Project Number: 5342-13610-007-07
Project Type: Reimbursable

Start Date: Jan 01, 2003
End Date: Dec 31, 2005

Objective:
The Arizona State Land Department is responsible for managing 3.8 million ha of state trust lands with 95% covered by grazing, agricultural and other uses that generate only nominal fees. This NASA grant will consider the process of carbon sequestration and the sale of such carbon on the marginal lands as a replacement for other uses that generate the nominal fees. This grant will utilizing ground sampling, remote sensing and modeling to establish starting points of vegetation and soil carbon to determine if carbon sequestration is a potential management strategy for state trust lands in Arizona and the southwest.

Approach:
We propose to extensively sample the Santa Rita Experimental Range and Audubon Research Ranch in southeastern Arizona for carbon and nitrogen content and carbon and nitrogen isotopes under different types of range management. The soils will be sampled to a depth of 50 cm and the vegetation present with the different range management systems will determined by onsite verification and also satellite and aircraft remote sensing. The soil carbon and nitrogen contents and vegetation will be input into the Century Carbon Model to determine the carbon sequestration potential of these lands. This is the most extensive soil sampling and analysis of carbon and nitrogen in semi-arid range lands yet conducted and the impact of measuring carbon and nitrogen contents and linking the soil values to remote sensing and modeling has great potential to determine the best use of large tracts of state land in the west for mitigation of potential climate change. Documents Reimbursable with University of Arizona. Log 23912.

Project Team

Martens, Dean

Project Annual Reports

FY 2003

Related National Programs

Water Quality & Management (201)   Global Change (204)