Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A global budget for atmospheric NH3

  • Published:
Biogeochemistry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We provide an assessment of the global sources of NH3 in the atmosphere, which indicates an annual flux of about 75 Tg of N as NH3. The emissions from land are dominated by the release of NH3 during the hydrolysis of urea from the urine of domestic animals (32 TgN/yr) and by emanations from soils in unmanaged ecosystems (10 TgN/yr) and from fertilized agricultural soils (9 TgN/yr). Emissions from the sea surface may approach 13 TgN/yr. The total annual source of NH3 is in reasonable agreement with estimates of global NH +4 deposition from the atmosphere, the major fate of atmospheric NH3. As an alkaline atmospheric species, NH3 emitted to the atmosphere each year can neutralize only about 32% of the annual production of H+ in the atmosphere from natural and anthropogenic sources.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aber JD, Nadelhoffer KJ, Steudler P & Melillo JM (1989) Nitrogen saturation in northern forest ecosystems. BioScience 39: 378–386

    Google Scholar 

  • Aggarwal RK, Raina P & Praveen-Kumarinit (1987) Ammonia volatilization losses from urea and their possible management for increasing nitrogen use efficiency in an arid region. Journal of Arid Environments 13: 163–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen AG, Harrison RM & Wake MT (1988) A meso-scale study of the behaviour of atmospheric ammonia and ammonium. Atmospheric Environment 22: 1347–1353

    Google Scholar 

  • Andreae MO, Browell EV, Garstang M, Gregory GL, Harriss RC, Hill GF, Jacob DJ, Pereira MC, Sachse GW, Setzer AW, Silva Dias PL, Talbot RW, Torres AL & Wofsy SC (1988) Biomass-burning emissions and associated haze layers over Amazonia. Journal of Geophysical Research 93: 1509–1527

    Google Scholar 

  • Andreae MO (1991) Biomass burning: its history. use and distribution and its impact on environmental quality and global climate. In: Levine JS (Ed) Global Biomass Burning: Atmospheric, Climatic and Biospheric Implications (pp 3–21). MIT Press. Boston, MA

    Google Scholar 

  • ApSimon HM, Kruse M & Bell JNB (1987) Ammonia emissions and their role in acid deposition. Atmospheric Environment 21: 1939–1946

    Google Scholar 

  • Asman WAH, Drukker B & Janssen AJ (1988) Modelled historical concentrations and depositions of ammonia and ammonium in Europe. Atmospheric Environment 22: 725–735

    Google Scholar 

  • Ayers GP & Gras JL (1980) Ammonia gas concentrations over the southern ocean. Nature 284: 539–540

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, RHV (1971) A grazing ecosystem in the Serengeti. Scientific American 225: 86–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Berner EK & Berner RA (1987) The Global Water Cycle. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

    Google Scholar 

  • Beyrouty CA, Sommers LE & Nelson DW (1988) Ammonia volatilization from surface-applied urea as affected by several phosphoroamide compounds. soil Science Society of America Journal 52: 1173–1178

    Google Scholar 

  • Black AS, Sherlock RR, Cameron KC. Smith NP & Goh KM (1985) Comparison of three field methods for measuring ammonia volatilization from urea granules broadcast on to pasture. Journal of Soil Science 36: 271–280

    Google Scholar 

  • Blasco ML & Cornfield AH (1966) Volatilization of nitrogen as ammonia from acid soils. Nature 272: 1279–1280

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowden WB (1986) Gaseous nitrogen emissions from undisturbed terrestrial ecosystems: An assessment of their impacts on local and global nitrogen budgets. Biogeochemistry 2: 249–279

    Google Scholar 

  • Buijsman E, Maas HFM & Asman WAH (1987) Anthropogenic NH3 emissions in Europe. Atmospheric Environment 21: 1009–1022

    Google Scholar 

  • Camire C & Bernier B (1981) Rétention de l'azote et évolution des propriétés d'un humus brut de station de pin gris (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) après application d'engrais azotes. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 11: 51–61

    Google Scholar 

  • Craig JR & Wollum AG (1982) Ammonia volatilization and soil nitrogen changes after urea and ammonia nitrate fertilization of Pinus taeda. Soil Science of Society of America Journal 46: 409–414

    Google Scholar 

  • Crutzen PJ & Andreae MO (1990) Biomass burning in the tropics: Impact on atmospheric chemistry and biogeochemical cycles. Science 250: 1669–1678

    Google Scholar 

  • Davidson EA (1991) Fluxes of nitrous oxide and nitric oxide from terrestrial ecosystems. In: Rogers JE & Whitman WB (Eds) Microbial Production and Consumption of Greenhouse Gases: Methane, Nitrogen Oxides and Halomethanes (pp 219–235). American Society for Microbiology, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson GA (1977) Atmospheric ammonia from undisturbed land. Journal of Geophysical Research 82: 3125–3133

    Google Scholar 

  • De Datta SK, Buresh RJ, Samson MI, Obcemea WN & Real JG (1991) Direct measurement of ammonia and denitrification fluxes from urea applied to rice. Soil Science Society of America Journal 55: 543–548

    Google Scholar 

  • Denmead OT, Freney JR & Simpson JR (1976) A closed ammonia cycle within a plant canopy. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 8: 161–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Denmead OT (1990) An ammonia budget for Australia. Australian Journal of Soil Research 28: 887–900

    Google Scholar 

  • Draaijers GPJ, Ivens WPMF, Ros MM & Blouten W (1989) The contribution of ammonia emissions from agriculture to the deposition of acidifying and eutrophying compounds into forests. Environmental Pollution 60: 55–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Dublin HT, Sinclair ARE, Boutin S, Anderson E, Jago M & Arcese P (1990) Does competition regulate ungulate populations? Further evidence from Serengeti, Tanzania. Oecologia 82: 283–288

    Google Scholar 

  • Duce RA, Liss PS, Merrill JT, Atlas EL, Buat-Menard P, Hicks BB, Miller JM, Prospero JM, Arimoto R, Church TM, Ellis W, Galloway JN, Hansen L, Jidkells TD, Knap AH, Reinhardt KH, Schneider B, Soudin A, Tokos JJ, Tsunogai S, Wollast R & Zhou M (1991) The atmospheric input of trace species to the world ocean. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 5: 193–259

    Google Scholar 

  • Erisman U-W, Vermetten AWM, Asman WAH, Ijelaan AW & Slanina J (1988) Vertical distribution of gases and aerosols: The behaviour of ammonia and related components in the lower atmosphere. Atmospheric Environment 22: 1153–1160

    Google Scholar 

  • Fenn LB & Kissel DE (1973) Ammonia volatilization from surface applications of ammonium compounds on calcareous soils: General theory. Soil Science Society of America Journal 37: 855–859

    Google Scholar 

  • Fenn LB & Hossner LR (1985) Ammonia volatilization from ammonium or ammonium-forming nitrogen fertilizers. Advances in Soil Science 1: 124–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Fillery IRP, Simpson JR, & DeDatta SK (1984) Influence of field environment and fertilizer management on ammonia loss from flooded rice. Soil Science Society of America Journal 48: 914–920

    Google Scholar 

  • Fleisher Z, Kenig A, Ravina I & Hagin J (1987) Model of ammonia volatilization from calcareous soils. Plant and Soil 103: 205–212

    Google Scholar 

  • Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (1989a) FAO Production Yearbook, Vol. 43, Rome

  • Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (1989b) FAO Fertilizer Yearbook, Vol. 39, Rome

  • Freney JR, Simpson JR & Denmead OT (1983) Volatilization of ammonia. In: Freney JR & Simpson JR (Eds) Gaseous Loss of Nitrogen from Plant-Soil Systems (pp. 1–32). Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague

    Google Scholar 

  • Freney JR, Trevitt ACF, De Datta SK, Obeema WN & Real JG (1990) The interdependence of ammonia volatilization and denitrification as nitrogen loss processes in flooded rice fields in the Phillipines. Biology and Fertility of Soils 9: 31–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Gasser JKR (1964) Some factors affecting losses of ammonia from urea and ammonium sulphate applied to soils. Journal of Soil Science 15: 258–272

    Google Scholar 

  • Georgii H-W & Lenhard U (1978) Contribution to the atmospheric NH3 budget. Pageophy 116: 385–392

    Google Scholar 

  • Harding RB, Embleton TW, Jones WW & Ryan TM (1963) Leaching and gaseous losses of nitrogen from some nontilled California soils. Agronomy Journal 55: 515–518

    Google Scholar 

  • Hargrove WL, Bock BR, Raunikar RA & Urban WJ (1987) Comparison of a forced-draft technique to nitrogen-15 recovery for measuring ammonia volatilization under field conditions. Soil Science Society of America Journal 51: 124–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Hargrove WL, Kissel DE & Fenn LB (1977) Field measurements of ammonia volatilization from surface applications of ammonium salts to a calcareous soil. Agronomy Journal 69: 473–476

    Google Scholar 

  • Harper LA, Catchpoole VR, Davis R & Weir KL (1983) Ammonia volatilization: Soil, plant, and microclimate effects on diurnal and seasonal fluctuations. Agronomy Journal 75: 212–218

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison RM, Rapsomanikis S & Turnbull A (1989) Land-surface exchange in a chemically-reactive system; surface fluxes of HNO3, HCl and NH3. Atmospheric Environment 23: 1795–1800

    Google Scholar 

  • Hedin LO, Granat L, Likens GE & Rodhe H (1990) Strong similarities in seasonal concentration ratios of SO4 2-, NO3 - and NH4 + in precipitation between Sweden and the northeastern U.S. Tellus 42B: 454–462

    Google Scholar 

  • Hegg DA, Radke LF, Hobbs PV, Rasmussen RA & Riggan PJ (1990) Emissions of some trace gases from biomass fires. Journal of Geophysical Research 95: 5669–5675

    Google Scholar 

  • Heil GW, Werger MJA, de Mol W, Van Dam D & Heijne B (1988) Capture of atmospheric ammonium by grassland canopies. Science 239: 764–765

    Google Scholar 

  • Hooker ML, Peterson GA & Sander DH (1973) Ammonia nitrogen losses from simulated plowing of native sods. Soil Science Society of America Proceedings 37: 247–249

    Google Scholar 

  • Horváth L (1983) Concentration and near surface vertical flux of ammonia in the air in Hungary. Journal of the Hungarian Meteorological Service 87: 65–70

    Google Scholar 

  • Keller GD & Mengel DB (1986) Ammonia volatilization from nitrogen fertilizers surface applied to no-till corn. Soil Science Society of America Journal 50: 1060–1063

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim CM (1973) Influence of vegetation types on the intensity of ammonia and nitrogen dioxide liberation from soil. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 5: 163–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Kissel DE, Brewer HL & Arkin GF (1977) Design and test of a field sampler for ammonia volatilization. Soil Science Society of America Journal 41: 1133–1138

    Google Scholar 

  • Klubek B & Skujins J (1981) Gaseous nitrogen losses from15N-ammonium and plant material amended Great Basin Desert surface soils. Geomicrobiology Journal 2: 225–236

    Google Scholar 

  • Kruse M, ApSimon HM & Bell JNB (1989) Validity and uncertainty in the calculation of an emission inventory for ammonia arising from agriculture in Great Britain. Environmental Pollution 56: 237–257

    Google Scholar 

  • Langford AO & Fehsenfeld FC (1992) Natural vegetation as a source or sink for atmospheric ammonia: A case study. Science 255: 581–583

    Google Scholar 

  • Lemon E & Van Houtte R (1980) Ammonia exchange at the land surface. Agronomy Journal 72: 876–883

    Google Scholar 

  • Lenhard U & Gravenhorst G (1980) Evaluation of ammonia fluxes into the free atmosphere over western Germany. Tellus 32: 48–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerner J, Matthews E & Fung I (1988) Methane emissions from animals: A global high-resolution database. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 2: 139–156

    Google Scholar 

  • Levine JS, Augustsson TR, Anderson IC, Hoell JM & Brewer DA (1984) Tropospheric sources of NOx: Lightning and biology. Atmospheric Environment 18: 1797–1804

    Google Scholar 

  • Lightner JW, Mengel DB & Rhykerd CL (1990) Ammonia volatilization from nitrogen fertilizer surface applied to orchardgrass sod. Soil Science Society of America Journal 54: 1478–1482

    Google Scholar 

  • Likens GE, Bormann FH, Pierce RS, Eaton JS & Munn RE (1984) Long-term trends in precipitation chemistry at Hubbard Brook, New Hampshire. Atmospheric Environment 18: 2641–2647

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindberg SE, Lovett GM, Richter DD & Johnson DW (1986) Atmospheric deposition and canopy interactions of major ions in a forest. Science 231: 141–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Lobert JM, Scharffe DH, Hao WM & Crutzen PJ (1990) Importance of biomass burning in the atmospheric budgets of nitrogen-containing gases. Nature 346: 552–554

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall VG & DeBell DS (1980) Comparison of four methods of measuring volatilization losses of nitrogen following urea fertilization of forest soils. Canadian Journal of Soil Science 60: 549–563

    Google Scholar 

  • McInnes KJ, Ferguson RB, Kissel DE & Kanemasu ET (1986) Field measurements of ammonia loss from surface applications of urea solution to bare soil. Agronomy Journal 78: 192–196

    Google Scholar 

  • McNaughton SJ (1985) Ecology of a grazing ecosystem: The Serengeti. Ecological Monographs 55: 259–294

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer RD, Olson RA & Rhoades HF (1961) Ammonia losses from fertilized Nebraska soils. Agronomy Journal 53: 241–244

    Google Scholar 

  • Möller D & Schieferdecker H (1989) Ammonia emission and deposition of NHx in the G.D.R. Atmospheric Environment 23: 1187–1193

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy TP & Brownlee BG (1981) Ammonia volatilization in a hypertrophic prairie lake. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science 38: 1035–1039

    Google Scholar 

  • Nason GE, Pluth DJ & McGill WB (1988) Volatilization and foliar recapture of ammonia following spring and fall application of nitrogen-15 urea to a douglas-fir ecosystem. Soil Science Society of America Journal 52: 821–828

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson DW (1982) Gaseous losses of nitrogen other than through denitrification. In: Stevenson FJ (Ed) Nitrogen in Agricultural Soils (pp 327–363). American Society of Agronomy, Madison, Wisconsin

    Google Scholar 

  • Nihlgard B (1985) The ammonium hypothesis: An additional explanation of the forest dieback in Europe. Ambio 14: 2–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Nõmmik H (1966) Use of micro-plot technique for studying gaseous loss of ammonia from added nitrogen materials under field conditions. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica 16: 147–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Nõmmik H (1973) The effect of pellet size on the ammonia loss from urea applied to forest soil. Plant and Soil 39: 309–318

    Google Scholar 

  • Overrein LN (1968) Lysimeter studies on tracer nitrogen in forest soil: I. Nitrogen losses by leaching and volatilization after addition of urea-N15. Soil Science 106: 280–290

    Google Scholar 

  • Quinn PK, Charlson RJ & Zoller WH (1987) Ammonia, the dominant base in the remote marine troposphere. A review. Tellus 39B: 413–425

    Google Scholar 

  • Quinn PK, Charlson RJ & Bates TS (1988) Simultaneous observations of ammonia in the atmosphere and ocean. Nature 335: 336–338

    Google Scholar 

  • Quinn PK, Bates TS, Johnson JE, Covert DS & Charlson RJ (1990) Interactions between the sulfur and reduced nitrogen cycles over the central Pacific ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research 95: 16405–16416

    Google Scholar 

  • Raczkowski CW & Kissel DE (1989) Fate of subsurface banded and broadcast nitrogen applied to tall fescue. Soil Science Society of America Journal 53: 566–570

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds CM & Wolf DC (1988) Effects of methods and soil cover on estimating ammonia loss from nitrogen-15 urea. Soil Science Society of America Journal 52: 706–711

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruess RW & McNaughton SJ (1988) Ammonia volatilization and the effects of large grazing mammals on nutrient loss from East African grasslands. Oecologia 77: 382–386

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruess RW, Hik DS & Jefferies RL (1989) The role of lesser snow geese as nitrogen processors in a sub-arctic salt marsh. Oecologia 79: 23–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Sahrawat KL (1989) Effects of nitrification inhibitors on nitrogen transformations, other than nitrification in soils. Advances in Agronomy 42: 279–309

    Google Scholar 

  • San Jose JJ, Montes R & Nikovova-Crespo N (1991) Carbon dioxide and ammonia exchange in the Trachypogon savannas of the Orinoco Ilanos. Annals of Botany 68: 321–328

    Google Scholar 

  • Schimel DS, Parton WJ, Adamsen FJ, Woodmansee RG, Senft RL & Stillwell MA (1986) The role of cattle in the volatile loss of nitrogen from a shortgrass steppe. Biogeochemistry 2: 39–52

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schjøerring, JK (1991) Ammonia emission from the foliage of growing plants. In: Sharkey, TD, Holland EA & Mooney, HA (Eds). Trace Gas Emissions by Plants (pp. 267–292). Academic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger WH & Peterjohn WT (1991) Processes controlling ammonia volatilization from Chihuahuan desert soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 23: 637–642

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlesinger WH (1971) Biogeochemistry: An Analysis of Global Change. Academic Press, San Diego, California

    Google Scholar 

  • Seiler W & Crutzen PJ (1980) Estimates of gross and net fluxes of carbon between the biosphere and the atmosphere from biomass burning. Climate Change 2: 207–247

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinclair ARE (1979) The eruption of the ruminants. In: Sinclair ARE & Norton-Griffiths M (Eds) Serengeti: Dynamics of an Ecosystem (pp 82–103). University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Söderlund R & Svensson BH (1976) The global nitrogen cycle. In: Svensson BH & Söderlund R (Eds) Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Sulphur — Global Cycles (pp 23–73). Swedish Natural Science Research Council, Stockholm

    Google Scholar 

  • Spencer MJ, Drummey S, Mayewski P, Holdsworth G & Taylor K (1991) Biomass burning: a historical view via Arctic ice cores. Abstract, 10th International Symposium on Environmental Biogeochemistry, San Francisco

  • Terman GL (1979) Volatilization losses of nitrogen as ammonia from surface-applied fertilizers, organic amendments, and crop residues. Advances in Agronomy 31: 189–223

    Google Scholar 

  • Tjepkema JD, Cartica RJ, & hemond HF (1981) Atmospheric concentration of ammonia in Massachusetts and deposition on vegetation. Nature 294: 445–446

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Breeman N, Burrough PA, Velthorst EJ, van Dobben HF, de Wit T, Ridder TB & Reijnders HFR (1982) Soil acidification from atmospheric ammonium sulphate in forest canopy throughfall. Nature 299: 548–550

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Cleve K & Alexander V (1981) Nitrogen cycling in tundra and boreal ecosystems. In: Clark FE & Rosswall T (Eds) Terrestrial Nitrogen Cycles (pp 375–404). Swedish Natural Science Research Council, Stockholm

    Google Scholar 

  • Ventura WB & Yoshida T (1977) Ammonia volatilization from a flooded tropical soil. Plant and Soil 46: 521–531

    Google Scholar 

  • Verstraten JM, Dopheide JCR, Duysings JJHM, Tietema A & Bouten W (1990) The proton cycle of a deciduous forest ecosystem in the Netherlands and its implications for soil acidification. Plant and Soil 127: 61–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitousek PM, Fahey T, Johnson DW & Swift MJ (1988) Element interactions in forest ecosystems: Succession, allometry and input-output budgets. Biogeochemistry 5: 7–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Volk GM (1959) Volatile loss of ammonia following surface application of urea to turf or bare soils. Agronomy Journal 51: 746–749

    Google Scholar 

  • Volk GM (1961) Gaseous loss of ammonia from surface-applied nitrogenous fertilizers. Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry 9: 280–283

    Google Scholar 

  • Volk GM (1970) Gaseous loss of ammonia from prilled urea applied to slash pine. Soil Science Society of America Proceedings 34: 513–516

    Google Scholar 

  • Warneck P (1988) Chemistry of the Natural Atmosphere. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • West NE & Skujins J (1977) The nitrogen cycle in North American cold-winter semi-desert ecosystems. Oecologia Plantarum 12: 45–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead DC & Bristow AW (1990) Transformations of nitrogen following the application of15N-labelled cattle urine to an established grass sward. Journal of Applied Ecology 27: 667–678

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead DC & Lockyer DR (1987) The influence of the concentration of gaseous ammonia on its uptake by the leaves of Italian ryegrass, with and without an adequate supply of nitrogen to the roots. Journal of Experimental Botany 38: 818–827

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead DC, Lockyer DR & Raistrick N (1988) The volatilization of ammonia from perennial ryegrass during decomposition, drying and induced senescence. Annals of Botany 61: 567–571

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead DC & Raistrick N (1990) Ammonia volatilization from five nitrogen compounds used as fertilizers following surface application to soils. Journal of Soil Science 41: 387–394

    Google Scholar 

  • Whittaker RH & Likens GE (1973) Carbon in the biota. In: Woodwell GM & Pecan EV (Eds) Carbon and the Biosphere (pp 281–300). CONF 72-0510. National Technical Information Service, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong, CS (1978) Atmospheric input of carbon dioxide from burning wood. Science 200: 197–200

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Botany and Geology, Duke University, Durham, N.C, 27706, USA

    William H. Schlesinger & Anne E. Hartley

Authors
  1. William H. Schlesinger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anne E. Hartley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Schlesinger, W.H., Hartley, A.E. A global budget for atmospheric NH3 . Biogeochemistry 15, 191–211 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00002936

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00002936

Key words

Search

Navigation