Francesco Danuso

A software application for mapping livestock waste odour dispersion

In developed Countries, coexistence of livestock production and urban settlements is a source of problematic interactions that are regulated by specific legislation, often requiring the evaluation of the potential environmental impact of livestock odour emissions. For this purpose, dispersion models are powerful tools that can be classified as dynamic (Eulerian and Lagrangian) or static (Gaussian). The latter, while presenting some limitations in condition of wind calm and complex orography, are widely adopted for their ease of use.OdiGauss is a free multilingual software application allowing to estimate odour dispersion from multiple point sources and to generate the related maps. Dispersion is calculated according to a Gaussian approach, as a function of wind speed and direction, precipitation, temperature, and solar radiation. OdiGauss incorporates a model of odour emissions from poultry farms (EmiFarm) which makes predictions based on manure production and management. Two case studies of software application on real poultry and swine farms are presented. OdiGauss software simulating odour dispersion from livestock is presented.OdiGauss is fast and easy to use allowing climatological evaluation of dispersion.An example model providing dynamic emissions to OdiGauss is also included.Easy meteo data importing and exporting of dispersion maps in common GIS formats.

X-farm : Modelling Sustainable Farming Systems

The aim of this chapter is to illustrate the structure of X-farm, a model to manage farming systems under energetic, economical and ecological perspectives, using the dynamic simulation approach. The structure of X-farm is composed by some integrated modules representing the main centres of farming costs and production: soil management, crop production and processing and energy production and administration. The dynamic simulation is addressed to find the best combination of crop and livestock activities in the farm plan. The objective of energy production is afforded by using crops and reducing the energy use by optimising energy-saving techniques; the ecological objective is formulated by accounting the CO2 emissions; the economic objective is targeted to profit maximisation, constrained by the level of achievement of the energy and ecology targets. The dynamic simulation is expected to help in improving the farm management performance with the simultaneous achievement of the three objectives. Finally, combining the X-farm model with GIS techniques, the analysis will be expanded to the agro-district planning to support the regional strategy for agro-energy production.