Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/L013185/1
Establishing a framework to investigate how palm oil plantations management may influence boundary layer development and stability.
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor S Waldron, University of Glasgow, School of Geographical & Earth Sciences
- Co-Investigator:
- Dr RR Burton, University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment
- Grant held at:
- University of Glasgow, School of Geographical & Earth Sciences
- Science Area:
- Atmospheric
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Atmospheric
- ENRIs:
- Global Change
- Natural Resource Management
- Pollution and Waste
- Science Topics:
- Bioenergy
- Environmental Planning
- Earth Surface Processes
- Land - Atmosphere Interactions
- Soil science
- Abstract:
- In the UK we have research to try and understand how creating energy in our landscape may influence the local environment. The NERC grant 'Microclimates' is an example of such research; here we seek to understand how wind turbine deployment and biofuel crops may create and respond to local microclimates. However, members of the microclimate team propose to extend their research understanding to important biofuel crops overseas, that like wind turbines can also be deployed on peat soils, which are important C stores. However, our focus here is not on the C storage (as our project partners are considering that), but on the land management practise of draining the soils to render them more suitable for oil palm growth. This drainage significantly influences moisture availability in the soil and in turn how much water can be evaporated from the soil surface, and so heat flux. Understanding the impact of these management practises is important as changes in evaporative fluxes influences the development of a phenomena called the boundary layer. This is the zone of atmospheric mixing immediately above the Earth's surface and influences many things including weather and air pollution. Land conversion of tropical peats for agricultural biofuels is proceeding at a significant and uncontrolled rate and the upscaling of individual plantations could change at national scales the responses controlled by boundary layer dynamics, so we need to gather preliminary field data to better understand how significant this is. The pump-priming funding is supported by additional investment from three Malaysian Universities that demonstrates their commitment to formalising a nascent relationship.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/L013185/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- IOF
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- IOF
This grant award has a total value of £39,960
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| DI - Other Costs | Indirect - Indirect Costs | DA - Investigators | DA - Estate Costs | DI - T&S | DA - Other Directly Allocated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £17,617 | £5,491 | £9,457 | £2,096 | £4,920 | £380 |
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