NH3 Emissions From Treated Buffalo Manure Application In Mediterranean climate And Comparison To ALFAM Model

Ammonia volatilization is widely recognized as one of the major environmental European problems, due to the increase in livestock farming activities. As a consequence, accurate ammonia assessment is needed in order to control ammonia emissions and to update national emission inventories. Besides some uncertainties still related to the measurement methods, another important issue is the necessity of investigating a different kind of fertilizers. In the last few years, considerable attention has been paid to many manure treatments prior to field application. This study aims to assess ammonia emissions from the field application of separated buffalo manure digestate in the Mediterranean climate, in order to improve the emission inventory for this animal species, reared mostly in South Italy. Two measuring methods were used: wind tunnel (WT) and Integrated Horizontal flux (IHF). Moreover, ammonia emission measured were compared to those obtained running the statistical regression model ALFAM. This model based on Michaelis-Menten type equation is often used to predict cumulative ammonia loss and since it is based on a significant dataset is useful to discuss the effectiveness of the emission measured. The total ammonia losses measured in 7 days were 26.39 and 49.24 kg N ha-1, for WT and IHF, respectively. Although the predicted total emissions were 40.99 and 36.56 kg N ha-1, for IHF and WT, respectively, it is possible to observe the good accordance of the ALFAM model with the temporal pattern of both methods

Ammonia Emission Assessment After Buffalo Manure And Digestate Application

Quite recently, considerable attention has been paid to the effect of anaerobic digestion on ammonia emissions from digestate spreading in the field, due to the growing interest in NH3 emission monitoring. Unfortunately, there are still some different studies finding about the effect of anaerobic digestion on ammonia emissions. Thus, more research into this topic is still necessary before obtaining a definitive answer to the increment or not in emission. For this purpose, this paper proposes comparison study between ammonia emissions from buffalo raw (Farmyard) manure and digestate on bare soil under Mediterranean climate, using the wind tunnel equipped with acid traps, to assess the ammonia emission fluxes. The sampling campaign, in three replicates, lasted each time, for 6 days to ensure that most of the ammonia has been emitted before the end of each campaign. The results obtained indicate that a diurnal correlation between emission and external temperature occurs, especially during the first days. Specifically for both fertilizers, ammonia volatilization increased with air temperature raising. Overall, the total digestate cumulative NH3 emission is 54% higher than raw manure emission. This is certainly due to the Total NH4+-N rate, which was 55,8kg ha-1 for the raw manure and 107 kg ha-1 for the digestate, around 1,9 times higher for the digestate TAN content. Finding suggests the need for adjusting digestate application rate based on TAN content, in order to reduce the impact on the environment

Neighborhood-Level Interventions to Improve Childhood Opportunity and Lift Children Out of Poverty

Abstract Population health is associated with the socioeconomic characteristics of neighborhoods. There is considerable scientific and policy interest in community-level interventions to alleviate child poverty. Intergenerational poverty is associated with inequitable access to opportunities. Improving opportunity structures within neighborhoods may contribute to improved child health and development. Neighborhood-level efforts to alleviate poverty for all children require alignment of cross-sector efforts, community engagement, and multifactorial approaches that consider the role of people as well as place. We highlight several accessible tools and strategies that health practitioners can engage to improve regional and local systems that influence child opportunity. The Child Opportunity Index is a population-level surveillance tool to describe community-level resources and inequities in US metropolitan areas. The case studies reviewed outline strategies for creating higher opportunity neighborhoods for pediatricians interested in working across sectors to address the impact of neighborhood opportunity on child health and well-being

Analisi Territoriali a supporto della gestione dei reflui zootecnici: il progetto RiAgri-Sele

L’allevamento bufalino, insieme con la produzione di mozzarella rappresenta un importante elemento di sviluppo del territorio campano e della Piana del Sele, in cui si concentrano l’80 % delle bufale allevate nell’intera provincia di Salerno. La constatazione dei significativi impatti ambientali connessi al comparto zootecnico ed in particolare alla gestione dei reflui zootecnici, unitamente alle normative e nuove limitazioni imposte a livello comunitario e nazionale, impongono il controllo e la riduzione delle emissioni di ammoniaca oltre che di altri gas quali i VOC non metanigeni nel settore primario. Lo studio, in ambiente GIS, in prima istanza della distribuzione spaziale degli allevamenti in regione Campania ha evidenziato Ambiti di Attenzione in provincia di Caserta (nella piana del Volturno e nella regione pedemontana del Matese) e in provincia di Salerno (nella piana del Sele). Tali areali, se da un lato, in assenza di una logistica di spandimento e di adeguate misure di trattamento del refluo tal quale, costituiscono elementi di criticità rispetto alle possibili ricadute sull’ambiente delle emissioni ammoniacali, d’altra parte possono diventare un volano di sviluppo economico e di miglioramento ambientale, se opportunamente inseriti in un sistema di pianificazione e programmazione di trattamenti e di distribuzione. La vivacità del mercato, nella ricerca di ambiti di insediamento e di tipologie impiantistiche efficienti, dimostra un interesse ad investire capitali nel settore del trattamento dei reflui zootecnici. Nell’ambito del Progetto RiAgri-SELE, ad una prima analisi di verifica della disponibilità di suoli idonei allo spandimento (offerta), nella piana del Sele, in funzione del carico di Azoto stimato (domanda), della presenza di Superficie Agricola Utilizzata (SAU), di vincoli naturali, artificiali o culturali presenti, si propone di applicare un modello statistico di stima delle emissioni ammoniacali, quale momento di riflessione rispetto alle possibili ricadute ambientali del comparto. L’approccio, basato sul modello Alfam (https://projects.au.dk/alfam/), in fase di approfondimento, permette di integrare informazioni relative alle caratteristiche dei reflui e tecniche di spandimento utilizzate, con le caratteristiche climatiche (dati di pioggia e temperatura, sia in termini di possibilità di spandimento che di ricadute sulle emissioni). Lo studio in particolare si concentra sui reflui bufalini e sulle sole colture permanenti presenti (frutteti e oliveti), al fine di ipotizzare quantità e tempistica degli spandimenti durante l’anno. I risultati attesi intendono supportare l’adozione di sistemi di gestione dei reflui zootecnici, sia in termini di vaglio delle possibili tipologie di trattamento, sia in termini di stima delle superfici di spandimento necessarie (quantità e localizzazione), che di riflessione di misure di mitigazione degli impatti potenziali derivanti da pratiche agricole poco attente all’ambiente. Il progetto RiAGRI-SELE, in una fase delicata di adeguamento del comparto zootecnico alle prescrizioni derivanti dalla nuova perimetrazione delle Zone Vulnerabili ai Nitrati di Origine Agricola ZVNOA 2017 in regione Campania, si propone in questo modo di sensibilizzare gli operatori del settore e di favorire buone pratiche agricole che possano tutelare il sistema ambientale ed, eventualmente, divenire una ulteriore risorsa economica per il comparto

Monitoring of NH3 and CH4 emissions from dairy cows under storage conditions

Cattle breeding is almost diffused around the world, with a growth of 7% in the last ten years. The increase in manure production makes cattle farms responsible for ammonia (NH 3 ) and methane (CH 4 ) emissions into the atmosphere. Many treatments have been adopted to reduce gaseous emissions, in order to comply with European regulations. Anaerobic digestion (AD) and solid-liquid separation (SLS) can modify the physical and chemical characteristics of manure, which are related to NH 3 and CH 4 emissions. The literature on the effect of the combination of both treatments on CH 4 and NH 3 emissions is still limited. Raw slurry (RS) and liquid fraction of digestate (LFD) were monitored during storage under controlled conditions, measuring NH 3 and CH 4 emissions with the dynamic chamber technique. The air sampled was analyzed using a gas-sensitive semiconductor and electrochemical sensors (Aeroqual, series 500). Results show that SLS and AD reduced the organic matter of manure, thus CH 4 emissions during storage, which accounts for 27% less than RS. On the other hand, AD increased the NH 3 emissions (48,5% more than RS) because of the higher Total Ammoniacal Nitrogen content of LFD. Only studying both gasses and considering the emissions in terms of CO 2 eq, it is possible to observe that RS is responsible for 11.4% of emissions in terms of CO 2 eq, more than LFD

Consequence of land use changes into energy crops in Campania region

Campania region is undergoing a new and important land use change (LUC). Large areas under tobacco are experiencing a severe economic crisis and cereal areas, especially in the hill, are cultivated with increasing difficulty, with poor economic results (yield value of 2.5 t/ha/year) and under the risk of erosion. No-food crops suitable in these contexts are the perennial and in this case, the land use change would certainly lead to a positive impact on reducing erosion, but also on the reduction of nutrient requirement, on fuel consumption and perhaps it would also lead to an increase in profitability. The aim of this work is to identify the areas in which the land use change could be realistic and ecologically compatible and to evaluate the main consequence of the LUC. The study area includes the entire Campania region. It has been assumed that the areas that will undergo the LUC will be the hilly, not-irrigated cereal crop, with altitudes between 400 and 750 m a.s.l., not included in natural parks, in the Site of Community Importance and in the Special Protection Areas. Through the climate model, inferred from the Ground Water Protection Plan, the area to be examined was classified as ‘cold Lauretum’, which is a good area for the Arundo donax crops up to 750 m a.l.s., with recoverable biomass yield of about 12.6 t/year. The erosion has been estimated with RUSLE applied to the whole region. Using the ESRI ArcGis 10.0 software, seven large areas, partially convertible, were identified. The area that is realistic to convert amounted to approximately 500 km2. The value of the biomass production has been evaluated in the order of 25 million euro a year; actual wheat production would be 33 million euro a year but the production costs are far greater. With LUC there is a reduction in soil erosion in the order of 300000 t/year. This would lead a saving, on global scale, in the order of 10 million tonnes of CO2 per year

Historical land use change and landscape pattern evolution study: a support of landscape development policies in Vesuvio National Park

Historical land use change studies and modelling support the analysis of current land use dynamics and landscape pattern. Historical maps are sources of geographical information and traditionally landscape uses, once geo-referencing accuracy and information reliability have been verified. GIS processing and landscape metrics allow assessing and deepening the land use changes. Vesuvius and surrounding areas are an important Italian landscape, full of historical, geo-morphologic and naturalistic value, with valuable agri-food productions and with very-high population density. Furthermore, the area has a high quality historical cartographic production. The main purpose of the paper is to deepen historical landscape knowledge, from 1817 up to 2009, and to implement the historical analysis framework. Historical cartographies of different time steps (1817, 1875, 1960) were digitized, georeferenced and manually vectorized for map comparison, by means of ArcGIS tools and Kappa statistic algorithms. Finally, landscape pattern changes were calculated through Fragstat metrics. Considering the overall period, only the 50% of the study area did not change: major changes were registered in vineyards and urban areas (-99.6% and +89%, respectively). Landscape mosaics appear more disaggregated (PLADJ and DIVISION metrics) due to different number of patches and their more irregular shape (NP, DP, LSI metrics). The study shows the utility of integrated approaches and tools, starting from historical cartography opportunities, as support for decision maker in land use management and conservation policies, highlighting interrelations between urban, agricultural and natural areas

Prolonged sampling time increases correlation between wind tunnel and integrated horizontal flux method

Agriculture is still the main source of NH3 emissions. Consequently, ammonia reduction and monitoring are included in the strict EU targets. Unfortunately, the main issue with the quantification of NH3 emissions is that some uncertainties are still related to NH3 volatilization measurements, mainly because of the absence of a standard measurement technique. This study compares two different methods for measuring NH3 fluxes: the Integrated Horizontal Flux (IHF) method used with glass tubes and the wind tunnels (WT) with acid traps, in order to provide further insights into quantification of NH3 emissions. Specifically, three field trials were carried out, using different fertilizers on bare soil: urea, raw manure and liquid separated digestate from Mediterranean buffalo cows (Bubalus bubalis L.). Results show that the same diurnal flux variations for both methods was observed, except for those in urea trials, mainly because of the dynamics of urea volatilization. Generally, WT underestimated ammonia emissions, especially during the first six hours of experimentation, since the fixed air speed inside the tunnel is lower than the outside wind speed at the same height. Cumulative ammonia volatilization measured with WT differs from those measured with IHF by 32% (urea), 43% (raw manure) and 46% (liquid separated digestate), respectively. Moreover, WT estimations seemed to be affected by a short exposition time of the acid traps, demonstrating a poor correlation of IHF and WT method within 2–3 h. Indeed, linear correlation between two methods was improved to R2 = 0.92, by increasing the minimum samplers exposition time up to 3 h

Monitoring of ammonia emissions from stored buffalo digestate covered with biochar

In Campania Region, the rise in Buffalo heads reared plays an important role in the manure management of the region. Moreover, in order to comply with the European regulation (the National Emission Ceiling), the updating of national emission inventories, as well as the investigation of different fertilizers, manure treatments prior to field application and innovative reducing ammonia techniques, are necessary. Specifically, controlling emissions techniques should help farms both during the storage period and during the spreading activities. Indeed, both steps in manure management affect the total ammonia volatilization. To this purpose, this paper presents an innovative view of the manure management system. The interaction between Biochar (a solid material obtained from the thermochemical conversion of biomass in an oxygen-limited environment) and manure was evaluated, adding a commercial Biochar to the liquid fraction of buffalo digestate in the storage tank. The data obtained suggest that a reduction in ammonia emissions is still possible. A reduction in terms of ammonia emissions was recorded during the storage period due to nutrient retention capabilities of biochar. Specifically, Digestate without any coverage proved to emit 58% more than the same digestate covered by a 2 cm of biochar. © 2020, ETA-Florence Renewable Energies. All Rights Reserve