Organic Fertiliser Parameters

This section describes the organic fertiliser parameter files used by MONICA. Each JSON file represents one organic material and defines properties such as dry matter content, mineral nitrogen content, organic matter pool allocation, C:N ratios, and decomposition rates.

The files are located in the organic-fertilisers/ directory of the monica-parameters repository.

---

List of organic fertiliser parameters

Parameter Name	Type	Unit	Description	Example
id	String		Short identifier used to reference the organic fertiliser in management configurations	"id": "CADLM"
name	String		Full descriptive name of the organic material	"name": "cattle deep-litter manure"
AOM_DryMatterContent	Number	kg DM kg FM-1	Dry matter content of the organic material as a fraction of fresh mass	"AOM_DryMatterContent": [0.289, "kg DM kg FM-1", "..."]
AOM_NH4Content	Number	kg N kg DM-1	Ammonium nitrogen content per unit of dry matter	"AOM_NH4Content": [0.007, "kg N kg DM-1", "..."]
AOM_NO3Content	Number	kg N kg DM-1	Nitrate nitrogen content per unit of dry matter	"AOM_NO3Content": [0, "kg N kg DM-1", "..."]
NConcentration	Number	kg N kg DM-1	Nitrogen concentration supplied with the added organic matter. It is currently 0 in the organic fertiliser parameter files. Organic nitrogen is represented through the AOM pool fractions and their C:N ratios.	"NConcentration": 0
AOM_FastDecCoeffStandard	Number	d-1	Decomposition rate coefficient of the fast AOM pool under standard conditions	"AOM_FastDecCoeffStandard": [0.002, "d-1", "..."]
AOM_SlowDecCoeffStandard	Number	d-1	Decomposition rate coefficient of the slow AOM pool under standard conditions	"AOM_SlowDecCoeffStandard": [0.0002, "d-1", "..."]
PartAOM_to_AOM_Fast	Number	kg kg-1	Fraction of the added organic matter assigned to the rapidly decomposing pool	"PartAOM_to_AOM_Fast": [0.18, "kg kg-1", "..."]
PartAOM_to_AOM_Slow	Number	kg kg-1	Fraction of the added organic matter assigned to the slowly decomposing pool	"PartAOM_to_AOM_Slow": [0.72, "kg kg-1", "..."]
CN_Ratio_AOM_Fast	Number		Carbon to nitrogen ratio of the rapidly decomposing AOM pool	"CN_Ratio_AOM_Fast": [7.3, "", "..."]
CN_Ratio_AOM_Slow	Number		Carbon to nitrogen ratio of the slowly decomposing AOM pool	"CN_Ratio_AOM_Slow": [100, "", "..."]
PartAOM_Slow_to_SMB_Fast	Number	kg kg-1	Fraction of slow AOM consumed by the fast soil microbial biomass pool	"PartAOM_Slow_to_SMB_Fast": [1, "kg kg-1", "..."]
PartAOM_Slow_to_SMB_Slow	Number	kg kg-1	Fraction of slow AOM consumed by the slow soil microbial biomass pool	"PartAOM_Slow_to_SMB_Slow": [0, "kg kg-1", "..."]
type	String		Declares that this JSON defines organic fertiliser parameters	"type": "OrganicFertiliserParameters"

Allocation of added organic matter

PartAOM_to_AOM_Fast and PartAOM_to_AOM_Slow do not have to sum to 1.0.

When their sum is less than 1.0, the positive remainder is assigned directly to MONICA's fast soil organic matter (SOM_Fast) pool. It does not represent material lost during application.

Values whose sum exceeds 1.0 should be avoided. In that case, the direct SOM_Fast contribution is clamped to zero, but the fast and slow AOM allocations are not reduced.

Nitrogen representation

For the organic fertiliser files, the configured pool fractions and C:N ratios determine the organic nitrogen associated with the AOM pools. AOM_NH4Content and AOM_NO3Content specify the directly added mineral nitrogen fractions.

Dynamic calculation of CN_Ratio_AOM_Fast is used for crop-residue parameters whose configured fast-pool C:N ratio is zero. It is not the normal behavior for the organic fertilisers listed below.

---

Available organic fertilisers

The following table lists all available organic fertilisers in MONICA with their IDs, full names, and key decomposition properties.

ID	Full Name	Dry matter (kg DM kg FM-1)	NH4 content (kg N kg DM-1)	Fast decomposition coefficient (d-1)	Fast AOM fraction
ASH	Wood ashes	1.000	0.000	0.00200	0.10
CADLM	Cattle deep-litter manure	0.289	0.007	0.00200	0.18
CAM	Cattle manure	0.196	0.007	0.00200	0.18
CAS	Cattle slurry	0.103	0.032	0.00200	0.18
CAU	Cattle urine	0.033	0.146	0.00200	0.18
DGDLM	Duck or goose deep-litter manure	0.350	0.024	0.00200	0.18
GWC	Green-waste compost	0.500	0.002	0.00200	0.18
HODLM	Horse deep-litter manure	0.260	0.008	0.00200	0.18
MC	Mushroom compost	0.390	0.000	0.00200	0.18
MS	Maize straw	0.850	0.000	0.00200	0.18
OIC	Oilseed-rape cake fertiliser (5-1-10)	0.900	0.000	0.05000	0.62
PIDLM	Pig deep-litter manure	0.330	0.009	0.00200	0.18
PIM	Pig manure	0.039	0.014	0.00200	0.18
PIS	Pig slurry	0.054	0.068	0.00200	0.18
PIU	Pig urine	0.020	0.162	0.00200	0.18
PIUDK	Pig slurry-DK	0.050	0.080	0.00200	0.18
PLW	Potato liquid waste	0.020	0.028	0.00200	0.18
PODLM	Poultry deep-litter manure	0.633	0.037	0.00200	0.18
POM	Poultry manure	0.400	0.019	0.00200	0.18
SOY	Soybean straw	0.850	0.000	0.00200	0.18
SS	Sewage sludge	0.141	0.089	0.00200	0.18
TUDLM	Turkey deep-litter manure	0.480	0.038	0.00200	0.18
WEEDS	Weeds	0.850	0.000	0.00200	0.18
WS	Wheat straw	0.850	0.000	0.00200	0.18

---

Example: CADLM.json

{
    "AOM_DryMatterContent": [0.289, "kg DM kg FM-1", "Dry matter content of added organic matter"],
    "AOM_FastDecCoeffStandard": [0.002, "d-1", "Decomposition rate coefficient of fast AOM at standard conditions"],
    "AOM_NH4Content": [0.007, "kg N kg DM-1", "Ammonium content in added organic matter"],
    "AOM_NO3Content": [0, "kg N kg DM-1", "Nitrate content in added organic matter"],
    "AOM_SlowDecCoeffStandard": [0.0002, "d-1", "Decomposition rate coefficient of slow AOM at standard conditions"],
    "CN_Ratio_AOM_Fast": [7.3, "", "C to N ratio of the rapidly decomposing AOM pool"],
    "CN_Ratio_AOM_Slow": [100, "", "C to N ratio of the slowly decomposing AOM pool"],
    "NConcentration": 0,
    "PartAOM_Slow_to_SMB_Fast": [1, "kg kg-1", "Part of AOM slow consumed by fast soil microbial biomass"],
    "PartAOM_Slow_to_SMB_Slow": [0, "kg kg-1", "Part of AOM slow consumed by slow soil microbial biomass"],
    "PartAOM_to_AOM_Fast": [0.18, "kg kg-1", "Part of AOM that is assigned to the rapidly decomposing pool"],
    "PartAOM_to_AOM_Slow": [0.72, "kg kg-1", "Part of AOM that is assigned to the slowly decomposing pool"],
    "id": "CADLM",
    "name": "cattle deep-litter manure",
    "type": "OrganicFertiliserParameters"
}