High Resolution Scintillation Detector

65456 A comprehensive carbon sequestration program includes maximizing the carbon sink potential of the terrestrial ecosystem. This can be achieved by (1) establishing sustainable vegetation on arid or damaged land and (2) expanding the carbon sequestration into deeper soil strata. However, current methods for revegetating arid land have high failure rates because of scarce or costly access to water and because these methods encourage near-surface plant rooting. This near-surface rooting is more favorable for carbon respiration than carbon sequestration as would be the case with roots established in deeper soil horizons. This project will determine the carbon sequestration potential of a patented technology that produces the root growth of trees to groundwater depths greater than 40 feet. With deep root growth readily accessing groundwater, there is improved potential for establishing plants on marginal soils. By increasing root development in less productive soils, more respired CO2 can be entrapped by soil solutions and minerals. Phase I will revisit several long-established sites where this technology has been deployed and conduct an in-depth field evaluation of the soil carbon. Root density and morphology will be determined at incremental depths, and the relationship among carbon and its chemical forms, microbial populations, nutrients, and other chemical parameters will be characterized. Commercial Applications And Other Benefits as described by awardee: This technology, already commercialized for remediation purposes, should improve carbon sequestration. In the nearer term, it should have a direct commercialization potential for land restoration programs that include barriers to desertification, windbreak applications, and environmental protection.