Ammonia measurements from space with the Cross-track Infrared Sounder: characteristics and applications

• Published in: Atmospheric chemistry and physics Vol. 20; no. 4; pp. 2277 - 2302
• Main Authors: Shephard, Mark W, Dammers, Enrico, Cady-Pereira, Karen E, Kharol, Shailesh K, Thompson, Jesse, Gainariu-Matz, Yonatan, Zhang, Junhua, McLinden, Chris A, Kovachik, Andrew, Moran, Michael, Bittman, Shabtai, Sioris, Christopher E, Griffin, Debora, Alvarado, Matthew J, Lonsdale, Chantelle, Savic-Jovcic, Verica, Zheng, Qiong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Katlenburg-Lindau Copernicus GmbH 26-02-2020; Copernicus Publications
• Subjects: Air monitoring; Air quality; Air quality forecasting; Air quality models; Airborne observation; Aircraft; Ammonia; Animal feeding and feeds; Annual variations; Atmospheric monitoring; Dry deposition; Emission analysis; Emission inventories; Environmental impact; Environmental monitoring; Evaluation; Factory farming; Factory farms; Forest fires; Hot spots; Infrared tracking; Intensive farming; Nitrification; Nitrogen cycle; Nitrogen dioxide; Outdoor air quality; Satellite data; Satellite observation; Satellites; Surveying; Canada; United States > US
• ISSN: 1680-7324; 1680-7316; 1680-7324
• DOI: 10.5194/acp-20-2277-2020

Despite its clear importance, the monitoring of atmospheric ammonia,
including its sources, sinks, and links to the greater nitrogen cycle,
remains limited. Satellite data are helping to fill the gap in monitoring
from sporadic conventional ground- and aircraft-based observations to better
inform policymakers and assess the impact of any ammonia-related policies.
Presented is a description and survey that demonstrate the capabilities of
the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) ammonia product for monitoring, air quality forecast model
evaluation, dry deposition estimates, and emission estimates from an
agricultural hotspot. For model evaluation, while there is a general
agreement in the spatial allocation of known major agricultural ammonia
hotspots across North America, the satellite observations show some high-latitude regions during peak forest
fire activity often have ammonia concentrations approaching those in
agricultural hotspots. The CrIS annual ammonia dry depositions in Canada
(excluding the territories) and the US have average and annual variability
values of ∼0.8±0.08 and
∼1.23±0.09 Tg N yr−1, respectively. These
satellite-derived dry depositions of reactive nitrogen from NH3 with NO2 show an annual ratio of NH3 compared to their sum (NH3+NO2) of ∼82 % and ∼55 % in Canada and the US, respectively. Furthermore, we show the use of CrIS satellite
observations to estimate annual and seasonal emissions near Lethbridge, Alberta,
Canada, a region dominated by high-emission
concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs); the satellite annual
emission estimate of 37.1±6.3 kt yr−1 is at least double the value
reported in current bottom-up emission inventories for this region.