Skip to main content

Dataset


  • Version 1 of 1


Dataset

Title: 
Nitrification inhibitors and fertiliser nitrogen application timing strategies to reduce N2O. Slurry, Nottinghamshire, 2011-12

Related Party - Organisation (Author): ADAS UK Ltd.
Related Party - Organisation (Funder): Defra
Abstract:
An experiment was carried out at a commercial farm near Ollerton, central England on a sandy loam soil using small field plots (5 x 12 m) arranged in a randomised block design with three replicates per treatment. Cattle slurry (at 40 m3/ha) was surface broadcast applied to grassland in mid-August 2011 and in late-February 2012. A control treatment was included where no slurry was applied. In a separate treatment, the commercially available nitrification inhibitor - dicyandiamide (DCD) was pre-mixed with the slurry prior to application to give a DCD application rate of 15 kg/ha. Following slurry application, measurements of direct nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions were made over c.12 months, using 5 static chambers (0.8 m2 total surface area) per plot and analysed by gas chromatography. Ammonia (NH3) emissions were measured for 7 days after each slurry application, using a wind tunnel technique (one per plot). Nitrate (NO3) leaching losses were measured following the August slurry application using porous ceramic cups (6 per plot) installed to a depth of 90 cm during the period of over-winter drainage (Webster et al., 1993) with samples collected every 50 mm of drainage or every 2 weeks whichever occurred sooner. Drainage volumes were estimated using IRRIGUIDE (Bailey and Spackman, 1986) and were combined with NO3 concentrations to quantify the amounts of NO3-N leached. Indirect N2O-N emissions were estimated from the measured NO3-N and NH3-N losses and using the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change default emission factors. Grass yields and N offtakes were also measured following grass cuts in May and July 2012. The Nottinghamshire, 2011-2012 slurry experiment contains data sets of; annual nitrous oxide emission, annual nitrous oxide emission factor, total ammonia loss, overwinter nitrate leaching loss, soil moisture, top soil mineral nitrogen, temperature, rainfall and associated crop (grass yield and nitrogen offtakes) and soil measurements. References: Bailey, R.J. and Spackman, E. (1996). A model for estimating soil moisture changes as an aid to irrigation scheduling and crop water-use studies: I. Operational details and description. Soil Use and Management 12, 122-129. Webster, C.P., Shepherd, M.A. Goulding, K.W.T. and Lord E.I. (1993). Comparisons of methods for measuring the leaching of mineral nitrogen from arable land. Journal of Soil Science, 44, 49-62.

Subject Keywords: Nitrous oxideAmmoniaNitrate leachingCattle slurrySurface broadcastNitrification inhibitorsDCDApplication timingGrassland soilsSandy soils
Geographic Keywords: NottinghamshireEast MidlandsEnglandUnited Kingdom
Phenomenon Time -  Start Date/Time: 2011-08-17 00:00:00 End Date/Time:  2013-03-11 00:00:00

Geographic Extent -
    Longitude (West): -1.27
    Longitude (East): -1.0
    Latitude (South): 53.14
    Latitude (North): 53.30

Data Quality Statement:
The ADAS Integrated Management System (AIMS) is a business centered management system that effectively integrates business planning, business management and business processes. It also ensures that all the requirements of proprietary quality, environmental management and Health & Safety related standards and schemes to which the ADAS Group of Companies complies are addressed in the one company wide management system. At the core of AIMS are the Group’s policy statements, quality and environmental management system manual and an extensive range of Standard Operating Procedures prescribing internal business processes and technical methodologies. All documents within AIMS are periodically reviewed and revised where necessary, in accordance with a documented procedure so that the Group’s business needs continue to be met and to respond to opportunities and ideas from staff for further improvement. The system is centrally controlled and all documents are available to staff with password controlled computer access via the company’s Intranet. Copies of policy statements and the quality and environmental management system manual are publicly available via the company’s website: www.adas.co.uk. Hard copies of these documents can be provided where necessary. Senior management periodically review AIMS to ensure the continuing suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of the system and to identify or assess opportunities for further improvement or requirement for change. Compliance with AIMS ensures that client needs are identified, understood and that services and products are subsequently delivered in a professional and independent manner designed to fully meet and satisfy client expectations. Delivery to clients is: - Subject to risk assessment and subsequent risk management. - Specified and agreed in formal contract agreements. - Controlled via the use of effective project planning to meet milestones, specifications, time frames and budget. - Project managed by appropriately trained and qualified staff, using up-to-date equipment and facilities where appropriate. - Subject to rigorous quality control checking before release to ensure technical soundness and compliance with contractual requirements and ADAS standards. Effective implementation of AIMS is assessed by scheduled internal audits carried out by independent Quality Assurance staff. Critical aspects of work and that of sub-contractors and collaborators are also audited where contractually required. ISO 9001 The Soils, Agriculture And Water Business Unit and the Animal Health and Chemicals in the Environment Groups within the Development Businesses Unit are certificated to this standard by Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) for: 'Provision of independent research and consultancy focusing primarily on arable crop protection, crop physiology, sustainable farming systems, agriculture, horticulture, soils and nutrients, water, sustainable livestock, animal health and chemicals in the environment (excluding advisory work funded directly by farmers and growers).' Certificate No. LRQ 0936648. Each Research And Development study is led by a Study Director responsible for planning, co-ordinating, controlling and reporting the work. Throughout the work the Study Director has a pivotal role in guiding the scientific content and quality of delivery. A specific protocol approved by the Study Director, sets out the objectives and timetable for the work, and details the experiment design, materials and methods and reporting requirements. Detailed nitrous oxide emission measurement methodology: Direct N2O emissions were measured with five static flux chambers (40 cm wide x 40 cm long x 25 cm high) per plot, covering a total surface area of 0.8 m2. The chambers were of white (i.e. reflective) PVC and un-vented with a water-filled channel running around the upper rim of the chamber allowing an air-tight seal to form following chamber enclosure with a lid (Smith et al., 2012). Chambers were pushed into the soil up to a depth of 5 cm and remained in place throughout the experiment, except during slurry application and grass cutting when chambers were removed, locations were marked, and chambers were re-instated to the same position as prior to removal. Chambers remained open except for a short time on each sampling day. On that day, ten samples of ambient air were taken to represent time zero (T0) N2O samples. From each chamber, after a 40-minute enclosure period (T40) a headspace sample was taken using a 50-ml syringe. Using a double needle system the sample was flushed though a pre-evacuated 20-22 ml glass vial fitted with a chloro-butyl rubber septum and held at atmospheric pressure. The N2O flux was calculated using an assumed linear increase in N2O concentration from the ambient N2O concentration (T0) to the N2O concentration inside the chamber after 40-minutes enclosure (T40) (Chadwick et al., 2014). Throughout each experiment, the linearity of emissions through time was checked routinely from three chambers located on the cattle slurry only treatment. A minimum of five samples were taken from each chamber at 15 min intervals commencing at closure i.e. T0 and spanning the T40 sampling time. In order to minimise the effect of diurnal variation, gas sampling was carried out between 10:00 am and 14:00 pm and where possible between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm as suggested by IAEA (1992) and referred to in the IPCC good practice guidance (IPCC, 2000). Gas samples were analysed as soon as possible after collection (to minimise potential leakage) using gas chromatographs fitted with an electron-capture detector and an automated sample injection system. Following receipt in the laboratory, three replicates of one standard N2O gas were kept with the samples and were used to verify sample integrity during storage. The gas chromatographs were calibrated on a daily basis using certified N2O standard gas mixtures. Following slurry application, N2O flux measurements were carried out for 5 days immediately following slurry application, daily for a further 5 days during the next week, twice weekly for the next two weeks, every other week over the next c.four months, decreasing in frequency to monthly until the end of the 12 month sampling period. This sampling schedule resulted in an annual total of 35-40 sampling days starting from the day of the slurry application. Measurements were taken over 12 months to follow IPCC good practice guidance and so that the results were directly comparable to the IPCC 2006 methodology default emission factor. Nitrous oxide fluxes from the five replicate chambers per plot were averaged. Cumulative fluxes were calculated using the trapezoidal rule to interpolate fluxes between sampling points. References: Chadwick, D.R., Cardenas, L., Misselbrook, T.H., Smith, K.A., Rees, R.M., Watson, C.J., Mcgeough, K.L., Williams, J.R., Cloy, J.M., Thorman, R.E. and Dhanoa, M.S. (2014). Optimizing chamber methods for measuring nitrous oxide emissions from plot-based agricultural experiments. European Journal of Soil Science 65, 295-307. IAEA (1992). Manual on Measurement of Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Agriculture. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna, IAEA-TECDOC-674, ISSN 10111-4289. (IPCC, 2000). Good Practice Guidance And Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. Penman, J., Kruger, D., Galbally, I., Hiraishi, T., Nyenzi, B., Emmanul, S., Buendia, L., Hoppaus, R., Martinsen, T., Meijer, J., Miwa, K. znd Tanabe, K. (Eds). IGES, Japan. Smith K.A., Dobbie K.E., Thorman R., Watson C.J., Chadwick D.R., Yamulki S. and Ball B.C. (2012). The effect of N fertilizer forms on nitrous oxide emissions from UK arable land and grassland. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 93, 127-149.
Publication Date: 
2017-02-03


To discuss any issues relating to this dataset please either send an email to dis@fba.org.uk or post to our forum

Download All 0.08MB

All Version Downloads

Rights Statement

This data is published under the licence FBA Licence

Attribution: R.E. Thorman, J.R. Williams, A.J. Rollett, G. Bennett, H. Kingston and B.J. Chambers

Citation of this data should be as follows:
R.E. Thorman, J.R. Williams, A.J. Rollett, G. Bennett, H. Kingston and B.J. Chambers (2017): Nitrification inhibitors and fertiliser nitrogen application timing strategies to reduce N2O. Slurry, Nottinghamshire, 2011-12. Version:1. [dataset] Freshwater Biological Association [publisher]. doi:10.17865/ghgno325

Total file downloads: 1414

Data ComponentsProjects/Activities