Das Projekt "SP 1.2 Optimisation of soil organic matter management under intensive cropping in the North China Plain" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hohenheim, Institut für Kulturpflanzenwissenschaften (340), Fachgebiet Düngung und Bodenstoffhaushalt (340i) durchgeführt. Intensive maize-wheat double cropping is a common plant production system at the North China Plains. More than 600 kg N/ha as mineral N fertiliser are applied annually while only 300 to 350 kg N/ha are removed with plant products. Despite of this extraordinarily high level of N-fertilisation, the yield potential in the common wheat-maize cropping system is by far not fully taped yet. Beside low N utilization efficiencies (partly less than 30 percent), frequent lodging and environmental pollution including leaching and gaseous losses of N are the results of the excessive use of fertiliser-N. Within this study, different N-fertilisation, tillage and cropping strategies shall be investigated with their potential to maintain high levels of SOM and to guaranty high and stable yields in the long term in the North China Plain. Future developments like climate change and increasing demand for energy production from plant residues shall be considered. Special emphasis will be put on the fate of (fertilised) N which preferably should be available for plant uptake and built up of organic matter but may also disappear by leaching and gaseous losses. A combination of lab experiments, existing and newly established long term field experiments combined with computer modelling shall be used to extrapolate short and medium term findings into the future and up to a regional scale.
Das Projekt "Field and laboratory studies of aerosol formation from halogenated precursor gases" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Technische Universität Berlin, Institut für Technischen Umweltschutz durchgeführt. This project was part of the HaloProc research unit on natural halogenation processes, and explored the impact of reactive halogen species on aerosol formation in field and laboratory experiments. Field studies were focused on the Lake King salt lake area in Western Australia. New particle formation events were frequently observed and characterized by measuring the temporal evolution of the submicron aerosol size distributions, and collecting aerosol samples for subsequent chemical analysis. 9 out of 11 measurement days in 2013 showed secondary aerosol formation with particle growth rates from 2.9 to 25.4 nm h^-1. Raman spectroscopy and ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry revealed a contribution of organohalogen compounds (mostly organochlorine) to the secondary organic aerosol, however, organosulfate and organonitrate formation seemed to play a larger role in the studied environment. Nevertheless, a new experimental approach that made use of a mobile Teflon chamber set up above the salt crust and the organic-rich mud layer of various salt lakes directly linked new particle formation to the hypersaline environment of Western Australia. For more detailed process studies, these field results provided realistic scenarios and constraints for simulation experiments in the laboratory. Salt lake conditions were successfully simulated in aerosol chamber experiments and showed secondary aerosol formation in the presence of light and organic precursor compounds. The particle formation dynamics and the chemical speciation of aerosol samples, which were collected from the chamber experiments and analyzed by Raman spectroscopy and mass spectrometry, indicated a coupling of aqueous phase chemistry and secondary aerosol formation. In particular, the Fe(II) concentrations of the simulated salt lakes were a key control for the intensity of new particle formation. In saline environments with low pH values and high solar radiation, Fe(II) might be converted to Fe(III) in the presence of organic matter in a Fenton-like reaction, which can act as a major source for highly reactive OH radicals in the aqueous phase. On the one hand, this expands the potential oxidation pathways for organic compounds, which led to a larger chemical diversity. On the other hand, Fe(II)-controlled aqueous phase chemistry competes with secondary aerosol formation in the gas phase, which led to reduced particle formation in our experiments. While it is premature to fully incorporate these findings in chemistry box models, additional laboratory studies provided experimental data that will guide the development of model parameterizations, e.g., for the organic aerosol yield from the oxidation of organic compounds by chlorine and bromine, or for reactive bromine loss due to uptake in secondary organic aerosol. In conclusion, this project bridged gaps between field studies of halogen-influenced new particle formation in the real world and laboratory experiments within the HaloProc research u
Das Projekt "The impact of tropical - extratropical interactions on downstream predictability (TROP)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Deutscher Wetterdienst durchgeführt. In this project we investigate the mechanisms by which organised tropical convective systems, and, in particular, tropical cyclones undergoing extratropical transition (ET), interact with the midlatitude upper-level wave guide. We consider how this interaction influences the dynamics and predictability of the ET system itself, the midlatitude flow, and sub tropical cyclones that may develop downstream. We will use a combined observational, COSMO modelling, and data denial approach applied to the ET cases of the THORPEX Pacific Asian Regional Campaign. Diagnostic techniques, including PV inversion and object-oriented diagnostics will be applied to investigate the interactions between the convective and synoptic-scale flow. We will investigate the impact of different regimes of tropical convection on midlatitude predictability through analysis of Year of Tropical Convection datasets and TIGGE data, conducting experiments with ensemble prediction systems (EPS), and diagnosing the results with ensemble sensitivity analysis and other techniques. Finally, we will investigate the predictability of the structural changes during ET and of sub-tropical cyclogenesis using the multiscale ensemble. The results of this study will be used to define observational strategies for a future THORPEX field campaign.
Das Projekt "Glufosinat: Metabolismus in transgenen und nicht-transgenen Pflanzengeweben sowie Schicksal im Boden" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von RWTH Aachen University, Institut für Umweltforschung, Biologie V, Lehrstuhl für Umweltbiologie und -chemodynamik durchgeführt. Glufosinat (oder Phosphinotricin) ist ein vergleichsweise modernes Herbizid, das seit etwa 25 Jahren in Gebrauch ist. Bei der Verbindung handelt es sich um eine Aminosäure; üblicherweise bezeichnet man das DL-Racemat als Glufosinat, das L-Enantiomer als Phosphinothricin. Die Verbindung ist Teilstruktur eines von den Pilzen Streptomyces viridochromogenes und Streptomyces hygroscopicus produzierten natürlichen Antibiotikums (Tripeptid: L-Alanin-L-Alanin-L-Phosphinothricin). Neben seiner antibakteriellen Wirkung zeigt Glufosinat eine nicht-selektive herbizide Wirkung. Der antibakterielle und herbizide Effekt geht nur vom L-Enantiomer aus; das D-Enantiomer ist inaktiv. Sowohl Glufosinat (Racemat) als auch das Tripeptid (Bialaphos oder Bilanaphos; mit L-Enantiomer) werden als Herbizide vermarktet. Die herbizide Wirkung von Phosphinothricin beruht auf einer Inhibition der Glutaminsynthetase. Glufosinat weist günstige ökotoxikologische Eigenschaften auf, z.B. bezüglich Versickerung, Abbau sowie Toxizität gegenüber Tier und Mensch. Auf Grund dieser Eigenschaften ist Glufosinat ein geeigneter Kandidat zur Herstellung gentechnisch modifizierter Herbizid-resistenter Pflanzen, um Glufosinat auch selektiv - im Nachauflauf - einsetzen zu können. Dazu wurden verschiedene Spezies, wie z.B. die Zuckerrübe, mit dem bar-Gen aus Streptomyces hygroscopicus transformiert. Das bar-Gen codiert für eine Phosphinothricin-N-acetyltransferase, die Phosphinothricin zum nicht herbizid-wirksamen, stabilen N-Acetylderivat umsetzt. Bei entsprechend hoher Expression des bar-Gens resultiert eine Glufosinat-resistente Pflanze. Ein Ziel unseres Forschungsvorhabens war es, den Metabolismus von Glufosinat und der einzelnen Enantiomere (L- und D-Phyosphinothricin) in transgenen und nicht transgenen Pflanzenzellkulturen zu untersuchen. Die transgenen Kulturen, die von der Zuckerrübe (Beta vulgaris) stammten, waren mit dem bar-Gen transformiert, exprimierten demnach die Phosphinothricin-N-acetyltransferase. Sie wurden aus entsprechenden Sprosskulturen initiiert. Daneben wurden nicht-transgene Kulturen von Zuckerrübe, Karotte (Daucus carota), Fingerhut (Digitalis purpurea) und Stechapfel (Datura stramonium) untersucht. In einer zweiten Versuchsserie wurden abgetrennte Sprosse und Blätter von 20 Wildpflanzen auf den Metabolismus von Glufosinat untersucht. Es sollte überprüft werden, ob qualitative und quantitative Unterschiede im Umsatz des Herbizids im Pflanzenreich vorkommen und möglicherweise eine natürliche (teilweise) Resistenz gegenüber Glufosinat existiert. Schließlich wurde das Schicksal des Herbizids im Boden (Abbau, Versickerung) nach Aufbringung des Wirksstoffs in einer handelsüblichen Formulierung auf ein bewachsenes Versuchsfeld im Freiland untersucht.
Das Projekt "WiSSCy: Impact of Wind, Rain, and Surface Slicks on Air-Sea CO2 Transfer Velocity - Tank Experiments" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Hamburg, Zentrum für Meeres- und Klimaforschung, Institut für Meereskunde (IfM) durchgeführt. The goal is to improve the understanding of the parameterization of air-sea gas exchange with emphasis on CO2. This is being done using the linear wind-wave tank facility of the University of Hamburg. Using this facility, gas exchange coefficients are inferred by measuring gas transfer under a wide variety of parameters such as wind, mechanically generated waves, rain, and surface films. Our emphasis is on the physical processes involved in the air-sea gas exchange and its quantitative measurement. Experiments are conducted with freshwater and with salt water to test the influence of salinity on the gas exchange parameters. All experiments are being performed for evasion and invasion to investigate if rain-induced gas transfer is symmetrical or asymmetrical. While these experiments do not address in great detail the small-scale processes that are involved in the transfer, they allow to determine parameterizations of the gas exchange as a function of parameters of the atmospheric boundary layers as they are needed in climate models and for the analysis of satellite data.