ECOSSE
ECOSSE
Smith J, Dondini M, Richards M, Jones EO, Fitton N, Pogson M, Gottschalk P, Bellarby J, Oyesiku-Blakemore J, Nayak D, Coleman K, Hillier J, Flynn H, Wattenbach M, Aitkenhead M, Yeluripurti J, Farmer J, Smith P
University of Aberdeen – Scotland (UK)
Description
The ECOSSE (Estimation of Carbon in Organic Soils – Sequestration and Emissions) model simulates soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics in both mineral and organic soils using meteorological, land use, land management and soil data, and simulates changes in soil organic carbon and soil greenhouse-gas emissions. The model is able to function at the field scale or at the national scale (using only the limited data available at this scale.
ECOSSE was developed from concepts originally derived for mineral soils in the RothC model and SUNDIAL model, but has been expanded to simulate processes in peatlands and other organic soils. ECOSSE describes soil organic matter using 5 pools: inert organic matter, humus, biomass, resistant plant material and decomposable plant material. All of the major processes of carbon and nitrogen turnover are included in the model, but each process is simulated using only simple equations driven by readily available inputs. This enables ECOSSE to be used for national scale simulations for which only limited input data are available.
ECOSSE simulates the soil profile to a depth of up to 3m, dividing the soil into 5 cm layers to facilitate the accurate simulation of processes to depth. Plant carbon and nitrogen inputs are added monthly to the resistant and decomposable plant material pools. During the decomposition process, material is exchanged between the soil organic matter pools according to first-order equations, characterised by a specific decomposition rate for each pool. The decomposition rate of each pool is modified dependent on the temperature, water content, plant cover and pH of the soil. The decomposition process results in gaseous losses of CO2 and CH4, with CO2 losses dominating under aerobic conditions and CH4 losses under anaerobic conditions. The nitrogen content of the soil follows the decomposition of the soil organic matter, with a stable C:N ratio defined for each soil organic matter pool at a given pH.
Screen shots
Scientific articles
Smith JU, Gottschalk P, Bellarby J et al. (2010a) Estimating changes in national soil carbon stocks using ECOSSE – a new model that includes upland organic soils. Part I. Model description and uncertainty in national scale simulations of Scotland. Climate Research, 45, 193-205.
Smith JU, Gottschalk P, Bellarby J et al. (2010b) Estimating changes in national soil carbon stocks using ECOSSE – a new model that includes upland organic soils. Part II. Application in Scotland. Climate Research, 45, 193-205.
Smith, JU, Gottschalk P, Bellarby J et al. (2010c) ECOSSE User Manual. Available at: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/staffpages/uploads/soi450/ECOSSE%20User%20manual%20310810.pdf.
Bell MJ, Jones E, Smith J et al. (2012) Simulation of soil nitrogen, nitrous oxide emissions and mitigation scenarios at 3 European cropland sites using the ECOSSE model. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, 92, 161–181.
Abdalla, M., Hastings, A., Bell, MJ et al. (2014) Simulation of CO2 and Attribution Analysis at Six European Peatland Sites Using the ECOSSE Model. Water, Air and Soil Pollution, 225, 2182.
Dondini M, Jones EO, Richards M et al. (2015) Evaluation of the ECOSSE model for simulating soil carbon under short rotation forestry energy crops in Britain. Global Change Biology Bioenergy, 7, 527-540.
Dondini M, Richards M, Pogson M et al. (2016) Evaluation of the ECOSSE model for simulating soil carbon under Miscanthus and short rotation coppice-willow crops in Britain. Global Change Biology Bioenergy, doi: 10.1111/gcbb.12286.
Dondini M, Richards M, Pogson M et al. (2016) Simulation of greenhouse gases following land-use change to bioenergy crops using the ECOSSE model. A comparison between site measurements and model predictions. Global Change Biology Bioenergy doi:10.1111/gcbb.12298.
Abdalla, M., Richards, M., Pogson, M., Smith, J.U. & Smith, P. 2016. Application of the ECOSSE model to estimate the net global warming potential of soil in Wales under current and future climate. Regional Environmental Change (in press). doi: 10.1007/s10113-016-0958-7.
Richards, M., Pogson, M., Dondini, M., Jones, E.O., Hastings, A., Henner, D. Tallis, M., Casella, E., Matthews, R., Henshall, P. Milner, S., Taylor, G., McNamara, N., Smith, J.U. & Smith, P. 2016. High-resolution spatial modelling of greenhouse gas emissions from land-use change to energy crops in the United Kingdom. Global Change Biology Bioenergy (online). doi: 10.1111/gcbb.12360.
Technical information
Operating system(s): Windows XP and newer
Licence: Free
Output(s): The model results consist of soil carbon and nitrogen variables as well as soil fluxes connected to soil organic matter and nitrogen in daily and monthly time steps.
Export format(s): CSV and ASCII files
Other information: for more information contact jo.smith@abdn.ac.uk
