Why is NinE unique?
Until now there has never been an assessment of all the interacting problems resulting from excess nitrogen. Previous scientific efforts have focused primarily on the processes of nitrogen turnover and fluxes relevant to individual chemical forms of nitrogen or particular environmental problems. Significant efforts have been made in models that begin to join up the nitrogen cycle and relate it to the carbon cycle, but even these have addressed just a few of the nitrogen problems together. Hence assessments of transboundary air pollution have coupled the issues of acidification, terrestrial eutrophication and ground level ozone from nitrogen oxides and ammonia. Current work is now integrating these issues with atmospheric particles and greenhouse gases, but we are still far from a fully integrated assessment for nitrogen. NinE will encourage these linkages to be made, extending the analysis for the first time to cover all nine nitrogen problems.
NinE Objectives
The starting detailed scientific objectives of NinE are listed in the programme proposal. The NinE Steering Committee has summarized these objectives as the following:
i. | To develop the underpinning science that links different forms of nitrogen. Hence detailed studies on a single nitrogen pollutant are not the first priority. Instead, the priority is for studies examining the interchange and relationships between different nitrogen pollutants as nitrogen cascades through the environment. |
ii. | To develop the science linking nitrogen interactions between environmental compartments. Coupled to the above is the need for studies that link nitrogen emissions, transformations and impacts between soils, plants, air and water, and between different contexts, urban-rural, aquatic-marine, biosphere-troposhere-stratosphere etc. |
iii. | To establish approaches at a range of scales, from physiological scale, patch scale, landscapes (e.g. 25 km2), regional watersheds (e.g. 10000 km2) to regions of Europe and the whole continent. Each of the scales is relevant, but the larger scales that allow explicit assessment of the nitrogen cascade are particularly relevant (landscapes to continental). |
iv. | To refine methodologies for relating information between different spatial and temporal scales. It is a major scientific challenge to carry information developed at finer scales to larger scale models, while also posing a challenge for the different science communities to interact successfully. |
v. | To apply the analyses of NinE in selected case studies across Europe. These may include contrasting case-study landscapes, major watersheds and larger contrasting regions of Europe, including the comparison between source and sink areas for nitrogen. |
vi. | To establish a meta-database of nitrogen research activities and assessments that integrate different nitrogen forms, interactions and scales. Such a meta-database would take the widest possible scope, including process analyses and case studies, providing access to both datasets and reports. |
vii. | To prepare a major assessment report of covering the interlinked problems of Nitrogen in Europe. The assessment report would be informed by the results scientific activity of NinE and draw extensively on the NinE meta-database. |
Development of a meta-database
The Steering Committee of the NinE Programme has agreed to support the development of a meta-database of nitrogen research in Europe. As a meta-database this would not store datasets of nitrogen pools, fluxes etc directly, which is an activity being conducted under several other projects in relation to the different environmental problems and compartments.
Instead, the NinE meta-database would take a wider approach, providing a search tool that brings together European nitrogen research in its widest sense, covering all nine of the related problems.
The purpose of the NinE meta-database is to provide:
a) a resource enabling researchers in different N-related topics to see the links to other areas
b) a resource to provide material for use in the major NinE Assessment Report of Nitrogen problems in Europe, including access to key case study regions.
It is envisaged that the NinE meta-database would provide the following information in a typical record:
- Nature of dataset / model result / analysis / publication etc.
- Region to which the dataset refers
- Time period to which the dataset refers
- N problems to which the dataset is relevant (of the nine headings)
- Summary of the information and its relevance to the 7 objectives of NinE
- Detailed list of parameters available according to:
- Chemical form of nitrogen
- Environmental compartment
- Types of fluxes and pools etc.
- Accessibility of the information / data / model (e.g. open access, confidential etc) [Note the emphasis is on open access information, but note will be made where data access is restricted]
- Web url where available
- Contact name and address including email where available
Other headings may be added as relevant.
Approach
The NinE SSC realises that it is critical to get the structure of the meta-database set correctly from the outset. It therefore plans to conduct this activity in several phases:
Phase I | Design of meta-database concept and structure |
Phase II | Building of the relational meta-database |
Phase III | Population of the relational meta-database |
A call was launched for tenders to develop the first phase of the meta-database. Following this call, the task was awarded to ECN, Petten, The Netherlands, under the leadership of Albert Bleeker.
