A novel machine learning-driven approach for predicting nitrous oxide flux in precision managed agricultural systems

Srikanth Samy 1, *, #, Krishiv Jaini 1, # and Sarah Preheim 2

1 Dublin High School, Dublin, CA 94568.
2 Johns Hopkins University, Whiting School of Engineering, Baltimore, MD 21218.
#These authors contributed equally.
 
Research Article
World Journal of Advanced Research and Reviews, 2024, 24(01), 679–685
Article DOI: 10.30574/wjarr.2024.24.1.3041
 
Publication history: 
Received on 27 August 2024; revised on 04 October 2024; accepted on 06 October 2024
 
Abstract: 
N2O, also known as nitrous oxide, is a greenhouse gas that is roughly 300 times more potent than CO2 and destroys the the stratospheric ozone layer causing climate change. One of the primary causes of the rapid increase of N2O in our ecosystem is the application of nitrogen fertilizer to agricultural land. This stimulates N2O emissions and accounts for approximately 5% of the global greenhouse gases, forcing harm to the environment and atmosphere (Aronson and Allison, 2012). Previous models severely underestimated N2O flux in various crops, causing inaccurate predictions to form. In our study, we utilized data from automated flux chambers to train and evaluate different machine-learning models to predict the field-level flux of N2O which assist farmers to predict fertilizer amounts to use. The best machine learning model, Random Forest, performed considerably better than the standard empirical and biophysical models by roughly 15%, and show promise in improving predictive accuracy and guiding sustainable agricultural practices.\
 
Keywords: 
Machine learning-driven approach; Nitrous oxide flux; Agricultural systems; N2O
 
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