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ATMOSPHERIC AMMONIA EMISSIONS FROM THE LIVESTOCK SECTOR: DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF A PROCESS-BASED MODELING APPROACH
Impact/Purpose:
The objective of this work is to develop a set of emissions modeling tools that predict the seasonality and amount of ammonia emissions from livestock operations. These emissions contribute to ambient PM2.5 concentrations when ammonia reacts with nitric acid gas to form ammonium nitrate particulate matter. Ammonia emissions are highly variable in space and time depending on local climate conditions and farming practices. Ammonia emissions models should adequately account for the major regional and seasonal variations in livestock emission factors.
Description:
We propose multi-faceted research to enhance our understanding of NH3 emissions from livestock feeding operations. A process-based emissions modeling approach will be used, and we will investigate ammonia emissions from the scale of the individual farm out to impacts on regional nitrogen deposition and particulate matter formation. Proposed tasks are: (a) develop FEMs and NPMs for beef cows, swine, and chickens; (b) evaluate the FEMs against unprecedented emissions measurements made during the NAEMS study; (c) use the FEMs and NPMs to generate a process-based NH3 emissions inventory for the United States; (d) incorporate revised livestock emissions into the CMU Ammonia Emissions Inventory; (e) evaluate the performance of the revised inventory in a CTM against a suite of ambient observations; (f) perform policy-relevant chemical transport modeling to understand the sensitivity of inorganic PM2.5 to SO2, NOx, and NH3 under current and future regulatory regimes; and (g) disseminate the revised inventory to the public via the world wide web.