http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/10/8/084014/article
imicking biochar-albedo feedback in complex Mediterranean agricultural landscapes OPEN ACCESS E Bozzi, L Genesio, P Toscano, M Pieri and F Miglietta E Bozzi et al 2015 Environ. Res. Lett. 10 084014 doi:10.1088/1748-9326/10/8/084014 13 August 2015 Abstract Incorporation of charcoal produced by biomass pyrolysis (biochar) in agricultural soils is a potentially sustainable strategy for climate change mitigation. However, some side effects of large-scale biochar application need to be investigated. In particular a massive use of a low-reflecting material on large cropland areas may impact the climate via changes in surface albedo. Twelve years of MODIS-derived albedo data were analysed for three pairs of selected agricultural sites in central Italy. In each pair bright and dark coloured soil were identified, mimicking the effect of biochar application on the land surface albedo of complex agricultural landscapes. Over this period vegetation canopies never completely masked differences in background soil colour. This soil signal, expressed as an albedo difference, induced a local instantaneous radiative forcing of up to 4.7 W m−2 during periods of high solar irradiance. Biochar mitigation potential might therefore be reduced up to ~30%. This study proves the importance of accounting for crop phenology and crop management when assessing biochar mitigation potential and provides more insights into the analysis of its environmental feedback. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
