Identification

Title

Meteorological data collected at Welsh Short Rotation Coppice (Extensive) sites

Alternative title(s)

Meteorological data collected at Welsh SRC (Extensive) sites

Abstract

As a result of high oil prices in the mid-1970s, many European and Scandinavian countries initiated research programmes investigating fuel production from energy crops. Initial studies were aimed at identifying suitable crop systems. One of the systems tested involved planting coppicing tree species at high densities (around 10,000 stools per hectare) and harvesting above ground growth every two to five years. This system was termed ‘Short Rotation Coppice’ (SRC). In the UK, numerous coppicing tree species were tested using this system (Potter, 1990). Examples include Salix viminalis clones, Populus interamericana clones, Eucalyptus archeri, Alnus cordata, and Northofagus procera. Willow and poplar clones emerged favourably from these trials, producing high yields without succumbing to disease or frost. Other research programmes concentrated on developing harvesting, processing and power generation equipment that could cope with biomass produced by a variety of crop systems including SRC. Political backing for SRC was shown on 20 December 1994 when the UK minister for Energy announced government support for three power generation projects using woodfuel gasification technology. These projects were expected to ‘stimulate substantial commitment to coppicing’. Although informative, results from early research programmes could not predict the yield of willow or poplar SRC under different environmental conditions. Without this information planners could not make informed decisions as to where SRC plantations and power generation plants should be sited in order to maximise yield and land use efficiency. Growers also needed information on likely yields achievable by different site/clone combinations, in order to estimate their financial return from these crops. For these reasons the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (now incorporated into the Department of the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs [Defra]) and the Forestry Commission (FC) sought to quantify and model the yield potential of a diverse range of willow and poplar clones when grown as SRC on agricultural sites across the UK. The subsequent research programme ‘Yield models for energy coppice of poplar and willow’ was coordinated by ETSU and carried out by Forest Research (FR) and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Northern Ireland (DARDNI, formally Department of Agriculture, Northern Ireland). The backbone of this research programme was a network of 49 field trials established on agricultural land throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Data collected from these sites continues to be used in the development of empirical yield models and process based predictive yield models capable of estimating the productivity of varieties grown under a range of environmental conditions. This data set contains the meteorological data collected at these sites during the project. The variables recorded were: Mean air temperature (oC); Maximum air temperature (oC); Minimum air temperature (oC); Mean soil temperature (oC); Rainfall (mm); Mean relative humidity (%); Photosynthetically Active Radiation (umol.m-2s-1) (with the final two only being introduced from 2000 onwards). See also Evans S (coordinator), Baldwin M, Casella E, Henshall P, Morgan G, Poole J, Sayce M, Stokes V, Taylor P, Tubby I (2007) Final Report: Yield Models for Energy: Coppice of Poplar and Willow. Report to DTI (B/W2/00624/00/00). Ed: T. Randle and I. Tubby. Attribution statement:

Resource type

dataset

Resource locator

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/data.defra.gov.uk/Forestry/FC_OpenData/FR/SRC+Met+data+Wales+(Extensive).zip

protocol: WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link

name:

description:

Unique resource identifier

code

57ebd6a8-08d0-46c6-9253-547c27854df6

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

http://www.opengis.net/def/crs/EPSG/0/27700

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

OpenData

Keyword set

keyword value

Wales

Keyword set

keyword value

Research

Wood fuel

Agriculture

Energy

Scientific

Coppice

Meteorology

Keyword set

keyword value

meteorology

originating controlled vocabulary

title

GEMET - Concepts, version 2.4

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2010-01-13

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

-5.0722590236220855

East bounding longitude

-2.4402321651401024

North bounding latitude

53.553317067367416

South bounding latitude

50.95776739380358

Extent

Extent group

authority code

code identifying the extent

http://data.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/doc/country/wales

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

1995-01-13T16:00:00

End position

2002-01-04T12:00:00

Dataset reference date

date type

creation

effective date

2007-11-29

date type

revision

effective date

2016-02-25

Frequency of update

notPlanned

Quality and validity

Lineage

There were two main types of site: Extensive Pure trials – The most numerous and basic experiment type. At each sites three willow (Jorunn, Germany, Q83) and three poplar varieties (Beaupré, Ghoy, Trichobel), from different parental crosses, and exhibiting different form and growth characteristics, were grown in monoclonal plots. Extensive Mix trials – These sites were planted with the same willow and poplar varieties as the Extensive Pure sites. In addition to monoclonal plots, mixed plots containing either three willow or three poplar varieties were planted with varieties arranged in alternating rows. The sites were set up in two phases (the first in 1995, the second in 1996) for operational reasons. Soil surveys were taken prior to establishment. The ground was ploughed to a depth of 30cm, and the ground treated prior to planting. Various weed and pest control measures were taken. Following the planting, the stools were cutback and beat up to encourage coppice-growth. Each rotation was 3 years and at most sites two rotations were recorded. Despite occasional problems with the equipment, at most sites the coverage is good. Hard copies of the graphs were sent to the outstations responsible to comment on. Data values which appear as unrealistic, while still being within the minima and maxima, are removed. Examples include high values of radiation at night, extremely erratic soil temperatures and sub zero air temperatures at noon in the middle of August. Max and Min values were used: Property Minimum Maximum Dry Bulb Temperature (C) -20 40 Dry Bulb Maximum Temperature (C) -20 40 Dry Bulb Minimum Temperature (C) -20 40 Relative Humidity (%) 30 100 Soil Temperature (C) -10 40 Rain (mm) 0 50 Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) (umol m-2) 0 2200 QA codes are included in the files to demonstrate how the raw data was regarded.

Conformity

Data format

name of format

Open format | Comma Separated Values file (CSV)

version of format

NA

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Contains Forestry Commission information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

There are no public access constraints to this data. Use of this data is subject to the licence identified.

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

organisation name

Forestry Commission

email address

mapping.geodata@forestry.gov.uk

web address

http://www.forestry.gov.uk/

description: Forestry Commission Website

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact

organisation name

Forestry Commission

email address

mapping.geodata@forestry.gov.uk

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata date

2020-03-19

Metadata language

eng