NitroEurope Study Landscape: Sele Plain

Piana del Sele features high volatile B emissions from multiple sources, such as volatilization of mineral and organic fertilizers, silage fodders, animal emissions. It is the strongest GHG emitting cropland area in southern Italy well representing a high input/income irrigated agriculture under Mediterranean conditions. The valley was drained and claimed to agriculture in recent times, so that property pulverization was impaired and a totally new dynamic business-oriented class of farmers developed. The selected domain extends for 3*3.5 km. The sea provides boundary conditions with absence of emissions or sinks and nearly-constant inlet profiles. Borgo Cioffi NEU supersite is on the inland boundary. Most of the surface is covered by arable land, mostly cropped to heavily fertilized and irrigated fruit and vegetable crops, with numerous tunnels in the North portion and only one large water buffalo farm (BC). The coastal Pine plantation represents about 15% of the surface under study - and its location either upwind or downwind of emitting cropland, provides an opportunity for studying N sink-source relationships. A detailed soil map is prepared on the basis of a Geo-morphological approach. Aircraft-based measurements are among selected verification approaches. The close vicinity of Salerno airport - basis of ISAFoM ERAs research aircrafts - provides a unique opportunity to carry on this study, at a fraction of the nominal flight hour cost of ERAs. State-of-the-art airborne in situ and remote sensing measurements, including the Convective Boundary Layer Mass Budget - based on performing authorized low level flights to 'box' the selected area, to yield mass budgets of carbon dioxide and selected reactive nitrogen species (Nr) of both the cropped and the forested area - will be implemented.