56-10 Comet-Planner: Carbon and Greenhouse Gas Evaluation for NRCS Conservation Practice Planning.

Poster Number 162-914

See more from this Division: ASA Section: Environmental Quality
See more from this Session: Counting Carbon on the Farm: Science, Systems and Support Poster (includes student competition)

Monday, November 7, 2016
Phoenix Convention Center North, Exhibit Hall CDE

Amy Swan, Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, Mark Easter, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, Adam Chambers, USDA/NRCS, Portland, OR, Kevin Brown, Natural Resource Ecology Lab, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO and Keith Paustian, 200 West Lake Street/Central Rec., Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Abstract:
Conservation planners must assess a range of environmental, agronomic and economic impacts of implementing conservation practices on farms.  While environmental impacts such as soil erosion control, improved soil quality, reduced nonpoint source pollution and a number of other site-specific benefits are currently considered, conservation practices may also have significant climate benefits, through carbon sequestration and/or reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  If conservation planners wish to incorporate greenhouse gas impacts in their planning process, they will need access to quick, easy-to-use tools to assess greenhouse gas impacts of conservation practices on farms.  COMET-Planner (www.comet-planner.com) was developed to provide generalized estimates of GHG impacts of adoption of National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) conservation practice standards in a simple, web-based platform.  Conservation scenarios were modeled in COMET-Farm, a whole farm and ranch carbon and greenhouse gas accounting system based on USDA entity-scale quantification methods, across a range of agricultural management, climate and soil types within Major Land Resource Areas (MLRA).  Mean carbon sequestration and emission changes (CO2, N2O and CH4) associated with NRCS conservation practice adoption were estimated by MLRA. Results are provided to users via the web interface and a detailed methods report.

See more from this Division: ASA Section: Environmental Quality
See more from this Session: Counting Carbon on the Farm: Science, Systems and Support Poster (includes student competition)