Completed projects
- CELTICFLUX - Monitoring of Greenhouse Gas Fluxes
We have been measuring the CO2 flux from a grassland in County Cork since July, 2001. From May/June 2002, we have been measuring the CO2 flux from a peatland in County Kerry and also from a managed grassland at Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford. Over the project period, have amassed five years of continuous CO2 fluxes which have given us an understanding of the seasonal and inter-annual variation and the factors controlling these variations. N2O fluxes have also been continuously measured using a tunable diode laser absorption spectrometer at the Cork grassland continuously since July 2002, and two years of closed chamber measurements of CH4 have been made at the Kerry peatland. All CO2 and N2O gas concentration measurements are made at 10Hz. We have applied models at the plot and field scale to model the greenhouse gas fluxes from the two different ecosystems and a water table manipulation experiment has examined the effect of drainage on CO2 fluxes from blanket peat. The goal of the project is to estimate the greenhouse gas balance of different Irish ecosystems.
- Flood Studies Update - Flood Event Analysis
The aim of the project was to investigate alternative methods of rainfall-runoff estimation for flood design with a view to recommending national guidance and maybe a subsequent national regional analysis.
- Modelling of Rainfall Distribution over a Catchment Area
This project aims to look at the distribution of rainfall throughout the same catchment area in Dripsey as the phosphorous studies. Ten stand-alone rain gauges have been installed throughout the catchment, even at this early point in the experiment there is a noticeable difference over short periods of time, i.e., 30, 60 minute period.
- Soil and Phosphorus - Catchment Studies
This project examines phosphorus (P) migration from soil to water. Three catchments are being instrumented (the Dripsey in Cork, the Clariana in Tipperary and the Oonagh in Tyrone) for hydrochemistry and hydrometeorology. Each catchment is being examined using a nested catchment approach, going from the farm scale of 20-50 ha to the micro-catchment scale of 1–4 km2 to the mini-catchment scale of 30 to 90 km2. The objectives are to:
- Quantify the water balance and P budget at each scale
- Identify the mechanisms of P migration within these catchments under various seasonal, meteorological, soil type texture and land use conditions (e.g. schedules of fertiliser and application of manure to grasslands).
The influence of hydrology and soil type on P loss from soil to water is being examined by quantifying the flux of P via surface and near surface flows. Soil water and soil P analysis, stream water chemistry, hydrology and meteorology and land use monitoring will be carried out over the 18 month period from March 2001 to September 2003. A hydrological model (Soil Vegetation Atmosphere Transfer type) is being developed with a new P module that will predict the time series of P levels in streams using hydrological, meteorological and land use practices as input. The model will be used to evaluate mitigation proposals to reduce the amount of P entering surface waters. The wider goal is to develop specific guidelines for Irish agricultural practice.
In Dripsey we operate a set of four nested catchments - at scales of order 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 km2, with instrumentation continuously monitoring of hydrology, water chemistry, meteorology and soil chemistry. Land management practices are also closely monitored.