DayCent

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Daycent is a biogeochemical model of agroecosystems, simulating fluxes of carbon and nitrogen between the atmosphere, vegetation, and soil. [1] It is a daily time series version of the CENTURY biogeochemical model.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency, United States Department of Agriculture/ARS and the Colorado State University Natural Resource Ecology Lab are currently using the Daycent model to develop a national inventory of N2O emissions from U.S. agricultural soils. This inventory will be compared and contrasted with the existing Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) agricultural N2O emissions inventory for the United States. [2] [3] Having more accurate data to account for nutrient cycling could have significant implications for public policy associated with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and potential future mitigation efforts in the United States. [4]

Model inputs include daily minimum and maximum air temperature and precipitation, surface soil texture class, and land cover/use data. Model outputs include daily fluxes of various N-gas species (e.g., N2O, NOx, N2); daily CO2 flux from heterotrophic soil respiration; soil organic C and N; net primary productivity; daily water and nitrate (NO3) leaching, and other ecosystem parameters. Daycent has been tested using data from various native and managed systems. [5] [6] [7] [8] In similar studies, comparisons between Daycent simulated data and measured values for annual crop yields, N2O emissions, and NO3 leaching produced r2 values of 0.72, 0.68, and 0.61 respectively. [9]

Other models used for simulating carbon and nitrogen biogeochemistry in agricultural systems include

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References

  1. ↑ Del Grosso, S.J., Parton, W.J., Mosier, A.R., Hartman, M.D., Keough, C.A., Peterson, G.A., Ojima, D.S., Schimel, D.S., 2001. Simulated effects of land use, soil texture, and precipitation on N gas emissions using DAYCENT. In: R.F. Follett, R.F., Hatfield, J.L. (Eds.), Nitrogen in the Environment: Sources, Problems, and Management. Elsevier Science Publishers, The Netherlands, pp. 413-431.
  2. ↑ "Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990 - 2008" (PDF). Environmental Protection Agency. April 15, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-04-29.
  3. ↑ Del Grosso, S.J., Parton, W.J., Mosier, A.R., Walsh, M.K., Ojima, D.S., and Thorton, P.E. (2006). DAYCENT National-Scale Simulations of Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Cropped Soils in the United States. Journal of Environmental Quality, 35:1451-1460.
  4. ↑ Delgado, Jorge A., Del Grosso, Stephen J., and Ogle, Stephen M. (2010). 15N isotopic crop residue cycling studies and modeling suggest that IPCC methodologies to assess residue contributions to N2O-N emissions should be reevaluated. Nutrient Cycle Agro-ecosystem, 86: 383-390.
  5. ↑ Del Grosso, S.J., Parton, W.J., Mosier, A.R., Hartman, M.D., Brenner, J., Ojima, D.S., Schimel, D.S., 2001a. Simulated interaction of carbon dynamics and nitrogen trace gas fluxes using the DAYCENT model. In: M. Schaffer, M., L. Ma, L. S. Hansen, S. (Eds.), Modeling Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics for Soil Management. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, pp. 303-332.
  6. ↑ Del Grosso, S.J., Parton, W.J., Mosier, A.R., Hartman, M.D., Keough, C.A., Peterson, G.A., Ojima, D.S., Schimel, D.S., 2001b. Simulated effects of land use, soil texture, and precipitation on N gas emissions using Daycent. In: R.F. Follett, R.F., Hatfield, J.L. (Eds.), Nitrogen in the Environment: Sources, Problems, and Management. Elsevier Science Publishers, The Netherlands, pp. 413-431.
  7. ↑ Del Grosso, S.J., Ojima, D.S., Parton, W.J., Mosier, A.R., Peterson, G.A., Schimel, D.S., 2002. Simulated effects of dryland cropping intensification on soil organic matter and greenhouse gas exchanges using the DAYCENT ecosystem model. Environ. Pollut. 116, S75-S83.
  8. ↑ Del Grosso, S.J., Mosier, A.R., Parton, W.J., Ojima, D.S., 2005. DAYCENT model analysis of past and contemporary soil N2O and net greenhouse gas flux for major crops in the USA. Soil Tillage and Research 83, 9-24, doi : 10.1016/j.still.2005.02.007.
  9. ↑ Del Grosso, Stephen, "Daycent Model Estimates of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Potential of Cropped Soils in the USA." Session No. 70 U.S. Agriculture’s Role in Soil Carbon Sequestration and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation (GRACEnet) George R. Brown Convention Center: General Assembly Theater Hall C 1:30 PM-5:30 PM, Tuesday, 7 October 2008
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