Continuous and accurately quantification of carbon dioxide and methane from conversion of pasture to sugar-cane in different climatic conditions from Central-South of Brazil.

• Grant number: 14/08802-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): September 01, 2014
• Effective date (End): November 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Soil Science
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino Cerri
• Grantee: André Mancebo Mazzetto
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The goal of this proposal is to quantify greenhouse gas emissions due to the different ways of converting pasture areas for the cultivation of cane sugar in the Central-South region of Brazil. The quantification shall be performed accurately and representatively, on large areas, in real time and continuously 24 hours a day, faster and lower cost when compared to current procedures. To achieve the proposed goals a integrated "eddy covariance" tower will be integrated with portable analysers of CO2 and CH4, weather stations, leaf area analysers, sensors for monitoring soil and air temperature and moisture. All equipment's will be all fed by an autonomous system of wind and solar power . To quantify these emissions the tower will be installed in pasture for a period of one month before the conversion. Immediately after each event of conversion (plowing, disking, drying, application of inputs such as fertilizer and lime), quantification of GHG emissions will be performed. Finally, the tower will also act in measurements related to soil preparation and planting of sugar-cane, including the application of inputs usually employed in the implementation of this culture. The total time measurement of GHG emissions due to conversion will be approximately 3 months, with one month on pasture immediately before conversion, one month during the events of conversion and one month in the deployment of cane sugar. The sequence of conversion of land use will be evaluated by at least 3 contrasting climatic conditions within the Central-South region of Brazil. The results will be unprecedented and reliable in technical and scientific means, because they involve the integration of latest generation equipment that will enable huge reduction in the uncertainty of the results, high spatial and temporal resolutions and customized information at a lower cost than conventional procedures.