Sustainable nitrogen management under climate change in Austria

NitroClim.AT will evaluate and provide a cost estimation of agricultural management strategies for Austrian agricultural systems that are able to minimize reactive nitrogen (Nr) losses to the envi-ronment under future climate and future socio-economic and policy scenarios. The uncertainties of the strategies will be quantified. An integrated modelling framework consisting of a biophysical pro-cess model (EPIC), an economic land use model (PASMA[grid]), and two eco-hydrological models (MONERIS and SWAT) will track Nr emissions from and flows in agriculture. The outcomes of the research will be a ranking of agricultural management strategies for specific agricultural systems that minimize future Nr losses to the water, soil and atmosphere, together with an economic value of the losses and a quantification of the Nr loss uncertainty under future climate simulations and under future socio-economic scenarios. This will help to better guide policy makers to choose robust measures under a multi-criteria decision-making context.