Surface albedo following biochar application in durum wheat

By L. Genesio, F. Miglietta, Emanuele Lugato, S. Baronti, M. Pieri, F. Vaccari. 2012

139 citations recorded by the source corpus.

The agronomic use of charcoal from biomass pyrolysis (biochar) represents an interesting option for increasing soil fertility and sequestering atmospheric CO2. However, before moving toward large-scale biochar applications, additional research must evaluate all possible land–atmosphere feedbacks. Despite the increasing number of studies investigating the effect of biochar on soil physical, chemical and biological properties, only a few have been done on surface albedo variations on agricultural lands. The present work had the aim of characterizing the annual albedo cycle for a durum wheat crop in Central Italy, by means of a spectroradiometer measurement campaign. Plots treated with biochar, at a rate of 30–60 t ha−1, showed a surface albedo decrease of up to 80% (after the application) with respect to the control in bare soil conditions, while this difference tended to decrease during the crop growing season, because of the prevailing effect of canopy development on the radiometer response. After the post-harvesting tillage, the soil treated with biochar again showed a lower surface albedo value (<20–26% than the control), while the measurements taken in the second year after application suggested a clear decrease of biochar influence on soil color. The modeling of the surface energy balance highlighted changes in the partitioning of heat fluxes and in particular a substantial increase of ground heat fluxes on an annual basis.

Subfields: Global and Planetary Change, Plant Science, Soil Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/479c6da403069e74b4fc8fc71b6e0cb1ed74973d

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Global and Planetary Change

1. Pete Smith
2. N. Ostle
3. R. Bardgett
4. A. Akinsemolu

In Plant Science

1. R. Bardgett
2. N. Ostle
3. Pete Smith

In Soil Science

1. N. Ostle
2. R. Bardgett
3. Pete Smith
4. Matthias C. Rillig

Citations in the corpus

• Biochar in bioenergy cropping systems: impacts on soil faunal communities and linked ecosystem processes (2013, background): “A decrease in soil albedo will increase soil temperatures, particularly in equatorial latitudes, leading to decreased soil moisture content (Genesio et al., 2012; Oguntunde et al., 2008).”
• Soil carbon sequestration and biochar as negative emission technologies (2016, methodology): “SCS has no influence on albedo, but biochar can darken the soil surface due to the addition of substantial quantities of dark material to the soil (Genesio et al., 2012), which has been shown to increase soil temperature measurably.”