In temperate climates, a significant fraction of annual emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) from agricultural land occurs during soil thaw. The objective of this study is to determine the impact of conversion of long-term fallow grassland to perennial grass bioenergy crops on N2O emissions during spring-thaw, and to identify field-scale features that influence emissions. We measured mid-afternoon fluxes daily from March 27th to April 7th 2013 from fallow and reed canarygrass over a short topological gradient using static chambers. Soil temperature, volumetric water content, and above-ground biomass were also observed, as were hourly air temperature and precipitation. Hot-moment analysis, non-parametric statistics and modeling results show that in the reed canarygrass, the topologically low subplots exhibited significantly elevated emissions compared to the fallow. Our results suggest that conversion of fallow grassland to perennial grass cropping systems for bioenergy or other uses could increase spring-thaw N2O emissions in wetness prone areas.

The atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O) is of special interest, due to its persistent effect as a potent greenhouse gas and stratospheric ozone destructor. Animal manure fertilization is one of the key factors contributing to N2O formation. In the Northeastern US, dairy industry is the largest agricultural activity, and the manure cropland fertilization is a common practice. Continuous monitoring of N2O emissions from croplands in New York State was conducted by eddy covariance method from 2006 to 2009. The research was aimed at quantification of N2O emissions from manure-fertilized corn (Zea mays) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa) fields, estimating strength and spatial variability of soil N2O sources by conducting simultaneous static chamber campaign, and analysis of temporal distribution of N2O fluxes as affected by seasonality of climate variations and manure practices. The analysis of cumulative N2O emissions and source contributions into the integrated flux showed that manure nitrogen (N) was the most important factor controlling the extent of N2O formation: areas which received more manure N were stronger N2O emitters. Whereas N availability determined a magnitude of N2O emissions, the environmental changes altering soil moisture and temperature status were major N2O event triggers. The temporal flux distribution demonstrated episodic event-induced nature of N2O peak fluxes, which were primarily driven by strong rainfall and warm temperatures in growing season and soil thaw in winter and early spring. The greatest N2O emissions were observed when flux-triggering weather events coincided with or followed manure application. The most intense single N2O peak event was produced from combination of summer manure spreading and strong rainfall; however spring thaw-induced N2O fluxes showed more consistent seasonal year-to-year trend. The daily average fluxes measured by the EC and chamber techniques were in good agreement. The spatial variability of chamber measurements was mainly caused by high heterogeneity of soil N2O formation, which resulted both in net N2O production and consumption. The EC integrated flux was strongly dependent on wind direction and contributing footprint. The combination of the two different scale methods may help in reducing temporal and spatial variability of N2O estimates and improving N2O emission data quality. .

"Soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emission varies in magnitude and occurs sporadically during the spring freeze-thaw period in cold humid temperate regions. Fluctuations in soil N2O emissions are related to soil biophysical properties, which are influenced by agricultural practices like fall application of manure and fall-sown cover crops, as well as rainfall and other weather events. The objectives of this thesis were to (1) quantify N2O emissions in the spring period from agricultural soils that received manure and were planted with a cover crop in the previous fall, (2) estimate the influence of fall-applied manure and cover crops on the spring soil N2O emissions in changing climate, (3) determine the biophysical factors that control soil N¬2O emissions after a rain-induced thawing event, and (4) propose a monitoring method to estimate N2O emissions in agricultural soils. First, I quantified the soil N2O emissions with a two-year field experiment. Soil N2O emission in the spring freeze-thaw period (c.a. 30 d) was -2.35 to 13.57 g N ha-1 and not affected by dairy manure application (solid or liquid) or cover crops (ryegrass and ryegrass/hairy vetch), possibly due to the low manure N application rate and N loss over winter. Second, I evaluated soil N2O emissions in the spring freeze-thaw period under three climate scenarios (baseline, from 1981–2010; Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 and 8.5 from 2071–2100) with the Decomposition-Denitrification model. The model predicted that more reactive N will be retained by cover crops under future climate scenarios, but the soil N2O emissions will not increase. However, applying solid manure without a cover crop led to more soil N2O emissions than other treatments tested under three climate scenarios (9.90 to 61.50 g N ha-1, P