Establishment of Baseline Emission Factor of Methane in Korean Rice Paddy Soil

BACKGROUND: Methane (CH4) emission is calculated using the default CH4 emission factor as recommended by the International Panel on Climate Change(IPCC guidelines). However, the default emission factor has been derived using including the data from other countries having different soil and environmental conditions and may not reflect the real CH4 emission rates in Korea. The objective of this study was to estimate the baseline emission factor of CH4 in Korean paddy soils during rice cultivation. METHODS AND RESULTS: Methane emission patterns were characterized in four different paddy soils across country for a consecutive 3 years during the rice cultivation period. Rice plants were cultivated under continuous flooding and fertilized using the recommended chemical fertilization in Korea (N-P2O5-K2O=90-45-57kg/ha). The mean CH4 emission rate was 2.32 kg CH4/ha/day and the uncertainty of the investigated data was 21.7%, with a valuable error range at 1.82-2.82 kg CH4/ha/day with a 95% confidence interval. CONCLUSION(S): Conclusively, the Korean paddy soils' baseline emission factor of CH4 is approximately 2.32 kg CH4/ha/day and can be used to estimate the CH4 emissions more exactly.