Fractal dimension and anisotropy of greenhouse gases emission and soil attributes in a sugarcane area

• Grant number: 13/24926-0
• Support type: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): March 01, 2014
• Effective date (End): January 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Soil Science
• Principal researcher: Newton La Scala Júnior
• Grantee: Elton da Silva Bicalho
• Supervisor abroad: Kurt A. Spokas
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil
• Research place: University of Minnesota (U of M), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/00360-7 - Fractogram of soil greenhouse gases emission in a sugarcane area in different directions, BP.DR

Abstract

Soil greenhouse gas emission possess spatial dependence with variable structure at different scales and directions (called here as anisotropy). This variability is influenced by tillage and management practices that modify soil attributes directly related to the dynamics of soil carbon in the agricultural environment. The aim of this project is to assess the spatial variability of soil CO2, CH4 and N2O production potentials and their fractal dimension in different scales and directions. These differences will be related to the physical and chemical soil attributes in a mechanically harvested sugarcane production area. The quantification of soil CO2, CH4 and N2O production will be carried out from dry soil samples collected in a grid of 50 × 50 m containing 133 points arranged symmetrically. We will use a laboratory incubation method to analyze the produced gases by gas chromatography. These results will be analyzed by using descriptive statistics, and then by fractograms which present the values of fractal dimension for different spatial distances. This research will allow us to determine the spatial dependence between soil CO2, CH4 and N2O production and other soil attributes in the studied area in order to provide the understanding for minimizing environmental consequences of sugarcane production, with a particular emphasis on minimizing GHG production. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BICALHO, ELTON DA SILVA; MOITINHO, MARA REGINA; TEIXEIRA, DANIEL DE BORTOLI; PANOSSO, ALAN RODRIGO; SPOKAS, KURT ARNOLD; LA SCALA, JR., NEWTON. Soil Greenhouse Gases: Relations to Soil Attributes in a Sugarcane Production Area. Soil Science Society of America Journal, v. 81, n. 5, p. 1168-1178, SEP-OCT 2017. Web of Science Citations: 3.