cres of his land, we are conducting an experiment in which half the fields will undergo drainage water management while the other half will not. The farmer will farm his fields just like he usually does, and we will measure the differences in water and air quality. This interdisciplinary, cooperative opportunity is unique, and because we are using new measurement technologies, the research design is novel in the Bay region!
What’s next? The project requires collecting at least two full years of data in order to measure how the air quality and water quality differ when there is corn growing in the field instead of soybeans as the farmer rotates his crops. With the harvest now complete, we will wrap up work this year by beginning to consolidate all the water and air measurements taken during the growing season. We will continue taking measurements through the winter so that we can compare them against our measurements taken during the growing season. I guess that means some colder nights in the tent!
Photo, top left: This is a view of a flooded ditch, taken in March 2016, with a control structure (the black cap near my feet, lower left) that extends 8 feet into the ground. All the water in the field passes through this structure so water level can be controlled. Credit: Stephanie Siemek.