Carbon Sequestration for Farm, Forest Income

The New York Times has an article about selling carbon credit through the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX).:

An acre of pine forest captures and holds one to two metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, which it uses for photosynthesis. Untilled cropland holds a third of a ton of carbon per acre, and rangeland holds up to a fifth of a ton. The sequestered carbon dioxide is measured by soil tests before and after the planting.

Carbon dioxide credits now sell for about $4 a metric ton. Mandatory restrictions, experts say, could increase the price to $12 or higher. In Europe, the cost of a credit sold for sequestering carbon dioxide has reached $20, and even $30, a ton.

The market for carbon credits seems to hover between $3 and $4. A review of past CCX newsletters reveals sporadic volume, with common fluctuations of $0.50 to $0.75 per metric ton per month. The New York Times article suggests that biological sequestration will ultimately be replaced with geological sequestration. Expectations of sustaining $20 or $30 a ton seem unrealistic.

$3-$4 is far better than the $0.25 that the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation in Washington received for forested land in the 1990s.

The Tri-Societies' science policy blog has a post about Farming Carbon:

Currently, farmers who wish to profit from the sequestration potential of their soils can sell carbon credits on the (CCX).

Science is needed to better quantify the carbon flux and carbon sinks.

At present, aggregators don't attempt to gauge the carbon impact of individual farms nor do they quantify counterbalancing emissions of traces gases. Hopefully, ASA/CSSA/SSSA members can play a constructive role in the CCX, providing the scientific basis on which aggregators will improve their climate accounting.

I would like to see more discussion on the nuts and bolts of accounting and verification.

Flickr Source: George sampling 3/2/07 ESA Common

GeoAgro soil data collector

I just got back from the 20th Annual Meeting of the NSCSS in San Antonio, TX. Ed DiPollina, TekConsultants, was one of the presenters, and I was very impressed with the potential for a product his company is bringing to market, the GeoAgro Soil Data Collector. Designed for field soil scientists like myself, the Soil Data Collector helps us log soil profile descriptions and geo-reference our field notations, map features & test pit locations in the field on a Tablet PC.

I saw many NSCSS soil scientists sign on as beta testers. Considering the varied applications that field soils data is applied to, this is surely going to be an interesting process.

Similar field data solutions are available to government soil scientists (Pedon PC software was presented to us by USDA-NRCS in San Antonio), but the GeoAgro Soil Data Collector is the first one geared to consulting field soil scientists, arguably a larger and faster growing market than represented by government soil scientists.

It struck me during Ed DiPollina's presentation that the GIS and GPS portion of these types of products is becoming more of a commodity, with the forms and data entry portion holding the interest of the San Antonio audience.

Unlike similar solutions geared to institutional needs, this product will be affordable for the small business to enter into. This is not always a given since GIS solutions vary wildly in price relative to the value provided. If you are already using a GIS product like ESRI's ArcView (ESRI is the world leader in GIS software), no problem, the Soil Data Collector has the ability to export and import different types of files, such as shape, drawing and spreadsheet formats, along with substantial GIS functionality. Don't already have a GIS solution? A simplified non-ESRI solution is being provided.

Speaking of ESRI, affordable alternatives to ESRI products are on the rise. If you are already a locked into being a customer of ESRI, or you are a status quo driven public institution, this will not matter to you. A growing number of us are not. We constitute a market that ESRI has pointedly chosen, through proprietary file formatting and opportunistic pricing, not to serve. I don't fault ESRI for choosing a captive market business model. Its a legit choice. Unfortunately for ESRI, and ultimately ESRI's customers, it is difficult model to adapt to changing market conditions. If the monopolistic aspects of ESRI have escaped you, consider. GIS solutions are simple, ubiquitous, data processing solutions for publicly available georeferenced data. The algorithms used to project the data into only 2 dimensions were constructed long ago by federal agencies using public funds. The math and the data are both freely available to everyone. ESRI doesn't add value to data in the classic meaning of value, it locks it into a proprietary format and holds it for ransom.

A captive market business model smothers the necessity to innovate. Over at competitor Manifold System GIS, several sub$1K solutions are optimized for multiple core CPUs and 64 bit processing. This has been available since August, 2006. ESRI has yet to announce when they intend to provide multi-core or 64 bit functionality, even at the >$120K level. Some generally similar observations about ESRI: (1) (2) (3)

ESRI's loosening grip on the lead and a general increase in GIS software choice and capability are helping to bring innovators like TekConsultants onto the playing field.


Technorati Tags: gis gps pedology soil scientist innovation

Public Access to Public Data

In a development that has far reaching implications for public access to publicly funded geodata, the Guardian reported last Thursday that Tim Berners-Lee has made a speech to an Oxford University audience in which he challenged the British government to make Ordinance Survey mapping data available at no cost for Web use and

may get his wish later this year. Sir Tim Berners-Lee told an Oxford University audience last week getting "basic, raw data from Ordnance Survey" online would help build the "semantic web", which he defines as a web of data using standard formats so that relevant data can be found and processed by computers.

Berners-Lee said it may be reasonable for OS, the premier state-owned supplier of public sector information, to continue to charge for its high-resolution mapping. But even if licences were required, he added, OS should make its data open to manipulation. "I want to do something with the data, I want to be able to join it with all my other data," he said. "I want to be able to do Google Maps things to a ridiculous extent, and not limited in the way that Google Maps is."

The guest lecturer said he had discussed this with OS. "They are certainly thinking about this and studying what they can do. OS is in favour of doing the right thing for the country, as well as maintaining its existence, so I think there's a fair chance we'll find mutual agreement."

This relates to a similarly controversial subject in my State and anywhere else in the United States where individual datasets for current county coverage can cost the purchaser thousands of dollars and be encumbered with copyright restrictions and in proprietary MrSID or ESRI formats. As someone else said:

In the United States there seem to be two contradictory trends in public access to public data. On the one hand, more public data than ever before is being published on the Internet for free download. On the other hand, many public agencies ignore laws guaranteeing public access to public data, or they are providing the data in a form that renders it unusable by the public.

Roger Longhorn, Info-Dynamics Research Associates Ltd points out that

It is important to remember that, in the USA, free (no cost) access to geodata applies only to federally collected (or paid for) data. State and local government, holders of vast quantities of geodata, can (and some do) charge for access and/or exploitation of these important, typically large scale, geodata resources.

Local governments charge fees at levels that discourage innovation, throttle data dissemination, skew distribution and discourage data reuse. I don't mind paying a reasonable fee and I truly don't mind local governments recouping reasonable cost. Hundreds of dollars and in some cases, thousands of dollars, per data set is not reasonable. Consider that these same agencies and districts would have to provide this data at the cost of copying it to CD's if requested under their freedom of information requirements. The difference in charges is for timely delivery and the substantial benefits that derive from being a team player.

Yet it is unseemly for us in the United States to complain. Our nation's history supports the basic premise that "one of the reasons to have a government is to have good map data" available to the public. Post-9/11 security concerns have clouded the issue but (as analyzed in this pdf)have not changed the fundamentals.

Rapid developments in the UK and UE will encourage those in the USA working to make publicly funded data more freely available, and less encumbered with restrictive copyrights and proprietary formats. What goes around, comes around.

Complementing open geodata efforts is the open source geospatial technologies movement. The newly formed Open Source Geospatial Foundation (discussed here, here and here) will develop the standards needed for open source to advance. I hope both movements, open source and open data, do well. On both sides of the Atlantic.

Tech Tags: open access data news

Hans Jenny's Birthday

Tomorrow, February 7th, is the birthday of Hans Jenny. An amazing man, his simple observations often inspired deep insights in his friends. I recently came across an 1984 interview with Hans Jenny and highly recommend it to you. Here is an excerpt:

Soil appeals to my senses. I like to dig in it and work it with my hands. I enjoy doing the soil texture feel test with my fingers or kneading a clay soil, which is a short step from ceramics or sculpture. Soil has a pleasant smell. I like to sit on the bare, sun-drenched ground and take in the fragrance of the soil. ...Soil profile art...resembles abstract art. ...Soil speaks to us through the colors and sculptures of its profile, thereby revealing its personality; we acknowledge it by giving the soil a name.

From: Jenny, Hans and Kevin Stuart, "My Friend, the Soil", Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, May-June, 1984, pp. 158-161.

Tech Tags: soil science pedology

Retirement of Gary Muckel

Access to data. Access to standards. Access to continuing education. Soil consultants need all three to thrive professionally. The reciprocal is that the profession needs the participation of consultants to thrive. This is less of a disconnect than in 1992, when Gary Muckel began in his efforts to bring soil science consultants in closer with the efforts and products of the National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS). Gary retires today. He will be missed.

Just a quick note to pass along the attached notice of Gary Muckel's retirement. Gary has been a wonderful facilitator to us via his NRCS NCSS position in Lincoln -- he has always gone out of his way to forward us publications and other helpful resources and information.

Gary B. Muckel, soil scientist at the National Soil Survey Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, is retiring January 3, 2006, following a 35-year career with the Soil Conservation Service/ Natural Resources Conservation Service (SCS/NRCS).

Gary is a native of California but grew up in Reno, Nevada. He received his bachelor of science degree in plant science and his master of science degree in soil science at the University of Nevada, Reno. Gary began his SCS career in Burley, Idaho, in November 1970 as a field soil scientist. In 1974, he became the soil survey party leader in Twin Falls, Idaho.

In 1977, Gary moved on to Bismarck, North Dakota, as the soil correlator. He later became the assistant state soil scientist in North Dakota. His next stop was in 1980 at Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he served as the state soil scientist. In 1988, Gary joined the West National Technical Center in Portland, Oregon, as the head of the soils staff. It was during this time that Gary initiated activities for the National Soil Survey Centennial.

In 1992, Gary joined the National Soil Survey Center with primary responsibility for the National Soil Survey Handbook. He chaired the Soil Survey Centennial in 1999, during which time more than 1,000 projects were completed nationwide. Gary initiated the Soil Quality Information Sheets and has published more than 50 articles on soil survey. He recently released the publication “Using Soil Survey to Identify Risks and Hazards to Human Life and Property.� Gary has managed the national soils website at http://soils.usda.gov for many years, as both content manager and webmaster. As national marketing coordinator for soil survey for several years, he successfully established a marketing plan for the National Cooperative Soil Survey program. Gary developed and authored soil education CDs and soil profile cards that are used by thousands of schools. He is a member of the Soil and Water Conservation Society and the Nebraska Society of Professional Soil Scientists.

The above was passed along through PSSAC (Thanks, Mary!).

As we in Washington gear up for the next stage in pursuing state licensing of soil scientists, no doubt we will be dusting off Gary's "Understanding Soil Risks and Hazards", mentioned above. I have a link for downloading it below.

Understanding Soil Risk and Hazards: Using Soil to Identify Areas with Risks and Hazards to Human Life and Property. Gary B. Muckel, editor. 2004. 93 pp. Available free online from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Soil Survey Center, 100 Centennial Mall North, Room 152, Lincoln, NE 68508; (402) 437-5499; ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/NSSC/Soil_Risks/risks_print_version.pdf.

By drawing on local knowledge and experience, this publication aims to expand awareness of various soil risks and hazards to human life and property and encourage city and county officials, planners, developers, and others to consider the soil in their land use decisions.

Technorati Tags: Soil science Licensing

In 1794

On January 4th in 1794, was born Edward Ruffin the father of soil chemistry in the U.S., who showed how to restore fertility to depleted soil. Though without formal science education, Ruffin determined that the soil of southeast plantations that had been overused with single-crop production had become more acidic and unable to benefit from fertilizers. The remedy he published (1818) was the spreading of marl to neutralize the acidity. He went further by specifying effective methods of fertilizing, plowing and rotating crops to increase production of grains. He expanded his recommendations in book and journal article form, as well as lecturing up to the 1850's. He then became an outspoken secessionist, and took his own life upon the South losing in the Civil War, at least when he learned of it on June 18, 1865.

Today in Science History

Adapted from a post at XDA blog by Roger Fraley.

This would be a good addition to soil science articles in wikipedia.

Technorati Tags: Soil science

In Praise of Richmond Bartlett

“We all should fall upon our knees and sing out praise for manganese.�
Richmond Bartlett (wikiquote)

I received the following from Paul Bloom earlier today.

Below is an announcement supplied by Don Ross of the University of Vermont. I truly enjoyed the times I got to sit and discuss life and science with Rich. He was as unique character, but more that he was a good scientist and a fine human being.

Paul Bloom

Richmond Bartlett died Tuesday, December 20 at the age of 78. His contributions to the field of soil chemistry were many and he will be missed. He would surely want everyone to remember the difference between soil and dirt, and the fact that manganese can explain everything (almost). There are plans for a memorial service on Saturday January 7th on the campus of the University of Vermont in Burlington, time and place to be announced.

Technorati Tags: Soil science Wetland