Sequestration of soil carbon is a recognised mitigation strategy to deliver carbon neutrality in agricultural systems. As Ireland sets out to establish a baseline of soil carbon stock, it is important to understand the national carbon sequestration potential of Irish soils. This will inform appropriate management of land use and land use management for soil carbon.
This project will develop spectral models to predict soil carbon sequestration in Irish soils using soil spectroscopy coupled with chemometric modelling. The project will utilise large spectral libraries and reference databases generated from the following projects:
The ambition for this PhD is to produce a soil carbon saturation potential map for the Irish Soil Information System and a predicted map for Terra Soil to understand the geochemical variability and controls on soil organic carbon at a depth of up to 50 cm. An accurate method for soil carbon assessment from spectral data will advance soil monitoring schemes at national and local scale.
Further information can be found here.
The closing date for applications is Friday 30 July 2021.