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Soil and litter exchange of reactive trace gases
Citation:
Massad, R., M. Sutton, J. Bash, C. Bedos, A. Carrara, P. Cellier, C. Delon, D. Famulari, S. Genermont, L. Horvath, AND L. Merbold. Soil and litter exchange of reactive trace gases. Chapter 12, Massad, R.S., Loubet, B. (ed.), Review and Integration of Biosphere-Atmosphere Modelling of Reactive Trace Gases and Volatile Aerosols. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, Netherlands, , 207-213, (2015).
Impact/Purpose:
The National Exposure Research Laboratory′s (NERL′s)Atmospheric Modeling Division (AMAD) conducts research in support of EPA′s mission to protect human health and the environment. AMAD′s research program is engaged in developing and evaluating predictive atmospheric models on all spatial and temporal scales for forecasting the Nation′s air quality and for assessing changes in air quality and air pollutant exposures, as affected by changes in ecosystem management and regulatory decisions. AMAD is responsible for providing a sound scientific and technical basis for regulatory policies based on air quality models to improve ambient air quality. The models developed by AMAD are being used by EPA, NOAA, and the air pollution community in understanding and forecasting not only the magnitude of the air pollution problem, but also in developing emission control policies and regulations for air quality improvements.
Description:
The soil and litter play an important role in the exchange of trace gases between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. - The exchange of ammonia between vegetation and the atmosphere is highly influenced by soil and litter emissions especially in managed ecosystems (grasslands and croplands) mainly due to the input of mineral and organic forms of N which leads to increases in available N at the soil surface. Apart from fertiliser-induced NH<SUB>3</SUB> volatilisation, significant emissions may also occur from barren soil and senescent plants and leaf litter (Sutton et al., 2009; Massad et al., 2010). Ammonia emissions from the leaf litter, even if understood in principle, remain very uncertain due to the limited number of currently available studies.
