Emissions during freeze and thaw

Greenhouse gasses from the US Corn Belt have primarily been studied during the growing season, but winter weather may also play an important role. Prof. Tim Griffis is part of a team that modeled agricultural nitrous oxide emissions during the non-growing season. UMN reported that “the researchers found that soil freezing and thawing contributed to spikes in emissions during the non-growing season. Soil freezing promoted nitrous oxide production by blocking oxygen transfer and soil thawing promoted production by increasing soil water content.” Read the Research Brief from UMN News or the recent publication in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology.