Abstract. We applied a site evaluation approach combining Lagrangian Stochastic footprint modeling with a quality assessment approach for eddy-covariance data to 25 forested sites of the CarboEurope-IP network. The analysis addresses the spatial representativeness of the flux measurements, instrumental effects on data quality, spatial patterns in the data quality, and the performance of the coordinate rotation method. Our findings demonstrate that application of a footprint filter could strengthen the CarboEurope-IP flux database, since only one third of the sites is situated in truly homogeneous terrain. Almost half of the sites experience a significant reduction in eddy-covariance data quality under certain conditions, though these effects are mostly constricted to a small portion of the dataset. Reductions in data quality of the sensible heat flux are mostly induced by characteristics of the surrounding terrain, while the latent heat flux is subject to instrumentation-related problems. The Planar-Fit coordinate rotation proved to be a reliable tool for the majority of the sites using only a single set of rotation angles. Overall, we found a high average data quality for the CarboEurope-IP network, with good representativeness of the measurement data for the specified target land cover types.

Abstract.A comprehensive assessment of policy impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural soils requires careful consideration of both socio-economic aspects and the environmental heterogeneity of the landscape. We developed a modelling framework that links the large-scale economic model for agriculture CAPRI (Common Agricultural Policy Regional Impact assessment) with the biogeochemistry model DNDC (DeNitrification DeComposition) to simulate GHG fluxes, carbon stock changes and the nitrogen budget of agricultural soils in Europe. The framework allows the ex-ante simulation of agricultural or agri-environmental policy impacts on a wide range of environmental problems such as climate change (GHG emissions), air pollution and groundwater pollution. Those environmental impacts can be analyzed in the context of economic and social indicators as calculated by the economic model. The methodology consists of four steps: (i) definition of appropriate calculation units that can be considered as homogeneous in terms of economic behaviour and environmental response; (ii) downscaling of regional agricultural statistics and farm management information from a CAPRI simulation run into the spatial calculation units; (iii) designing environmental model scenarios and model runs; and finally (iv) aggregating results for interpretation. We show the first results of the nitrogen budget in croplands in fourteen countries of the European Union and discuss possibilities to improve the detailed assessment of nitrogen and carbon fluxes from European arable soils.

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