Grantee Research Project Results

2010 Progress Report: Atmospheric Ammonia Emissions from the Livestock Sector: Development and Evaluation of a Process-based Modeling Approach

EPA Grant Number: R834549
Title: Atmospheric Ammonia Emissions from the Livestock Sector: Development and Evaluation of a Process-based Modeling Approach
Investigators: Adams, Peter
Institution: Carnegie Mellon University
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: May 1, 2010 through April 30, 2014 (Extended to November 30, 2015)
Project Period Covered by this Report: April 1, 2010 through March 31,2011
Project Amount: $483,827
RFA: Novel Approaches to Improving Air Pollution Emissions Information (2009) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Air Quality and Air Toxics , Air

Objective:

The objective of this project is to build an improved atmospheric ammonia emissions inventory for US livestock by developing and evaluating a process-based approach that accounts for regional and temporal variations in weather and farming practices. We will accomplish this by pursuing the following goals and tasks:

· Develop process-based models of ammonia emissions from beef cattle, swine, and chickens that

account for differences in farming practices as well as seasonal and diurnal variability

· Assess the uncertainty in livestock ammonia emissions and suggest sources of data that can help

reduce this uncertainty

· Test process-based models at the farm scale against NAEMS multi-year measurements

· Develop a revised national emissions inventory based on these results

· Test the performance of the revised national emissions inventory in a CTM against ambient

measurements of NH₃ and NH₄⁺ concentrations and deposition

· Assess the sensitivity of inorganic PM_2.5 to NH₃, SO₂, and NO_x emissions under current and future

policy regimes

Progress Summary:

A student, Alyssa Moore, was recruited to Carnegie Mellon to work on this project. This project will constitute the bulk of her PhD thesis. Alyssa arrived at CMU in August, 2010. Between that time and March, 2011, the following activities have been pursued:

· Alyssa has learned the basics of process-based emissions modeling, building on the Rob Pinder's

earlier work at CMU

· review of farming practices and emissions factors for beef cows

· review of other existing process-based modeling approaches (i.e. LADCO) to determine if they are

compatible with the goals of this project

· Alyssa spent a significant amount of time during this period in required coursework

Future Activities:

Work over the next year will focus on developing a farm model and then national inventory for beef cows. We will develop a farm model for beef cows (Task 1 of the proposal), evaluate it with NAEMS data (Task 2) and then build a national model of beef cow farming practices (Task 3). Beef cows represent a logical first step for Alyssa, being somewhat similar to Rob Pinder's work on dairy cows. After beef, she will move on to working on the other livestock types.

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 3 publications for this project

Supplemental Keywords:

acid deposition, particulate matter, ecosystem, agriculture

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.