DayCent

Daycent is a daily time series biogeochemical model used in agroecosystems to simulates fluxes of carbon and nitrogen in the atmosphere, vegetation, and soil.^[1] It is a daily 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 maximum/minimum air temperature and precipitation, surface soil texture class, and land cover/use data. Model outputs include daily N-gas flux (N₂O, NO_x, 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 with 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]

DNDC is another model used for simulating carbon and nitrogen biogeochemistry in agricultural systems.

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. ^ http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/downloads10/US-GHG-Inventory-2010_Upfront.pdf
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