What can we learn about ammonia fluxes from open-path eddy covariance measurements?
Abstract
Ammonia (NH3) is an important component of bio-atmospheric N cycle with implications of regional air quality, human and ecosystem health degradation, and global climate change. NH3 fluxes have high spatiotemporal variability controlled by several factors, such as atmospheric NH3 concentration, meteorological conditions, and compensation point of underlying surfaces. Quantifying NH3 fluxes is further complicated by severe measurement challenges including adsorption to instrument surfaces, low mole fractions, and gas-particle phase partitioning. To overcome these challenges, we have developed an open-path, eddy covariance NH3 instrument that minimizes these sampling issues. Eddy covariance measurements in 2015 and 2016 in the Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), Colorado showed the capabilities of the system to measure fluxes in clean and moderate-polluted regions. Interesting patterns of NH3 fluxes and NH3 concentration variations were observed, such as deposition of NH3 associated plumes from urban and agricultural areas and reemission of a similar magnitude when clean free-tropospheric air passing the site. Observed downward fluxes during midnight and upward fluxes in early morning also indicated NH3 fluxes related to dew formation and evaporation events. More details about these patterns and their relationships with ambient temperature, relative humidity, and other fluxes will be presented. These measurements also provided an opportunity to evaluate our current understanding of transport and deposition of NH3. Micrometeorological method, backward trajectory model, and bidirectional NH3 flux model were used to analyze observed variability of NH3 concentrations and fluxes. Implications of these results and how eddy covariance measurements combined with other measurements may provide insights to better quantify NH3 fluxes will be discussed.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016AGUFM.B13F0693P
- Keywords:
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- 0315 Biosphere/atmosphere interactions;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 3322 Land/atmosphere interactions;
- ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSESDE: 0469 Nitrogen cycling;
- BIOGEOSCIENCESDE: 0478 Pollution: urban;
- regional and global;
- BIOGEOSCIENCES