Abstract
Abstract. A Europe-wide dynamic ammonia (NH3) emissions model has been applied for one of the large agricultural countries in Europe, and its sensitivity on the distribution of emissions among different agricultural functions was analyzed by comparing with observed ammonia concentrations and by implementing all scenarios in a chemical transport model (CTM). The results suggest that the dynamic emission model is most sensitive to emissions from animal manure, in particular how animal manure and its application on fields is connected to national regulations. To incorporate the national regulations, we obtained activity information on agricultural operations at the sub-national level for Poland, information about infrastructure on storages and current regulations on manure practice from Polish authorities. The information was implemented in the existing emission model and was connected directly with calculations from the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF). The model was used to calculate four emission scenarios with high spatial (5 km × 5 km) and temporal resolution (3 h) for the entire year 2010. In the four scenarios, we have compared a constant emission approach (FLAT), scenario (1) against (2) a dynamic approach based on the Europe-wide default settings (Skjøth et al., 2011, scenario DEFAULT); (3) a dynamic approach that takes into account Polish practice and less regulation compared to Denmark (POLREGUL); (4) a scenario that focuses on emissions from agricultural buildings (NOFERT). The ammonia emission was implemented into the chemical transport model FRAME (Fine Resolution Atmospheric Multi-pollutant Exchange) and modelled ammonia concentrations were compared with measurements. The results for an agricultural area suggest that the default setting in the dynamic model is an improvement compared to a non-dynamical emission profile. The results also show that further improvements can be obtained at a national scale by replacing the default information on manure practice with information that is connected with local practice and national regulations. Implementing a dynamical approach for simulation of ammonia emission is a reliable but challenging objective for CTM models that continue to use fixed emission profiles.
Highlights
Ammonia is mainly emitted to the atmosphere from agricultural operations (Bouwman et al, 1997), and from natural sources (e.g. Andersen et al, 1999; Hansen et al, 2013; Sutton et al, 1997)
Ammonia is the main alkaline gas in the atmosphere (Hertel et al, 2012) and is responsible for neutralizing acids formed through the oxidation of sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx; Seinfeld and Pandis, 2006). This leads to the creation of ammonium (NH+4 ) salts, which are incorporated in atmospheric aerosols (Banzhaf et al, 2013; Reis et al, 2009)
Due to the high spatial correlation between ammonia emission and concentration (Fig. 4) we looked for the relationship between the dynamically modelled emissions and measured concentrations for the Jarczew station (Fig. 7)
Summary
Ammonia is mainly emitted to the atmosphere from agricultural operations (Bouwman et al, 1997), and from natural sources (e.g. Andersen et al, 1999; Hansen et al, 2013; Sutton et al, 1997). The contribution of natural emission is negligible compared to agricultural for most of the European area (Simpson et al, 1999; Friedrich, 2007). Ammonia is the main alkaline gas in the atmosphere (Hertel et al, 2012) and is responsible for neutralizing acids (sulphuric and nitric acid) formed through the oxidation of sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx; Seinfeld and Pandis, 2006). This leads to the creation of ammonium (NH+4 ) salts, which are incorporated in atmospheric aerosols (Banzhaf et al, 2013; Reis et al, 2009). The emission of NH3 makes a major contribution to the formations of particulate matter, PM10 and PM2.5
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