Course Description
Structure, function, and performance of current nutrient cycling models used to simulate carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur transformations in the soil.
Athena Title
Nutrient Cycling Models
Prerequisite
[CSCI 7010 and CRSS(MIBO) 4610/6610-4610L/6610L] or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
- By the end of this course, students should be able to describe mathematical equations to model crop response to nutrient addition.
- By the end of this course, students should be able to describe methods to measure nitrogen and phosphorus processes in soil.
- By the end of this course, students should be able to describe new sensing technologies for nutrient management.
- By the end of this course, students should be able to use the learned material in mathematical calculations to solve advanced soil fertility problems.
- By the end of this course, students should be able to analyze, synthesize, and communicate results of soil fertility studies.
Topical Outline
- I. Review of Important Concepts
A. Soil Concepts
B. Mathematical Concepts
II. Systems Science and Models
A. Definition of System
B. Systems versus Non-systems Science
C. Models
D. Terminology
III. Model Development
A. Methods for mapping relationships between variables
B. Steps in model development
IV. Numerical Solutions to Partial Differential Equations
A. Writing differential equations
B. Numerical methods
V. Visual Software Tools for Model Development
A. Stella Research
B. Other tools (ModelMaker, Vensim, Powersim, etc.)
VI. Modeling Carbon and Nitrogen Processes
A. Common kinetic models for mineralization of a single organic compound
B. Temperature and Moisture Factors in Simulation Models
C. Carbon and N mineralization/immobilization
D. Modeling other N processes
VII. Modeling Phosphorus Processes
A. Mineralization/Immobilization
B. Adsorption/Precipitation
C. Phosphorus in Runoff
Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
