 2.1: Determine the effect tillage practices have on agrochemical volatilization losses from agricultural fields. Subobjective 2.2: Improve measurement and modeling approaches to describe agrochemical emissions and transport from agricultural operations. Subobjective 2.3: Determine the emission flux of NH3 and other gases from cattle feedlot surfaces using flux-gradient technique. Subobjective 2.4: Compare particulate plume data measured with LiDaR to conventional model (ex. AERMOD) predictions to assess model accuracy for both near facility and downwind transport. Subobjective 2.5: Develop an improved physics-based model on the dispersion of herbicide droplets from mechanical sprayers by incorporating ambient turbulence conditions, the turbulent kinetic energy generated by the motion of the sprayer, and atmospheric stability. Objective 3: Develop strategies to manage the effects of manure properties and air flow on NH3 emissions. Subobjective 3.1: Manipulate swine diet formulations to improve N utilization, and reduce N excretion and NH3 emission along with other gaseous emission into the environment. Subobjective 3.2: Evaluate and develop ventilation practices for reducing NH3 and other air quality emissions. Approach (from AD-416): This project will focus on knowledge gaps that exist in the loss of N and agrochemicals from cropping and animal systems. Three approaches will be pursued for addressing knowledge gaps: 1) quantify soil and environmental factors contributing to N2O and NH3 emissions in animal production and field cropping systems; 2) determine soil properties that drive volatile loss and transport of agrochemicals and N compounds, and 3) determine effectiveness of N control strategies for reducing NH3 emissions. In cropping systems, there are large gaps in our understanding of the N budget in soil including both mechanisms and magnitude of losses through emissions. Laboratory studies on N2O emissions will use stable isotopes to quantify both the effect of temperature and kinetics of denitrification under varying NH3 concentrations. Field studies using chambers will be used to quantify N2O emission for a range of soil and nitrogen management strategies. Assessing the effect residue/surface cover and soil disturbance have on N loss from manure application in cropping systems will be conducted during late fall and early spring. Whole field emissions loss of N will be quantified using both an open path laser system coupled with inverse dispersion modeling for NH3 and eddy covariance with a quantum cascade laser system for N2O emissions. Quantifying the transport parameters controlling volatile losses of pesticides from cropping systems based on tillage practices will use eddy covariance micrometeorology techniques to determine turbulent flux from whole fields. The relaxed eddy accumulation technique will be used to provide more accurate eddy diffusivities for pesticide vapor transport to improve agrochemical volatilization flux estimates. In addition, LiDaR will be used to develop dispersion models for droplets from mechanical sprayers for physics-based models on the loss of agrochemicals from fields due to spray drift. Quantifying the transport parameters controlling volatile losses of N compounds and particulates from animal production systems will involve LiDaR- to measure plume dynamics and produce a remote-sensing approach to quantify emissions and compare these results to conventional modeling approaches. In animal production systems, NH3 is the dominant form of N emissions, but gaps exist in effective N control/mitigation strategies that reduce N emissions. Reducing NH3 emissions from animal production will focus on improving N utilization in animal diets by use of feed additives and improving grind size of feed particles. Ventilation practices will be evaluating and optimized for reducing NH3 emissions. Knowledge gained through this research will provide producers and regulatory agencies scientific data to improve sustainability of agricultural production facilities in U.S. farming systems. Objective 1: Field monitoring study on experiments were conducted to quantify nitrous oxide production in response to temperature and soil water conditions. Nitrous oxide emissions were measured throughout the year and the temporal variability analyzed with respect to rainfall and diurnal soil temperature. It was found that nitrous oxide variability was largely explained by soil water content, but a significant portion of the variability in N2O emissions was driven by diurnal soil temperature patterns. Development of field protocol for measuring N loss through emissions from land applied manure was not completed due to a lack of available field sites. Only one field manure application was monitored. The wet/cold weather patterns in late fall and early spring made it challenging for coordination with manure haulers. Based on the limited data most of the NH3 was loss was within the first two days. Major limitation in nitrous oxide emissions is the ability to supply continuous AC power to the instrument. Objective 2: Relaxed Eddy Accumulation (REA) Pesticide volatilization (vapor transport) is a dominant vapor loss pathway for many pesticides. This pathway is variable and specific to pesticide type, chemical formulation, surface target characteristics (vegetation/soil) and local meteorological conditions. Turbulence is the primary transport mechanism for pesticide vapor from a surface to the atmosphere. A new and simplified pesticide volatilization measurement system (REA) has been developed and tested in a laboratory setting. This system will enable the simultaneous measurements of pesticide vapor with vertical wind motion common with turbulence. The system was ready for field deployment in June 2019 at the Optimizing Production Inputs for Economic and Environmental Enhancement (OPE3) site located in Beltsville, Maryland. A spray drift field experiment was delayed from the previous year to identify an anomaly of the laser system that was biasing plume quantification of spray droplets. This issue was resolved by researchers at the University of Iowa and we are on track to conduct a field experiment in July 2019 to measure spray drift from a standard spray applicator. A pilot test conducted previously showed drift plumes exceeding 15 -20 m above the soil surface and drift distance exceeding 50 -100 m. Characterization of particulate emissions from animal production facilities are inherently complicated due to the diversity of landscape features and facility structures that ultimately impact transport processes across spatial scales from micro-environments to regional. Previous campaigns have produced a large number of two-dimensional particulate plume images across different animal production facilities using a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDar) approach. Local meteorological data were also acquired at the same time to capture meteorologically driven transport processes that carry the particulates downwind and offsite. A review of past field campaign results conducted in 2019 suggest that transport processes often show a bimodal distribution involving Gaussian and non-Gaussian processes that are strongly influenced by local meteorological conditions. Discussions between ARS scientists and University of Iowa researchers were conducted to outline new analysis techniques to differentiate when Gaussian and non- Gaussian processes prevail. This will aid greatly in developing a more coherent understanding of emission transport from animal production facilities as a function of facility structures, local meteorology and turbulence transport. Objective 3: A monitoring study was started to compare indoor air quality at tunnel ventilated buildings compared to naturally ventilated buildings. In general, naturally ventilated barns had lower concentrations of particulate matter (PM), ammonia (NH3), and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) than tunnel ventilated barns. A PM, NH3 and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration gradient along a transect in tunnel ventilated barns was observed with the highest concentrations at the exit. For tunnel ventilated barns, concentrations of NH3 and CO2 concentrations were inversely related to ventilation rate, which in turn was directly associated with outside temperatures. In future research, the impact of indoor air quality on animal performance is being added. A swine feeding trial was completed investigating the effect of diet particle size formulation on manure and gas emissions. Six diets were tested, three diets used different source material that included a standard corn soybean mill (CSBM) diet, and others with CSBM supplemented with 35% DDGS and CSBM supplemented with soyhull material. Each of these diets were fed as originally milled course ground (635 mm average particle size) or finely ground to reduced particle size (374 mm average particle size). Animals fed finely ground diets gained more with higher feed efficiencies. Animals fed different diet source material had significantly different manure pH, solids, N, C, and S with finer ground diets reducing nutrient excretion of solids, N, and C. Sulfur in manure was not impacted by diet grind size. Odorants in manure were significantly different between diets and finer ground diets generally had lower concentrations of odorants than coarsely ground diets. Gas emissions for the different diets were significantly different for NH3, VFAs, and phenol compounds. Courser ground diets tended to have greater crusting over manure storage surfaces thereby reducing gas emissions. Additional work will be conducted on swine diets to investigate the potential emissions during agitation and pumping of storage facilities. Accomplishments 01 Soil water and temperature interdependence on temporal variability of N2O emissions. Water content and temperature exert strong controls on soil N2O emissions. Understanding these relationships will aid in development of more accurate predictive relationships for N2O emissions. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa, monitored nitrous oxide emission from field applied fertilizer over a one-year period. It was determined that 2/3 of temporal N2O emission variability was driven by soil water content. However, daily diurnal patterns of N2O emissions were correlated to diurnal soil temperature patterns and accounted for 1/3 of N2O emission variability. It was also observed that temperature variability decreased with time. Information from this research will provide better guidance in developing predictive models for N2O emissions from agriculture. 02 Nitrate removal via denitrification in pore water through saturated riparian buffers (SRB). Nitrate in tile drain waters from agriculture degrade the quality of the water in watersheds in which they are located. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa, in collaboration with an Iowa State University scientist monitored an edge-of-field nitrate removal practice using SRBs to maximize soil denitrification with the addition of carbon in carbon-limited environments. Temperature affected the SRB⿿s maximum denitrification potential which varied between buffers to varying degrees. The oldest SRB had the highest in situ denitrification rates, while the youngest SRB had the lowest rate indicating a potential riparian buffer age effect on denitrification beyond elevated carbon additions. It is thought that increased soil aggregation positively increases denitrifying microbial communities. Information from this research will enable farmers to better understand the proper design of SRBs. 03 Quantifying and mitigating particulate emissions from poultry building using a vegetative buffer. Quantifying particulate emissions from animal production facilities remains a challenging issue. The challenge is due to the complex and diverse array of production buildings that alter the mean wind flow and thus the transport of particulates. ARS scientists from Beltsville, Maryland, Florence, South Carolina and Ames, Iowa, in collaboration with a University of Delaware and a University of Iowa scientist conducted a field trial using Light Detection and Ranging (LiDaR) to determine the effectiveness of vegetative buffers. Particle emission was simulated using clay material that were released in front of an exhaust fan inside the tree barrier. Estimates of the efficiency of capture of particles were between 30-84%. Information from this study shows the effectiveness of vegetative buffers in mitigating particulate emissions. 04 Dietary sulfur (S) concentrations in swine diets effect on manure and odor emissions. Sulfur is a key nutrient in swine diets, and its levels are increasing as growers turn to cheaper feed ingredients. Excess S is potentially associated with both odor emissions and animal health. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa, conducted a swine feeding trial to test the effect of dietary S on manure composition and gas emissions from finishing pigs. Increased S in the swine diet lowered manure pH but increased manure solids, nitrogen and S contents by 10% for each doubling of S content in the swine diet. Concentrations of sulfide in manure increase with increasing dietary S levels. Hydrogen sulfide emissions increased by 8% for each doubling of S content in the swine diet, while odor increased by only 2% with increased S levels in the swine diet. Information from this research will be useful for growers and engineers as they consider alternative feed ingredients and odor control. 05 Impact of dietary sulfur (S) source on gas and odor emissions. Swine growers are increasingly turning to alternative feed ingredients to lower production costs, but many of these cheaper sources have increased concentrations of S in both organic and inorganic forms. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa, conducted a swine feeding trial to determine how the source of S in the diet affects manure properties and gas emissions. Diets tested include the following: standard corn soybean meal diet; standard diet enriched with inorganic S; diet with both inorganic and organic S; and a diet enriched with organic S. Diets with increased levels of organic S had significantly higher levels of ammonia, volatile fatty acids, and phenols in manure compared to animals fed standard diets. Hydrogen sulfide emissions were highest for swine diets with inorganic S additions, but emissions of volatile organic compounds and volatile sulfur compounds were highest in animals fed organic S diets. Manures of animals fed diets with increased organic S were determined to be the most odorous by human panels. Information from this research will be useful for growers and engineers as they consider alternative feed source impact on emissions. 06 Source tracking odor from swine finishing operation. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa, conducted a study at a commercial swine deep-pit finishing operation to monitor odorous material emitted and transported offsite. Major odorous chemical classes included volatile sulfur compounds (VSC), volatile fatty acids (VFA), phenol and indole compounds. Manure storage was the main source of odorous compounds that were detected 1. 5km downwind from the swine facility. Odorous compounds generated during agitation and pumping of the deep pits was the single most odorous event at the facility and was the dominant odorous compound. Odorants were mainly transported in the gas phase with less than 0.1% being associated with particulates/dust. This information will be of value to growers, engineers, and scientists developing odor mitigation practices and technologies as it assists in targeting the types of compounds responsible for odor and the main sources of those odorous compounds.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Trabue, S.L., Scoggin, K.D., Tyndall, J., Sauer, T.J., Hernandez-Ramirez, G., Pfeiffer, R.L., Hatfield, J.L. 2019. Odorous compounds sources and transport from a swine deep-pit finishing operation: A case study. Journal of Environmental Management. 233:12-23.
- Dold, C., Hatfield, J.L., Prueger, J.H., Sauer, T.J., Moorman, T.B., Wacha, K.M. 2019. Impact of management practices on carbon and water fluxes in corn-soybean rotations. Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment. 2(1).
- Malone, R.W., Herbstritt, S., Ma, L., Richard, T., Cibin, R., Gassman, P., Zhang, H., Karlen, D.L., Hatfield, J.L., Obrycki, J., Helmers, M., Jaynes, D.B., Kaspar, T.C., Parkin, T.B. 2019. Corn stover harvest and N losses in central Iowa. Science of the Total Environment. 663:776-792.
- Prueger, J.H., Parry, C.K., Kustas, W.P., Alfieri, J.G., Alsina, M.A., Nieto, H., Wilson, T.G., Hipps, L.E., Anderson, M.C., Hatfield, J.L., Gao, F., McKee, L.G., McElrone, A.J., Agam, N., Los, S. 2018. Crop Water Stress Index of an irrigated vineyard in the Central Valley of California. Irrigation Science. 37(3):297⿿313.
- Alfieri, J.G., Kustas, W.P., Prueger, J.H., McKee, L.G., Hipps, L., Gao, F. N. 2018. A multi-year intercomparison of micrometeorological observations at adjacent vineyards in California⿿s Central Valley during GRAPEX. Irrigation Science. 37(3):345-357.
- Knipper, K.R., Kustas, W.P., Anderson, M.C., Alfieri, J.G., Prueger, J.H., Hain, C., Gao, F.N., Yang, Y., McKee, L.G., Nieto, H., Hipps, L., Aisha, M. , Sanchez, L. 2018. Evapotranspiration estimates derived using thermal- based satellite remote sensing and data fusion for irrigation management in California vineyards. Irrigation Science.
- Kustas, W.P., Agam, N., Alfieri, J.G., McKee, L.G., Prueger, J.H., Hipps, L., Howard, A., Heitman, J. 2018. Below canopy radiation divergence in a vineyard ⿿ implications on inter-row surface energy balance. Irrigation Science.
- Los, S., Hipps, L., Alfieri, J.G., Kustas, W.P., Prueger, J.H. 2019. Intermittency of water vapor fluxes from vineyards during light wind and convective conditions. Irrigation Science. 37(3):281-295.
- Cosh, M.H., White, W.A., Colliander, A., Jackson, T.J., Prueger, J.H., Hornbudde, B., Hunt Jr, E.R., McNairn, H., Powres, J., Walker, V. 2019. Estimating vegetation water content during the Soil Moisture Active Passive Validation Experiment in 2016. Journal of Applied Remote Sensing (JARS). 13(1):014516.
- Agam, N., Kustas, W.P., Alfieri, J.G., Gao, F.N., McKee, L.G., Prueger, J. H., Hipps, L. 2019. Grass intercrop and soil water content have a secondary effect on soil heat flux (SHF) in a wine vineyard ⿿ implications on SHF measurements. Irrigation Science.
- Nieto, H., Kustas, W.P., Alfieri, J.G., Feng, M., Hipps, L., Los, S., Prueger, J.H., McKee, L.G., Anderson, M.C. 2018. Impact of different within-canopy wind attenuation formulations on modelling evapotranspiration using TSEBm. Irrigation Science.
- Nieto, H., Kustas, W.P., Torres, A., Alfieri, J.G., Gao, F.N., Anderson, M. C., White, W.A., Song, L., Alsina, M., Prueger, J.H., McKee, L.G. 2018. Evaluation of TSEB turbulent fluxes using different methods for the retrieval of soil and canopy component temperatures from UAV thermal and multispectral imagery. Irrigation Science.
- Kustas, W.P., Anderson, M.C., Alfieri, J.G., Knipper, K.R., Torres, A., Parry, C.K., Nieto, H., Agam, N., White, W.A., Gao, F.N., McKee, L.G., Prueger, J.H., McElrone, A.J., Los, S., Alsina, M., Sanchez, L., Sam, B., Dokoozlian, N., McKee, M., Jones, S., Hipps, L., Heitman, J., Howard, A., Post, K., Melton, F. 2018. An overview of the Grape Remote sensing Atmospheric Profile and Evapotranspiration eXperiment (GRAPEX). Bulletin of the American Meterological Society. 99(9):1791-1812.
- Chu, H., Baldocchi, D., Poindexter, C., Abraha, M., Desai, A., Bohrer, G., Arain, M., Griffis, T., Blanken, P., O'Halloran, T., Hatfield, J.L., Prueger, J.H., Baker, J.M. 2018. Temporal dynamics of aerodynamic canopy height derived from eddy covariance momentum flux data across North American Flux Networks. Geophysical Research Letters. 45(17):9275-9287.
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Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): Objective 1: Characterize and improve accounting of N emissions as N2O and NH3 losses from cropping systems. Subobjective 1.1: Quantify the soil and environmental factors contributing to N2O production by nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. Subobjective 1.2: Assess the effect of cover crops on N2O production in the field. Subobjective 1.3: Assess manure injection/incorporation methods for impact on residue/surface cover, soil disturbance, and N emissions. Objective 2: Enhance process-level characterization of agrochemical emissions, fate and transport across spatial scales from micro- environments to regions. Subobjective 2.1: Determine the effect tillage practices have on agrochemical volatilization losses from agricultural fields. Subobjective 2.2: Improve measurement and modeling approaches to describe agrochemical emissions and transport from agricultural operations. Subobjective 2.3: Determine the emission flux of NH3 and other gases from cattle feedlot surfaces using flux-gradient technique. Subobjective 2.4: Compare particulate plume data measured with LiDaR to conventional model (ex. AERMOD) predictions to assess model accuracy for both near facility and downwind transport. Subobjective 2.5: Develop an improved physics-based model on the dispersion of herbicide droplets from mechanical sprayers by incorporating ambient turbulence conditions, the turbulent kinetic energy generated by the motion of the sprayer, and atmospheric stability. Objective 3: Develop strategies to manage the effects of manure properties and air flow on NH3 emissions. Subobjective 3.1: Manipulate swine diet formulations to improve N utilization, and reduce N excretion and NH3 emission along with other gaseous emission into the environment. Subobjective 3.2: Evaluate and develop ventilation practices for reducing NH3 and other air quality emissions. Approach (from AD-416): This project will focus on knowledge gaps that exist in the loss of N and agrochemicals from cropping and animal systems. Three approaches will be pursued for addressing knowledge gaps: 1) quantify soil and environmental factors contributing to N2O and NH3 emissions in animal production and field cropping systems; 2) determine soil properties that drive volatile loss and transport of agrochemicals and N compounds, and 3) determine effectiveness of N control strategies for reducing NH3 emissions. In cropping systems, there are large gaps in our understanding of the N budget in soil including both mechanisms and magnitude of losses through emissions. Laboratory studies on N2O emissions will use stable isotopes to quantify both the effect of temperature and kinetics of denitrification under varying NH3 concentrations. Field studies using chambers will be used to quantify N2O emission for a range of soil and nitrogen management strategies. Assessing the effect residue/surface cover and soil disturbance have on N loss from manure application in cropping systems will be conducted during late fall and early spring. Whole field emissions loss of N will be quantified using both an open path laser system coupled with inverse dispersion modeling for NH3 and eddy covariance with a quantum cascade laser system for N2O emissions. Quantifying the transport parameters controlling volatile losses of pesticides from cropping systems based on tillage practices will use eddy covariance micrometeorology techniques to determine turbulent flux from whole fields. The relaxed eddy accumulation technique will be used to provide more accurate eddy diffusivities for pesticide vapor transport to improve agrochemical volatilization flux estimates. In addition, LiDaR will be used to develop dispersion models for droplets from mechanical sprayers for physics-based models on the loss of agrochemicals from fields due to spray drift. Quantifying the transport parameters controlling volatile losses of N compounds and particulates from animal production systems will involve LiDaR- to measure plume dynamics and produce a remote-sensing approach to quantify emissions and compare these results to conventional modeling approaches. In animal production systems, NH3 is the dominant form of N emissions, but gaps exist in effective N control/mitigation strategies that reduce N emissions. Reducing NH3 emissions from animal production will focus on improving N utilization in animal diets by use of feed additives and improving grind size of feed particles. Ventilation practices will be evaluating and optimized for reducing NH3 emissions. Knowledge gained through this research will provide producers and regulatory agencies scientific data to improve sustainability of agricultural production facilities in U.S. farming systems. Objective 1: Experiments were conducted to quantify nitrous oxide production in response to temperature, soil water content, and nitrate concentration. It was found that the temperature response of nitrous oxide production from water-saturated soil was greater under aerobic conditions than under anaerobic conditions. Additional experiments will determine the extent of this phenomenon under different N regimes. Nitrous oxide emissions were measured throughout the year, and the temporal variability analyzed with respect to rainfall. Similar data were summarized for previous years and the response of peak nitrous oxide emission events were characterized. A linear relationship was observed between the contribution of peak nitrous oxide emission to total annual nitrous oxide emission and the amount of rainfall that occurred after nitrogen fertilization. Field method validation for N loss during application of manure was conducted for two different sites. Based on open path NH3 laser data, the loss of NH3 was significantly higher than literature estimates of 3%. NH3 volatilization also occurred over a significantly longer duration than previously estimated. Field sampling protocols were modified to captured longer sampling periods and dynamic wind flow patterns. Wind tunnel (WT) use was challenging due to the time it took for set up compared to laser systems and WTs were ineffective when field winds were greater than 3 m/s (6.7 mph). Portability of WTs also limited their deployment at remote field sites. Challenges in NH3 monitoring delayed testing of a N2O analyzer so instrument validation was delayed for another year. Objective 2: The Relaxed Eddy Accumulation (REA) instrument requires the ability to sample pesticides at concentrations and flow rates that are commensurate with high precision fast acting solenoid valves. Previous pesticide sampling flow rates were approximately five-fold higher than the fast-acting solenoid valves. Pesticide analysis and sampling protocol were changed so that REA instrument flow rates and fast acting solenoid values were linked. However, additional testing was required for a second season as the sampling protocol had to be further refined to accommodate the newer fast acting solenoid valves. This was a needed development, but set back the project another 12 months. Nighttime periods where atmospheric conditions are stable present challenges to properly estimate herbicide volatilization losses. Accessing the 15 years of a pesticide volatilization database we partitioned daytime (unstable) and nighttime (stable conditions) periods for herbicide and local surface parameters and began assessing data quality to select the most robust years for evaluating pesticide emissions. Four years have been identified as ideal candidates for developing model expressions of volatilization losses under stable nighttime conditions. Characterizing the upwind and downwind air flow conditions of an animal feeding operation (AFO) is essential to predicting particulate emissions. High frequency sonic anemometer data have been processed to determine mean 3-dimensional wind flow directions. Standard deviations of these means were computed and the turbulent covariance�s that carry particulates. More analysis is ongoing to compare these parameters under different stability regimes, which can significantly impact the distribution (vertically and horizontally) of particulate emissions. Spray drift dispersion during application was monitored for 1.5 days during a pilot study to determine the vertical and horizontal range of spray droplets. A large agrochemical spray rig presented a considerable bluff body that generates significant turbulence during application. The strength of turbulence was measured and shown to create a lofting vortex that sent droplets vertically 10�s of meters and nearly 100 meters horizontally. This pilot study confirmed the need for a wider range of conditions to include stable and unstable conditions that establish drift loss potentials based on local meteorological conditions and the rate of speed of the spray rig. A second more intensive measurement campaign is planned for the fall. Objective 3: A study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of wet scrubber systems in swine finishing operations to control emissions of ammonia, particulate matter (PM), and odor. A commercial 2500 head swine finishing operation with a wet scrubber system was monitored for the control of air and PM emissions. The facility uses air filters to control incoming air and operates as a negative pressure system that uses the wet scrubber on fan outlets. Air from the sidewall baffles were directed to the wet scrubber. Air entering and exiting the wet scrubber system were monitored for ammonia, PM, and volatile organic compounds. Preliminary analysis of the air exiting the building showed concentrations of NH3 reduced by 20-35%, odor by 30-60%, and dust by 80-90%. Additional research is being conducted to optimize the dosing solution of the wet scrubber system. Midwest Climate Hub: During winter and spring 2018, the Midwest Climate Hub (MCH) continued outreach to specialty crop producers (with Midwest Regional Climate Center, MRCC) at 5 conferences in the Midwest Region (total no. of participants ~ 1000 ). Engagement centered on climate impacts being/have been experienced by producers, (specifically drought), climate tools currently being used (i.e. rain gauges, drought impact reporter, Midwest Climate Hub tools and resources, etc.), and how, if any, adaptations have been implemented in producers� management practices to mitigate climate/drought impacts. Approximately 150 producers were actively engaged by Midwest Regional Climate Center and Midwest Climate Hub staff, most of which were informed of National Drought Monitor Center�s mission and the U.S. Drought Monitor. � 56 questionnaires were filled out by producers from six states (Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa). Most of the respondents were fruit and vegetable crop producers, with some also raising livestock and traditional row crops. Two-thirds of respondents farmed fewer than 100 acres, and another quarter farmed between 100-500 acres. � About 60% of respondents had experienced significant drought over the past five years, but their biggest immediate concerns were fluctuations in spring temperatures and variable freeze/frost conditions. � Only 39% said they used the U.S. Drought Monitor (lower than reported among larger corn and soybeans growers in the same region). Nearly 80% of respondents would be willing or maybe) to report drought impacts to inform the U.S. Drought Monitor. These findings indicate potential for working with specialty crop producers to better meet their needs for drought monitoring information, and engage them in the process. In cooperation with ARS Air Quality National Program, the Midwest Climate Hub coordinated purchase of instrumentation to help create a regional inversion monitoring system in cooperation with the Midwest Mesonet Consortium. Installation of equipment has created the first regional effort at inversion monitoring to help reduce potential drift issues. Planning for a regional science workshop on chemical, ammonia and odor drift issues related to inversions is ongoing to help connect drift and monitoring communities to help reduce drift issues. We have also leveraged resources from NRCS for creating a regional web presence for the inversions, to develop climatologies of inversions and to help support the regional meeting. As of July 2018 over 75% of the instrumentation has been installed and is reporting information in six states. Four states have already developed systems to report inversion information on state mesonet web sites (Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Michigan). The partnership among USDA, the Midwest Regional Climate Center and seven state-run monitoring networks has created the first regional set of inversion monitoring anywhere in the country. Kentucky has matched the installation and added more stations using internal dollars. South Dakota has added stations to match the Midwest efforts. Monsanto�s Climate Corporation is using the inversion information to verify inversion forecast conditions from an application developed to serve in their on-farm management software. The Midwest Climate Hub and partners has developed a list of 25 important indicators for agriculture, which can be measured and repeated to continue tracking information. The indicators are being refined and written for a final report and climate hub use. The effort expands on research developed by Hatfield et al. to be more comprehensive in indicators and develop some possible effort for ongoing assessment of climate change issues. Each of the indicators will have a stand-alone publication which can be published on hub web sites for individual download. The total set will be a more comprehensive report on ag-climate change indicators. Accomplishments 01 Rising global temperatures (Global Warming) can influence the activities of soil bacteria that produce greenhouse gasses. ARS researchers at Ames, Iowa conducted experiments to quantify the activities of greenhouse gas producing bacteria under different temperature regimes. Greater temperature sensitivity of nitrous oxide production under aerobic conditions strongly suggests a positive temperature feedback phenomenon whereby increasing temperature increases both the denitrification process and other heterotrophic microbial activity. This overall enhanced heterotrophic activity increases the oxygen consumption of the microbial community increasing the anaerobic volume of a soil leading to greater overall denitrification. Implications of this result indicate a positive feedback between increasing soil temperatures and increased nitrous oxide emissions. This information will be useful to scientists interested in predicting the future increases in atmospheric levels of greenhouse gasses. 02 Accurate quantification of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide from agricultural systems is difficult and expensive due to the high temporal variability associated with the microbial processes that produce this gas. ARS researchers at Ames, Iowa, measured and characterized the high temporal variability of soil nitrous oxide emissions that are characterized by episodic events caused by rainfall. This work quantifies the response of nitrous oxide flux to rainfall events after nitrogen fertilization. Reports of increased precipitation intensity due to climate change will exacerbate this effect unless modifications in N fertilizer management (form, timing, and placement) can mitigate this effect and reduce annual nitrous oxide emissions. The information of this study will aid in the development of agricultural management systems to mitigate soil greenhouse gas emissions. 03 Lower ammonia and odor emissions through diet formulation. The use of growth-promoting ionophores in livestock diets is thought to improve feed efficiency and thereby reduce emissions of NH3. ARS researchers in Ames, Iowa, conducted a swine feeding trial to test the effect ionophore supplementation has on manure composition and gas emissions in finishing pig diets. Data from this study showed that neither NH3 nor odor compound emissions were impacted by ionophore supplementation. The use of ionophores in swine diets for finishing pigs had little to no benefit in lowering emissions of NH3 and odor compounds.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Davis, M.P., Groh, T.A., Parkin, T.B., Williams, R.J., Isenhart, T.M., Hofmockel, K.H. 2018. Portable automation of static chamber sample collection for quantifying soil gas flux. Journal of Environmental Quality. 47(2):270-275.
- Kerr, B.J., Trabue, S.L., van Weelden, M., Andersen, D., Pepple, L. 2018. Impact of narasin on manure composition and microbial ecology, and gas emissions from finishing pigs fed either a corn-soybean meal or a corn- soybean meal-dried distillers grains with solubles diets. Journal of Animal Science. 96:1317-1329.
- Moore Jr., P.A., Li, H., Burns, R., Miles, D.M., Maguire, R., Ogejo, J., Reiter, M., Buser, M., Trabue, S.L. 2018. Development of the ARS air scrubber: A device for reducing ammonia, dust and odor in exhaust air from animal rearing facilities. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. 2:1-10.
- Gillette, K.L., Malone, R.W., Kaspar, T.C., Ma, L., Parkin, T.B., Jaynes, D.B., Fang, Q.X., Hatfield, J.L., Feyereisen, G.W., Kersebaum, K.C. 2018. N loss to drain flow and N2O emissions from a corn-soybean rotation with winter rye. Science of the Total Environment. 618:982-997.
- Colliander, A., Jackson, T.J., Chan, S., O'Neill, P., Bindlish, R., Cosh, M.H., Caldwell, T., Walker, J., Berg, A., McNairn, H., Thibeault, M., Martinez-Fernandez, J., Jensen, K., Asanuma, J., Seyfried, M.S., Bosch, D. D., Starks, P., Holifield Collins, C.D., Prueger, J.H., Su, Z., Lopez- Beeza, E., Yeuh, S. 2018. An assessment of the differences between spatial resolution and grid size for the SMAP enhanced soil moisture product over homogeneous sites. Remote Sensing of Environment. 207:65-70.
- Reichle, R., De Lannoy, G., Liu, Q., Ardizonne, J., Colliander, A., Conaty, A., Crow, W.T., Jackson, T.J., Jones, L., Kimball, J., Koster, R., Mahanama, S., Smith, E., Berg, A., Bircher, S., Bosch, D.D., Caldwell, T., Cosh, M.H., Gonzalez-Zanora, A., Holifield Collins, C.D., Livingston, S.J., Lopez-Baeza, E., Martinez-Fernandez, J., McNairn, H., Moghaddam, M., Pacheco, A., Pellarin, T., Prueger, J.H., Rowlandson, T., Seyfried, M.S., Starks, P.J., Su, Z., Thibeault, M., Uldall, F., van der Velde, R., Walker, J., Wu, X., Zeng, Y. 2017. Assessment of the SMAP Level-4 surface and root-zone soil moisture product using in situ measurements. Journal of Hydrometeorology. 18(10):2621-2645.
- Bindlish, R., Cosh, M.H., Jackson, T.J., Koike, T., Fuiji, X., De Jeu,, R., Chan, S., Asanuma, J., Berg, A., Bosch, D.D., Caldwell, T., Holifield Collins, C.D., McNairn, H., Martinez-Fernandez, J., Prueger, J.H., Rowlandson, T., Seyfried, M.S., Starks, P.J., Su, Z., Thibeault, M., van der Velde, R., Walker, J., Coopersmith, E. 2018. GCOM-W AMSR2 soil moisture product validation using core validation sites. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. 11(1) :209-219.
- Chan, S., Bindlish, R., O'Neill, P., Jackson, T.J., Njoku, E., Dunbar, R., Chaubell, J., Peipmeier, J., Yueh, S., Entekhabi, D., Colliander, A., Chen, F., Cosh, M.H., Caldwell, T., Walker, J., Berg, A., McNairn, H., Thibeault, M., Martinez-Fernandez, J., Udall, F., Seyfried, M.S., Bosch, D. D., Starks, P.J., Holifield Collins, C.D., Prueger, J.H., Crow, W.T. 2018. Development and assessment of the SMAP enhanced passive soil moisture product. Remote Sensing of Environment. 204:931-941.
- Andersen, D.S., Yang, F., Trabue, S.L., Kerr, B.J., Howe, A.S. 2018. Narasin as manure additive to reduce methane production from swine manure. Transactions of the ASABE. 61(3):943-953.
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Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): Objective 1: Characterize and improve accounting of N emissions as N2O and NH3 losses from cropping systems. Subobjective 1.1: Quantify the soil and environmental factors contributing to N2O production by nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. Subobjective 1.2: Assess the effect of cover crops on N2O production in the field. Subobjective 1.3: Assess manure injection/incorporation methods for impact on residue/surface cover, soil disturbance, and N emissions. Objective 2: Enhance process-level characterization of agrochemical emissions, fate and transport across spatial scales from micro- environments to regions. Subobjective 2.1: Determine the effect tillage practices have on agrochemical volatilization losses from agricultural fields. Subobjective 2.2: Improve measurement and modeling approaches to describe agrochemical emissions and transport from agricultural operations. Subobjective 2.3: Determine the emission flux of NH3 and other gases from cattle feedlot surfaces using flux-gradient technique. Subobjective 2.4: Compare particulate plume data measured with LiDaR to conventional model (ex. AERMOD) predictions to assess model accuracy for both near facility and downwind transport. Subobjective 2.5: Develop an improved physics-based model on the dispersion of herbicide droplets from mechanical sprayers by incorporating ambient turbulence conditions, the turbulent kinetic energy generated by the motion of the sprayer, and atmospheric stability. Objective 3: Develop strategies to manage the effects of manure properties and air flow on NH3 emissions. Subobjective 3.1: Manipulate swine diet formulations to improve N utilization, and reduce N excretion and NH3 emission along with other gaseous emission into the environment. Subobjective 3.2: Evaluate and develop ventilation practices for reducing NH3 and other air quality emissions. Approach (from AD-416): This project will focus on knowledge gaps that exist in the loss of N and agrochemicals from cropping and animal systems. Three approaches will be pursued for addressing knowledge gaps: 1) quantify soil and environmental factors contributing to N2O and NH3 emissions in animal production and field cropping systems; 2) determine soil properties that drive volatile loss and transport of agrochemicals and N compounds, and 3) determine effectiveness of N control strategies for reducing NH3 emissions. In cropping systems, there are large gaps in our understanding of the N budget in soil including both mechanisms and magnitude of losses through emissions. Laboratory studies on N2O emissions will use stable isotopes to quantify both the effect of temperature and kinetics of denitrification under varying NH3 concentrations. Field studies using chambers will be used to quantify N2O emission for a range of soil and nitrogen management strategies. Assessing the effect residue/surface cover and soil disturbance have on N loss from manure application in cropping systems will be conducted during late fall and early spring. Whole field emissions loss of N will be quantified using both an open path laser system coupled with inverse dispersion modeling for NH3 and eddy covariance with a quantum cascade laser system for N2O emissions. Quantifying the transport parameters controlling volatile losses of pesticides from cropping systems based on tillage practices will use eddy covariance micrometeorology techniques to determine turbulent flux from whole fields. The relaxed eddy accumulation technique will be used to provide more accurate eddy diffusivities for pesticide vapor transport to improve agrochemical volatilization flux estimates. In addition, LiDaR will be used to develop dispersion models for droplets from mechanical sprayers for physics-based models on the loss of agrochemicals from fields due to spray drift. Quantifying the transport parameters controlling volatile losses of N compounds and particulates from animal production systems will involve LiDaR- to measure plume dynamics and produce a remote-sensing approach to quantify emissions and compare these results to conventional modeling approaches. In animal production systems, NH3 is the dominant form of N emissions, but gaps exist in effective N control/mitigation strategies that reduce N emissions. Reducing NH3 emissions from animal production will focus on improving N utilization in animal diets by use of feed additives and improving grind size of feed particles. Ventilation practices will be evaluating and optimized for reducing NH3 emissions. Knowledge gained through this research will provide producers and regulatory agencies scientific data to improve sustainability of agricultural production facilities in U.S. farming systems. Objective 1: Experiments were conducted to quantify the interactive relationship between nitrous oxide production, temperature, and soil water content. It was found that following precipitation events, nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions temporarily increased, then gradually decreased. The decrease in N2O emissions occurred despite increasing temperature, suggesting that temperature was not a major factor controlling emissions. However, the diurnal pattern of N2O emissions closely matched the diurnal temperature pattern. Temperature sensitivity coefficients (Q-10) decreased with decreasing soil water content. These results indicate a dual control of temperature and soil water content on N2O emissions. Additional experiments will be needed in order to distinguish between nitrifier and denitrifier N2O production. Nitrous oxide emissions were measured throughout the year, and the temporal variability analyzed. A �hot-moment� analysis was developed using Tukey�s outlier test to identify extreme N2O emissions events. There was no effect of cover crop on the frequency of extreme events, however, the frequency of extreme events under corn was approximately 3 fold higher than under soybeans an effect likely due to fertilizer application in corn years. Objective 2: Long-term monitoring of two common pre-emergent herbicides continued for the 17th year. In 2014, the volatilization monitoring program was directed to assess metolachlor and atrazine volatilization losses from a reduced tillage operation. The study is being conducted at the same location as in previous years but with the added surface component of corn residue to determine the impact on volatilization losses. A new measurement protocol (Relaxed Eddy Accumulation, REA) is being developed by ARS scientists in Ames, Iowa and Beltsville, Maryland. The protocol uses fewer assumptions than the flux-gradient approach and will improve the accuracy of pesticide volatilization loss estimates. A critical element in the development of the REA system is to determine the optimal flow necessary to capture detectable concentrations of metolachlor and atrazine. The FY 2017 volatilization study focused on identifying the lowest flow rates to capture metolachlor and atrazine vapor. Extraction and quantification of the pre-emergent herbicides will be completed by the end of the FY 2017. Data from this study will drive the specification in building the REA at the Ames ARS facility. Determine emission flux of ammonia (NH3) from cattle feedlot using gradient flux technique. Ammonia data collected over a two year period was coupled with corresponding micrometeorology data. Ammonia data collected with NH3 open-path tunable diode laser was reduced into 15 min averages to align with micrometeorology data, while NH3 concentrations collected with photoacoustic multigas analyzer were averaged with micrometeorology data in two hour intervals. Concentration gradients from the feedlot surface followed a power function relationship. Preliminary data analysis suggests that increasing pen surface scraping reduces overall ammonia emissions. Quantifying accurate particulate and gas emissions to the atmosphere is essential to addressing air quality issues from animal production facilities. Landscape and facility structures all impact transport processes across spatial scales from micro-environments to regional scales. Previous campaigns have produced a large number of two dimensional particulate plume images across different animal production facilities using a Light Detection and Ranging (Lidar) approach. Linking local meteorological data with Lidar measurements is enabling Ames, Iowa ARS scientist to better understand how meteorologically conditions impact transport processes of particulates downwind and offsite. Merging the two distinct large data sets (Lidar and meteorology) will enable a new remote sensing approach to estimate plume emissions. In FY 2017, ARS and university scientists have been identifying specific periods representing emissions from poultry, swine and beef cattle facilities and preparing data sets that will be evaluated in combined into a new physically based algorithm to predict particulate emissions. Pesticide spray drift detection and range dispersion. Spray drift plumes were visualized using Lidar technology to determine if spray drift model characterization were accurate. The two dimensional data from operations showed mechanical turbulence generated by spray rigs contribute to the upward lofting and off-target dispersion of spray droplets. Preliminary data strongly suggest that mechanical turbulence generated by spray rigs contribute to the upward lofting and off-target dispersion of spray droplets. Lidar technology along with high frequency turbulence measurements is providing improved spray drift modeling. Objective 3: Swine feeding trial was completed investigating the effect crude protein (CP) level and sources have on emissions from swine manure. Low CP swine diets supplemented with crystalline amino acids lowered manure pH and lowered odorous volatile organic compounds (VOC). Ammonia levels in the manure were reduced by 7.6% for each 1% reduction in CP. The protein source in the diet affected both the pH of the manure (associated with fiber content) and sulfide levels that was controlled by sulfur levels in the diet. Lower CP diets had reduced levels of both ammonia and VOCs being emitted from manure. Ammonia emissions were lowered by 9.4% for each 1% reduction in CP content. The source of the CP affected NH3, hydrogen sulfide, and VOC emissions. Lower CP diets reduced odor by 5% for each 1% reduction in CP. Accomplishments 01 Winter cover crops impact on nitrogen (N) emissions from cropping systems. Reactive N species are lost from poorly managed agricultural ecosystems. A long term study assessing the effect cover crops have on N loss through emissions was conducted at an ARS facility in Ames, Iowa. Winter cover crops were shown to reduce available soil mineral N during active growth, but potentially increased N loss through nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions when plants were killed by providing substrate for denitrifying bacteria. In this study direct soil emissions of N2O were measured over a 10 year period in a corn/soybean rotation with and without a winter rye cover crop, with no significant effect of the rye cover crop on N2O emissions, however, emissions were different between corn and soybeans. The rye cover crop did reduce indirect N2O emissions due to reductions in soil nitrate leaching. N2O emissions over 10 years tended to be lower in the rye cover crop treatment, thus the increased benefits of cover crops are not offset by greater N2O emissions. Large year-to-year variations in precipitation appeared to be a major determinant of annual N2O losses with larger emissions occurring after intense rainfall events. Increasing frequency of intense rainfall events due to climate change could result in larger soil N2O emissions in the future. 02 Tillage effects on agrochemical volatilization losses. Herbicides still dominate in terms of pounds of pesticide active ingredient applied annually. Researchers from Beltsville, Maryland and Ames, Iowa are conducting a long-term volatilization study (16 years) to quantify metolachlor and atrazine losses to the atmosphere under a wide range of local meteorological conditions and under conventional and reduced tillage practices. Results from the multi-year volatilization study for a low volatility pre-emergent herbicide showed that five days after application, cumulative herbicide volatilization ranged from 5% to 63% of that applied for metolachlor and from 2 to 11% of that applied for atrazine. For both atrazine and metolachlor, volatilization losses to the atmosphere were substantial and strongly related to soil surface water content and local meteorological conditions. Volatilization were orders of magnitude greater than surface runoff losses. This length of study is necessary to understand the differences among years and to provide a greater insight into the relationships between herbicide runoff and volatilization. Data results from this unique long-term research will influence the United States Department of Agriculture and United States Environmental Protection Agency policy with regard to herbicide behavior and the information on volatilization will be used to develop or improve pesticide transport models. 03 Comparison of particulate plume data using a laser to conventional model predictions. Quantifying particulate emissions from livestock operation remains a challenging issue due to the complex and diverse array of production facilities. Scientists from ARS in Ames, Iowa and University of Iowa conducted a series of two dimensional plume measurements at poultry, swine and cattle facilities that produced numerous two dimensional plume dispersion images. These images integrated turbulence and meteorological data to produce emission concentrations that were compared to conventional model emission concentrations. Integrating the laser measurements with meteorological data provided higher resolution estimates of particulate emissions which can be used evaluate new management strategies to reduce particulate emissions. Specific two dimensional images for a range of meteorological conditions have been identified for further analysis using turbulence data to correlate with plume transport features. Integrating two dimensional imagery of plume dispersion with local meteorological data will improve particulate emission estimations at the animal facility scale. 04 Lower ammonia and odor emissions through diet formulation. Livestock production is the main source of ammonia (NH3) in the environment and limiting nitrogen into the system will reduce the emissions of NH3. Lowering the crude protein (CP) content of animal diets has the potential to lower NH3 emissions. A swine feeding trial in Ames, Iowa was conducted to test this hypothesis with amino acid supplements replacing CP levels. Data from this study showed that NH3 and odor emissions were both reduced by 9.6% and 5% for each percent reduction of CP in the diet. The source of protein in the diet also impacted emissions of both ammonia and odor. Animal diet reformulations with crystalline amino acids have the potential to lower emissions thereby reducing the environmental footprint of swine facilities.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
- Van Weelden, M., Andersen, D., Kerr, B.J., Trabue, S.L., Rosentrater, K., Pepple, L., dos Santos, T. 2016. Impact of dietary carbohydrate and protein source and content on swine manure foaming properties. Biological Engineering (ASABE). 59(4):923-932. doi: 10.13031/trans.59.11470.
- Nichols, V.A., Miguez, F.E., Sauer, T.J., Dietzel, R.N. 2016. Maize and prairie root contributions to soil CO2 emissions in the field. Crop Science. 56:1-11. doi: 10.2135/cropsci2016.01.0048.
- Xiao, X., Sauer, T.J., Singer, J.W., Horton, R., Ren, T., Heitman, J.L. 2016. Partitioning evaporation and transpiration in a maize field using heat pulse sensors for evaporation measurement. Transactions of the ASABE. 59(2):591-599. doi: 10.13031/trans.59.11059.
- Hatfield, J.L., Prueger, J.H. 2016. Variable atmospheric, canopy, and soil effects on energy and carbon fluxes over crops. In: Hatfield, J.L., Fleisher, D.H. editors. Advances in Agricultural Systems Modeling. Vol. 7. Madison, WI: ASA, CSSA, and SSSA. p. 195-216.
- Willis, W., Elchinger, W., Prueger, J.H., Hapeman, C.J., Li, H., Buser, M., Hatfield, J.L., Wanjura, J.D., Holt, G.A., Torrents, A., Plenner, S., Clarida, W., Brown, S.D. 2017. Particulate capture efficiency of a vegetative environmental buffer surrounding an animal feeding operation. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment. 240:101-108.
- Panzacchi, P., Gioacchini, P., Sauer, T.J., Tonon, G. 2016. New dual in- growth core isotopic technique to assess the root litter carbon input to the soil. Geoderma. 278:32-39. doi: 10.1016/j.geoderma.2016.05.010.
- Parkin, T.B., Kaspar, T.C., Jaynes, D.B., Moorman, T.B. 2016. Rye cover crop effects on direct and indirect nitrous oxide emissions. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 80(6):1551-1559. doi: 10.2136/sssaj2016.04. 0120.
- Boote, K.J., Porter, C., Jones, J.W., Thorburn, P.J., Kersebaum, K.C., Hoogenboom, G., White, J.W., Hatfield, J.L. 2016. Sentinel site data for model improvement � Definition and characterization. In: J. L. Hatfield, D. Fleisher, editors. Improving Modeling Tools to Assess Climate Change Effects on Crop Response. Advances in Agricultural Systems Modeling. Volume 7. Madison, WI: American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc. p. 125-158. doi: 10. 2134/advagricsystmodel7.2014.0019.
- Prueger, J.H., Alfieri, J.G., Gish, T.J., Kustas, W.P., Hatfield, J.L., Daughtry, C.S., McKee, L.G. 2017. Multi-year measurements of field-scale metolachlor volatilization. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution. 228:84. doi: 10.1007/s11270-017-3258-z.
- Anderson, R.G., Alfieri, J.G., Tirado-Corbala, R., Gartung, J.L., McKee, L. G., Prueger, J.H., Wang, D., Ayars, J.E., Kustas, W.P. 2016. Assessing FAO- 56 dual crop coefficients using eddy covariance flux partitioning. Agricultural Water Management. 179:92-102. doi: 10.1016/j.agwat.2016.07. 027.
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