GEMS397 (Undergraduate honors thesis, 2007-2010)
Carbon Sinks
Thursdays 5:00-7:00 Room: CSS 3425
Credits: 2 Instructor: Prof. Ning Zeng Course
web: http://www.atmos.umd.edu/~zeng/gemstone
Link to the students' website
Final Project Report (Team Thesis)
Objective
Studying ways to utilize and enhance forest as carbon sink to combat
global climate change. Specifically, we want to study the feasibility,
management, and implications of the proposal of 'carbon sequestration
via wood burial'.
Broad tasks:
1. Modeling using individual tree resolving 'gap model': JABOWA
a. Find a strategy that will
maximize the carbon sequestration rate, but with minimum disturbance to
the natural ecosystem
b. Implement soil carbon cycling in JABOWA
2. Field measurements at Greenbelt Park and Belwood, or other sites
Background study on US Forest Inventory (FIA), Harmon et
al. work
Biomass, deadwood, lifetime (mortality rate), ...
How much CO2 are Maryland's forests currently taking up?
East Coast?, US?
3. Management of wood burial by experiment
a. How to bury? how long does it stay? Visit landfill
b. Visit logging site in MD, VA, or PA?
4. Policy implications of a 10GtC/y carbon sequestration strategy
a. UN's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
Afforestation/Reforestation may be significantly enhanced
Work with Winrock International;
inviting Tim Pearson for a talk?
b. Implication for State of Maryland to cut CO2 emissions
in the RGGI initiative (Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states)
We will address in this project
Scientific questions
:
What's the carbon sequestration potential of wood burial?
What's the decomposition rate of buried and submerged wood?
How much CO2 is Maryland's forests currently taking up?
Management and economic questions:
What's the cost of a large scale wood burial scheme?
What's the best strategy in optimizing wood harvest with minimum impact
on the ecosystem and environment?
Policy questions:
What are the political and cutural motivations as well as obstacles for
carbon sequestration strategy in general, and wood burial in particular?
Timeline
Spring-Summer ’08 (So.)
* Get permission to use
land/water for research
* Thesis Proposal
* Present to DNR for funding
* Begin to collect data
* Contact experts in the
field
* Investigate
physically-based models
Fall-Winter ’08 (Jr.)
* Continue to collect data
* Apply for funding
* Junior Colloquium
* Begin outlining thesis
* Continue investigating
physically-based models
Spring-Summer ’09 (Jr.)
* Have collected enough field data to begin modeling but continue to collect data
* Continue working on the lab 'accelerated decomposition' experiment and make sure it is working
* Build on the JABOWA model, make modifications as necessary and explore the optimal forest management strategy for carbon sequestration
* See if we can come to a tentative conclusion on the ultimate feasibility of our selected strategy.
* Produce first draft of
thesis and obtain feedback
* Undergraduate Research Day
* Present our work at the ACC meeting in S. Carolina
Fall-Winter ’09 (Sr.)
* Develop and market a
business plan
* Complete thesis and obtain
feedback
* Complete data collection
and analysis
* Develop Thesis Presentation
* Name 5 experts to sit on
the panel at the Thesis Presentation
Spring ’10 (Sr.)
* Complete and submit thesis
* Present and defend thesis
* Market business plan
* Update thesis
* Attempt to get published
in a scientific/nature journal
Tasks for the current semester
* Have collected enough field data to begin modeling but continue to collect data
* Continue working on the lab 'accelerated decomposition' experiment and make sure it is working
* Build on the JABOWA model, make modifications as necessary and explore the optimal forest management strategy for carbon sequestration
* See if we can come to a tentative conclusion on the ultimate feasibility of our selected strategy.
* Produce first draft of
thesis and obtain feedback
* Present our work at the ACC meeting in S. Carolina
* Other requirements by GEMSTONE program.
References
Link
here
Additional background readings will be given out as needed
Links
I am teaching a class that covers the fundamentals of climate change
and carbon cycle and you are welcome to sit in:
AOSC658A Special Topics in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science
Carbon Cycle and Climate: Past, Present and Future
Tuesdays 10-12:15 Room: CSS
3425
Credits: 3 Instructor: Prof. Ning Zeng Course
web: http://www.atmos.umd.edu/~zeng/AOSC658A
Instructor:
Prof. Ning Zeng
Office: CSS 2417
Phone: (301)
405-5377 Fax: (301) 314-9482
Email: zeng@atmos.umd.edu
http://www.atmos.umd.edu/~zeng/