There is an extended concern for how to quantify the fluxes of greenhouse gasses (GHG) and how they are related to climate change and land use. Efforts have already been done, mostly regarding carbon (C) compounds, but there is still much to be done especially to understand regulating factors and interactions with the Nitrogen cycle.
NitroEurope is a large project for the integrated European research into the N cycle. This study shares its aim, to improve the understanding the physics involved in the fluxes of the reactive N (Nr). More specifically, the patterns of some physical and biological processes related to Nr have been studied for two wetlands, one in the proximity of Edinburgh and the other in the North of Finland.
A common model setup has been used for both of them, since they are both peat soils. The differences applied to achieve appropriate performances give insights of their nature. The presence of snow is a major factor that governs the behavior of the site in Finland.
The scaling of existing models for the estimation of heat transfer in the soil of the Scottish site is also critical, such as its groundwater level. The sites represent different climatic conditions, but for CO2 fluxes they showed similar behavior and response to governing meteorological conditions.
Using the GLUE method in combination with a process oriented ecosystem model, some further insights have been gained for the regulation and control of greenhouse gas emissions from the two sites.
Source: KTH
Author: Mancera Gonzalez, Rafael