Ural-Carbon

Tecgnological partner

Pipe Metallurgical Company PJSC

Participants

• Ural State Forestry Engineering University
• Ural State Mining University
• Ural Federal Agrarian University
• Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch of RAS
• Institute of Industrial Ecology Ural Branch of the RAS Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics Ural Branch of RAS
• Botanic Garden of the Ural Branch of RAS

Carbon measurements tests areas

Plot 1: Kourov Astronomical Observatory (Kourovka)

Watershed, above-floodplain terrace with a terrace slope and a section of the Chusovaya River valley; dark coniferous forests of the southern taiga type, mainly fir-spruce and spruce-fir, pine, as well as derivatives of parvifoliate birch and aspen-birch forests, mainly mature and approaching maturity. Soils: sod-podzolic, mountain brown forest, sod-meadow

Plot 2: Ural forestry farm for education and experimentation (Severka)

Watershed, hilly-woody mesorelief, light coniferous forests of the southern taiga type, mainly pine and birch-pine, of different ages; sod-podzolic and mountain brown forest soils.

Tasks

Organize subsatellite measurements of greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes by in-situ means using the EddyCovariance method; draw vertical profiles of greenhouse gas content in the lower troposphere and UAV monitoring results

Assess seasonal, annual and long-term volumes of carbon deposition from the atmosphere by various types of taiga ecosystems based on the ratio of its sinks and emissions (assess existing carbon stocks in wood, mortmass, soil; assess the intensity of photosynthesis and respiration of soil, deadwood and vegetation)

Assess landscape, weather, climate and human-induced factors of carbon deposition by ecosystems and develop prediction models based on those

Identify the most productive communities and individual plant species

Create a single software package for modeling atmospheric circulation and transport of chemical contaminants at the regional level

Research results

The results of continuous measurements of the GHG concentrations in the atmospheric boundary layer and the total content of GHG in the atmospheric column above the Kourov Astronomical Observatory will be obtained

It is planned to obtain a series of satellite data on the vegetation indices of the measurement supersites; data from the ERA5 retrospective climate analysis for the measurement supersites have already been collected

Forestry-taxation and geobotanical characteristics of forest stands have been made for the test sites, and the main types of soils as well as humus reserves identified. Digital maps of forest management are yet to be compiled. Data on the CO2 flux from the soil surface and deadfall have been recorded in progressive stages

The productivity of promising introduced trees and plants will be determined; carbon and nitrogen reserves in the phytomass of the main agricultural plants of the region will be assessed

Education and training

New laboratory classes have been introduced in the Biology educational program: «Assessment of photosynthesis and respiration rate of phytocenosis components», «Assessment of deposited carbon content in living objects and soils»

The discipline «Hydrological control at a carbon measurement supersite» has been introduced in the «Hydrometeorology» program

International integration

Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences of the Pierre Simon Laplace Institute (Saclay, France)

Institute of Atmospheric and Ocean Research of the University of Tokyo, Professor R. Imasu’s group

Alfred Wegener Institute for Marine and Polar Research (AWI, Bremerhaven, Germany)

Complementary results

A new all-season teaching and laboratory module with an area of 140 m2 has been built on the carbon measurement supersite funded by the industrial partner

Technology for estimating greenhouse gas fluxes (CO2 и CH4) by the method of turbulent pulsations for the landscapes involved in the study. Values of major characteristics and flow directions for various seasons and vegetation types

Estimates of 13C isotopic discrimination in carbon dioxide during plant respiration for characteristic types of plant communities of the Middle Urals, the possibilities for calculating δ13CO2 in the atmosphere based on IASI/METOP type satellite spectral radiometers data to assess the well-being of photosynthetic plant communities of the target territory

Develop comprehensive entry-level software based on existing computer models of the general atmospheric circulation and transport of chemical contaminants for the assessment of sinks and sources of CO2 in the Sverdlovsk Region

Validated data from satellite monitoring of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere based on the results of atmospheric sensing by a ground-based high-resolution infrared Fourier spectrometer

Data sets of carbon and nitrogen reserves in soils, mortmass, aboveground and underground plant organs for the sites of the carbon measurement supersite; field work results on the sequestration capacity of the landscapes of the Sverdlovsk Region

Assessment of photosynthetic activity of individual plant species and phytocenoses in order to predict the sequestration potential of ecosystems; measurement sets on biota and soil respiration to characterize the balance of CO2 sinks and sources in various types of communities

Comparisons of the results of several technologies for obtaining morphology and taxation characteristics of stands on carbon measurement supersites; figures for wood stocks; estimates of plant productivity based on field work