Technological partners
- JSC «Grozneftegaz»
- JSC «Chechenneftekhimprom»
- LLC «Teplostroyproekt-S»
- Gazprom Transgaz Grozny LLC
- Ministry of Nat. Resources of the Chechen Republic
- Carbon Measurement Supersite of the Kaluga Region
- V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Institute
- Chechen Research Institute of Agriculture
- D.N. Pryanishnikov Research Institute of Agrochemistry
Participants
- Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow)
- Institute of Physical, Chemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, RAS (Pushchino)
- NGO «Typhoon» (Obninsk)
- MIPT (Moscow)
- USNTU (Ufa)
- Academy of Sciences of Chechen Republic (Grozny)
- Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia
- Higher School of Economics
- Tyumen State University
Carbon measurements test areas
- The «Khankala (Campus)» site represents the landscapes typical of the southern slopes of the Tersk Ridge and the adjacent plains. The vegetation cover is dominated by mixed broad-leaved forests and shrubs
- The «Galanchozh» site is represented by landscapes of subalpine meadows characteristic of the spurs of the rocky and lateral ridge. Meadow and meadow-steppe vegetation prevails
- The «Roshni-Chu» plot is situated in a low-mountain mountain-forest zone. Broad-leaved forests, wild fruit trees, and well-closed beech-hornbeam forests predominate
- The «Staropromyslovskiy» site — steppe landscapes of intermountain valleys with sparse shrub vegetation
- The «Tolstoy-Yurt» plot — low-mountain landscapes with broad-leaved forests and shrubs characteristic of the entire Tersk Ridge
- The «Carbon farm» plot belongs to cultivated dry- steppe landscapes with sparse herbaceous and shrubby vegetation
GSPTU carbon sequestring test area (caarbon farm)
The cultivated area of the dry steppe landscapes of the Alkhanchurt valley is composed of loess-like loams underlain by undifferentiated deposits of the Quaternary system. Intrazonal landscapes are common on the lower terraces of the Sunzha River
Grass and especially forb-grass, grass-beardgrass steppes are widespread. In the southern part of the belt, grass-grass steppes and meadow-steppes predominate. Artemisia and Artemisia-beardgrass groups are common in the northern part of the steppe belt. Forb-grass steppes are confined to more humid places where esparcets, alfalfa, clovers and field daisies occur. The following grasses are found: feather grass, esparto grass, fescue, hairgrass. Beardgrass dominates dry slopes and making up the Artemisia-beardgrass steppes. On the lower terraces of the Sunzha floodplain broad-leaved forests of the ravine type are widespread
Planting of various types of deciduous trees — mulberry, paper tree, linden, willow, poplar, etc. is planned
Tasks
- Develop modern forest and regenerative agrotechnologies and improve methods of logging, reforestation/ afforestation, conservation of soil carbon reserves and its accumulation using groundcover crops
- Conduct an economic analysis of the effectiveness of decarbonization technologies
- Study the impact of regenerative livestock farming, oil pollution and geothermal sources on emission and absorption of climate-active gases
- Obtain data on aboveground and underground phytomass of tree and shrub vegetation and pasture-meadow vegetation
- Assess the diversity of plant species on the carbon measurement supersite sites
- Conduct experiments on the decomposition of plant litter;
- Apply remote spectroscopy with multispectral and hyperspectral sensors located on UAVs and satellite platforms
- Develop approaches for estimating the volume of phytomass from multi- and hyperspectral images using space systems and unmanned aerial vehicles
- Assess the phytomass reserves using ground- or air-based lidar systems
- Assess greenhouse gas emissions and uptake from a unit of the surface of shrub and pasture-meadow areas by the method of turbulent pulsations and exposure cameras
- Calculate the components of the carbon balance of forest- shrub and pasture-meadow ecosystems
- Develop approaches to identifying vegetation species from high-resolution hyperspectral images using artificial intelligence technologies
- Calculate the volume of dead soil cover, leaf fall and aboveground biomass (for forest and steppe areas) based on data from space systems and unmanned aerial vehicles
- Set up regular meteorological observations
- Set up regular remote monitoring (including satellite data) of climate-active gases
- Set up regular monitoring observations of greenhouse gas fluxes in the ecosystems by methods of turbulent pulsations and exposure cameras
- Study the sequestration potential of natural phytocenoses and individual groups of plants and identify the most productive communities and individual plant species
- Conduct the adaptation of plants with high sequestration potential, alien to the local flora, to the climatic conditions of the region, and develop a technology for their application in natural and anthropogenic (agricultural) landscapes
- Establish a certification center for validation and verification of greenhouse gas emissions and uptake by natural ecosystems
- Modify the existing and develop new Bachelor’s, Master’s and postgraduate programs; disseminate knowledge on decarbonization
- Hold international workshops and conferences on the premises of the carbon measurement supersite
Research results
- An electronic database on the climatic characteristics of the territory of the North Caucasus for XX-XXI has been prepared
- Data on spatial and temporal variability of climatic characteristics have been obtained, GIS maps drawn;
- Soil samples were analyzed at the reference sites of the measurement supersite
- assessment of carbon reserves in living phytomass, mortmass, humus of soils
- field description and diagnostics of soil type
- measurement of the volume density of undisturbed soils and the stock of litter per unit area to recalculate the concentration of carbon and nitrogen on stocks
- determination of carbon content in plant and soil samples by dry burning
- determination of basic physical and physico-chemical properties of soils
- development of model algorithms for describing the carbon cycle in regional and global models under climate change
Education and training
Expected number of young scientists, students, postgraduates affiliated with the carbon farm and carbon measurements test area:
- Young scientists - 22
- Students — 65
- Graduate students — 10
Interdisciplinary courses added to the education programs of GSPTU
- «Green Economy and digitalization — 72 academic hours
- «Sustainable land use in mountainous areas — 72 academic hours
- «Environmental IT» — 108 academic hours
- «Decarbonization technologies at industrial enterprises» — 108 academic hours
- «Environmental geophysics» — 108 academic hours
Educational programs developed in Kadyrov Chechen State University
- «Geoinformatics», course 05.03.03 Cartography and geoinformatics
- «Hydrometeorology and climatology», course 05.03.04 Hydrometeorology
- «Veterinary and sanitary examination», course 36.03.01 Veterinary and sanitary examination
Advanced training courses and internships were conducted by employees on the premises of:
- The first Kaluga measurement supersite
- Tyumen State University
- Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology»
- V. V. Dokuchaev Soil Institute
- D.N. Pryashnikov Research Institute of Agrochemistry
- Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia
- Higher School of Economics
Other results
Four scientific events involving 500+ participants were held on the carbon measurement supersite premises in 2021
International integration
The following foreign scientific organizations and specialists have been brought on board:
- Supreme Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), Madrid, Spain
- Finnish Meteorological Institute
- Global Monitoring Laboratory (USA)
Involvement of foreign research organizations and specialists
L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University (Kazakhstan, TOP 500), Department of Physical and Economic Geography
Reports were presented at three international conferences
All-Russian forums and thematic sections at international scientific conferences and symposia were organized and held on the premises of the carbon supersite
Expected outcomes
Obtaining data on the scale of spatial and temporal variability of greenhouse gas fluxes within the carbon supersite
Development of approaches to estimating the components of the carbon balance of the surface using remote data
Planned internships in foreign organizations
- University of Valencia, Spain
- University of Malaga, Spain
- University of Macerata, Italy
- University of Extremadura, Spain
- K.I. Satpayev Kazakh National Research Technical University (K. Turysov Institute of Geology, Petroleum and Mining)
- Belarusian National Technical University (Department of Energy)
- Baku State University (Department of the Environment and Soil Science)
