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[185] Update N cycle documentation#342

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Sanketmandwal:185-update-n-cycle-docs
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[185] Update N cycle documentation#342
Sanketmandwal wants to merge 2 commits into
PecanProject:masterfrom
Sanketmandwal:185-update-n-cycle-docs

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Summary

  • What: Updated nitrogen cycle documentation in docs/model-structure.md and docs/parameters.md to reflect the implemented N-cycle behavior.

    Changes include:

    • Added K_vol to Nitrogen Cycle Parameters
    • Removed redundant documentation related to fN2O_vol
    • Added fNLeach
    • Updated nitrogen volatilization documentation and moved justification below the model description/equation
    • Updated nitrogen leaching equation to:
      F^N_leach = N_min · φ · fN_leach
    • Added:
      φ = min(F^W_drainage / W_WHC, 1)
    • Updated documentation to reflect a single minN pool while preserving separate soil and litter mineralization fluxes
    • Replaced future tense with present tense where appropriate
  • Motivation: The documentation did not fully match the implemented nitrogen cycle behavior and parameter definitions. This update aligns the documentation with the current implementation and removes outdated or redundant descriptions.

How was this change tested?

  • Previewed documentation locally using:
mkdocs serve
  • Verified documentation builds successfully.

  • Manually reviewed rendered pages for:

    • Nitrogen Volatilization section
    • Nitrogen Leaching section
    • Nitrogen Cycle Parameters table
  • Reviewed git diff to confirm changes are limited to intended documentation updates.

No smoke tests or code execution changes were required since this PR only updates documentation.

Reproduction steps

  1. Run:
mkdocs serve
  1. Open:
http://127.0.0.1:8000/
  1. Navigate to the updated nitrogen cycle documentation sections.

Related issues

Checklist

  • Related issues are listed above.
  • PR title has the issue number in it
  • Tests added/updated for new features (if applicable)
  • Documentation updated (if applicable)
  • docs/CHANGELOG.md updated with noteworthy changes
  • Code formatted with clang-format (not applicable for documentation-only changes)

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings May 27, 2026 07:07
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Pull request overview

Note

Copilot was unable to run its full agentic suite in this review.

Updates nitrogen-cycle documentation to reflect a single mineral nitrogen pool and clarifies volatilization/leaching parameter definitions and equations.

Changes:

  • Renames initial mineral N state symbol to a single shared $N_{\text{min},0}$ pool.
  • Rewrites nitrogen volatilization and leaching documentation (including justification and updated leaching scaling).
  • Adjusts temperature-response equation formatting and clarifies moisture-fraction wording.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 5 comments.

File Description
docs/parameters.md Updates parameter table entries and nitrogen-cycle parameter definitions/units to match revised model description.
docs/model-structure.md Updates nitrogen volatilization/leaching sections to reflect single $N_\text{min}$ pool and introduces $\phi$ scaling; minor equation formatting edits.

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Comment thread docs/parameters.md Outdated
Comment on lines +205 to +208
| Symbol | Parameter Name | Definition | Units | Notes |
| ---------------------- | -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------- | -------------------------------- |
| $K_\text{vol}$ | nVolatilizationFrac | Nitrogen volatilization rate constant that determines the maximum rate of N volatilization as a proportion of available $N_\text{min}$ | $\text{day}^{-1}$ | \eqref{eq:n_vol} |
| $f^N_{\text{leach}}$ | nLeachingFrac | Fraction of $N_\text{min}$ available to be leached, applied after scaling by $\phi = \min(F^W_\text{drainage}/W_\text{WHC}, 1)$ | unitless | \eqref{eq:n_leach} |
Comment thread docs/model-structure.md Outdated

\begin{equation}
F^N_\text{leach} = N_\text{min} \cdot F^W_{drainage} \cdot f_{N leach}
F^N_\text{leach} = N_\text{min} \cdot \phi \cdot f_{N leach}
Comment thread docs/model-structure.md
Comment on lines +599 to +605
where:

\begin{equation}
\phi = \min\left(\frac{F^W_\text{drainage}}{W_\text{WHC}}, 1\right)
\end{equation}

$f^N_\text{leach}$ is the fraction of $N_\text{min}$ available to be leached, $F^W_\text{drainage}$ is drainage, and
Comment thread docs/model-structure.md Outdated
mineral nitrogen pool. The realized volatilization flux is proportional to $N_\text{min}$ and depends on temperature and
soil moisture.
$K_\text{vol}$ is the nitrogen volatilization rate constant that determines the maximum rate of N volatilization as a
proportion of available $N_\text{min}$. The realized volatilization flux is proportional to available Nmin through Kvol and depends on temperature and soil moisture.
Comment thread docs/model-structure.md Outdated
Comment on lines +915 to +917
\[
D_{\text{temp,Q10}} = Q_{10}^{\frac{(T-T_\text{opt})}{10}}
\label{eq:Braswell_A18b}
\end{equation}
\]
@Sanketmandwal
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Hello @dlebauer sir , I have made changes. Can you please review it once ? Tell me if any correction is there.

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Update documentation for N cycle

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