Nitrous Oxide Flux and Soil Measurements from a Scottish Livestock Farm (2012-2013)

Central Scotland farm data includes over 500 nitrous oxide flux measurements from arable fields, grazed pastures, and farm structures. Measurements were collected in 2012 and 2013 using a high-precision flux chamber method, with associated soil property data. This dataset was used to assess farm-scale N2O emissions across four seasons.

Use Cases

• Model nitrous oxide flux using associated soil measurements like soil temperature and moisture content.
• Analyze the relationship between ammonia concentrations and N2O emissions from different agricultural sources such as barns and manure heaps.
• Compare flux levels and soil properties like bulk density and pH between arable fields and grazed fields for cattle and sheep.
• Assess seasonal variations in nitrate concentrations and their correlation with measured N2O fluxes.

Strengths

• Over 500 individual flux measurements provide a substantial observational record.
• Includes measurements from diverse agricultural sources: arable fields, grazed pastures, barns, manure heaps, and silage storage.
• Data spans four seasons across 2012 and 2013, capturing temporal variability.
• Each flux measurement is paired with multiple soil property readings (pH, temperature, moisture, bulk density, ammonia, nitrate).

Limitations

• Geographic scope is limited to a single mixed livestock farm in central Scotland.
• Temporal coverage is limited to two years, which may not capture long-term trends or interannual variability.
• The dataset's applicability to other farm types, regions, or climatic conditions is uncertain.

Provenance

Source

Environmental Information Data Centre

Collection Method

High-precision flux chamber method for N2O measurements; soil properties measured via KCl extraction for ammonia and nitrate.

Time Range

2012-2013

Freshness

Data collection ended in 2013; the record was last updated in the repository on 2026-03 11.

Geography

A mixed livestock farm in central Scotland