Ammonia emission, deposition and impact assessment at the field scale: a case study of sub-grid spatial variability

Dragosits, U.; Theobald, Mark R.; Place, Chris; Lord, E. I.; Webb, John A.; Hill, J.; ApSimon, Helen; Sutton, Mark A.

doi:10.1016/s0269-7491(01)00147-6

Cited by 104 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…emissions, such that the modelled average concentration from a 5 km model grid cell may differ significantly from that measured at a specific location within the grid cell (Dragosits et al, 2002).…”

Section: Comparison Of Model With Measurements From National Monitorimentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the atmospheric transport and deposition of sulphur and nitrogen over the United Kingdom and assessment of the influence of SO2 emissions from international shipping

Dore

Vieno

Tang

et al. 2007

Atmospheric Environment

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114

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A statistical Lagrangian atmospheric transport model was used to generate annual maps of deposition of sulphur and oxidised and reduced nitrogen for the United Kingdom at a 5 x 5 km 2 resolution. The model was run using emissions for the year 2002. The model was compared with measurements of gas concentrations (SO 2 , NO x , HNO 3 and NH 3 ) and of wet deposition and aerosol concentrations of SO 4 2-, NO 3 -and NH 4 + from national monitoring networks. Good correlation was obtained, demonstrating that the model is capable of accurately estimating the mass balance and spatial distribution of sulphur and nitrogen compounds in the atmosphere. A future emissions scenario for the year 2020 was used to test the influence of shipping emissions on sulphur deposition in the United Kingdom. The results show that, if shipping emissions are assumed to increase at a rate of 2.5% per year, their relative contribution to sulphur deposition is expected to increase from 9% to 28% between 2002 and 2020. The model was compared to both a European scale and a global scale chemical transport model and found to give broad agreement with the magnitude and location of sulphur deposition associated with shipping emissions. Enforcement of the MARPOL convention to reduce the sulphur content in marine fuel to 1% was estimated to result in a 6% reduction in total sulphur deposition to the UK for the year 2020. The percentage area of sensitive habitats with exceedance of critical loads for acidity in the UK was predicted to decrease by 1% with the implementation of the MARPOL convention.

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Section: Comparison Of Model With Measurements From National Monitorimentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the atmospheric transport and deposition of sulphur and nitrogen over the United Kingdom and assessment of the influence of SO2 emissions from international shipping

Dore

Vieno

Tang

et al. 2007

Atmospheric Environment

Self Cite

114

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“…Sutton et al (1998) compared deposition estimates based on different scales, ranging from field to landscape to national scale and concluded that, due to the spatial variability of NH 3 , the quality of an environmental impact assessment is dependent on the spatial resolution of the deposition data used. Dragosits et al (2002) provide a more detailed analysis of the landscape study in Sutton et al (1998): Emission, transport and deposition were modelled within a 5 km x 5 km landscape in England at a 50 m grid resolution; however, no NH 3 measurements were made to verify the estimates. Theobald et al (2001) and Dragosits et al (2006) focused on strategies to reduce the effect of emission hotspots on ecosystems by locating tree belts around the sources, indicating the importance of relative spatial location of sources and sinks, and assessed possible landscape planning measures to decrease potential effects on sensitive habitats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For assessing the environmental impact of NH 3 concentrations and deposition by modelling, it is essential to estimate NH 3 emissions accurately (Dragosits et al, 2002;Hellsten et al, 2008). Hallsworth et al (2010) highlighted the problem of modelling NH 3 dispersion at relatively coarse scales, such as 5 km resolution, due to the high spatial variability of NH 3 emissions and showed that 5 km modelling underestimated the impact of NH 3 concentrations on semi-natural areas close to intensive agricultural areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heterogeneity of atmospheric ammonia at the landscape scale and consequences for environmental impact assessment

Vogt

Dragosits

Braban

et al. 2013

Environmental Pollution

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Scott; Rees, Robert M.; Sutton, Mark A. 2013. Heterogeneity of atmospheric ammonia at the landscape scale and consequences for environmental impact assessment.Contact CEH NORA team at noraceh@ceh.ac.ukThe NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner. AbstractWe examined the consequences of the spatial heterogeneity of atmospheric ammonia (NH 3 ) by measuring and modelling NH 3 concentrations and deposition at 25 m grid resolution for a rural landscape containing intensive poultry farming, agricultural grassland, woodland and moorland. The emission pattern gave rise to a high spatial variability of modelled mean annual NH 3 concentrations and dry deposition. Largest impacts were predicted for woodland patches located within the agricultural area, while larger moorland areas were at low risk, due to atmospheric dispersion, prevailing wind direction and low NH 3 background. These high resolution spatial details are lost in national scale estimates at 1 km resolution due to less detailed emission input maps. The results demonstrate how the spatial arrangement of sources and sinks is critical to defining the NH 3 risk to seminatural ecosystems. These spatial relationships provide the foundation for local spatial planning approaches to reduce environmental impacts of atmospheric NH 3 . Capsule:Fine scale resolution modelling to reproduce the spatial heterogeneity of atmospheric NH 3 concentrations and deposition is critical for NH 3 risk assessment on sensitive ecosystems. Highlights:• Local farm inventory provided field-level emissions for high resolution modelling• Model-derived concentrations were compared against intensive spatial measurements• Spatial arrangement of NH 3 sources and sinks is critical to environmental impact• Average national emission factors were not appropriate for an NH 3 risk assessment• Modelling at 1 km resolution did not capture the full spatial variability of NH 3

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“…Four main categories of agricultural management activities can be identified as key sources of ammonia: emissions from housing, grazing, storage and manure spreading, and fertiliser use (Misselbrook et al, 2010). Ammonia emissions at the local scale vary greatly within the landscape and dry deposition of ammonia occurs especially close to sources (Hellsten et al, 2008;Dragosits et al, 2002). As a consequence, nitrogen sensitive ecosystems close to sources are at a high risk of negative impacts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The potential for tree planting strategies to reduce local and regional ecosystem impacts of agricultural ammonia emissions

Bealey

Dore

Dragosits

et al. 2016

Journal of Environmental Management

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Ammonia emission, deposition and impact assessment at the field scale: a case study of sub-grid spatial variability

Cited by 104 publications

References 23 publications

Modelling the atmospheric transport and deposition of sulphur and nitrogen over the United Kingdom and assessment of the influence of SO2 emissions from international shipping

Modelling the atmospheric transport and deposition of sulphur and nitrogen over the United Kingdom and assessment of the influence of SO2 emissions from international shipping

Heterogeneity of atmospheric ammonia at the landscape scale and consequences for environmental impact assessment

The potential for tree planting strategies to reduce local and regional ecosystem impacts of agricultural ammonia emissions

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