HR: 1340h
AN: B33A-1007    [Abstracts]
TI: Advanced Method for In-Field Measurement, Monitoring and Verification of Total Soil Carbon
AU: * Ebinger, M H
EM: mhe@lanl.gov
AF: Earth & Environmental Sciences Division Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663 MS J495, Los Alamos, NM 87545 United States
AU: Harris, R D
EM: rdharris@lanl.gov
AF: Earth & Environmental Sciences Division Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663 MS J495, Los Alamos, NM 87545 United States
AU: Ploss, J C
EM: jploss@lanl.gov
AF: Earth & Environmental Sciences Division Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663 MS J495, Los Alamos, NM 87545 United States
AU: Clegg, S M
EM: sclegg@lanl.gov
AF: Chemistry Division Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663 MS J565, Los Alamos, NM 87545 United States
AB: The Earth`s oceans, forests, agricultural lands and other natural areas absorb about half of the carbon dioxide emitted from anthropogenic sources. Terrestrial carbon sequestration strategies are immediately available to bridge the gap between current terrestrial sequestration capacity and high-capacity geologic sequestration projects available in 10 to 20 years. Terrestrial carbon sequestration strategies consist of implementing land management practices aimed at decreasing CO₂ emitted into the atmosphere and developing advanced measurement tools to inventory and monitor carbon processes in soils and biota. In addition to atmospheric CO₂ mitigation and carbon trading advantages, terrestrial carbon sequestration produces a variety of benefits which include reclamation of degraded lands, increased soil productivity, increased land value and a more secure food source. Carbon storage in soil depends on climate and management practices, with potential yearly increases estimated from 0 to 150 kg-C ha^-1 yr^-1 in semiarid environments and up to 1000 kg-C ha^-1 yr^-1 in more humid environments. Measuring these increases, or in some cases losses of C, is currently a challenge with conventional instrumentation. Development of rapid, accurate, and cost effective and methods of measuring soil carbon are needed to address terrestrial sequestration issues and other aspects of global change. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is one promising advanced measurement method for soil carbon. LIBS has several advantages to conventional analytical tools including speed, analysis takes minutes, and portability as well as increased accuracy and precision. We will show the development of LIBS instrumentation for soil carbon measurement and test results to demonstrate the potential of LIBS to help address the measurement challenge.
DE: 0400 BIOGEOSCIENCES
DE: 0428 Carbon cycling (4806)
DE: 0452 Instruments and techniques
DE: 0486 Soils/pedology (1865)
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005