Collaborative Research: Ammonia (NH3) Emission from Fertilizer Application: Understanding an Uncertain Input to Air Quality Models

这项研究项目将测量伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校(UIUC)能源农场玉米地块的氨排放，并将当地排放规模扩大到区域规模。氨排放量的测量将分别采用松弛涡流累积法和空气动力梯度法，分别使用导管和空腔环形光谱仪。在景观尺度上，玉米冠层上方和内部的排放将用双向交换模型进行解释。将使用由调节氨排放的环境因素(即气象、土壤和树冠特征、土地利用和施肥量)驱动的EPIC(侵蚀生产力影响计算器)及其互动版本的过程尺度模拟方法，将当地排放量按区域尺度衡量。该项目的结果将通过研究会议和出版物的场所传播，也将通过使用网络工具传播。首席调查人员将与国家大气沉积方案(NADP)互动，以审查与现有的氨监测试点网络以及NADP的临界负荷和总沉积科学小组委员会整合的可能性。作为教育和指导部分的一部分，将招募本科生，特别强调代表性不足的群体，并由主要调查人员和研究生就该项目的研究方法进行指导。他们还将接受指导，为专业会议准备演讲材料，并向参加STEM校园活动的不同背景的高中生传授知识。作为这一研究项目的一部分，将为空气质量课程开发新的教学模块，重点是大气沉积模型和微气象方法的使用。还将为一个新的夏令营开发教学模块，重点是环境工程，面向高中年龄的女学生。与本提案主题有关的额外教学单元将侧重于粮食和生物燃料生产对空气质量和气候变化的影响。

This research project will measure ammonia emissions from the corn plot at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Energy Farm and to scale local emissions to the regional scale. The ammonia emissions will be measured by relaxed eddy accumulation and the aerodynamic gradient method using denuders and a cavity ringdown spectrometer, respectively. Emissions above and within the corn canopy at the landscape scale will be interpreted with a bi-directional exchange model. A process-scale modeling approach using EPIC (Erosion Productivity Impact Calculator) and its interactive version (i-EPIC), which are driven by environmental factors regulating ammonia emissions (i.e., meteorology, soil and canopy characteristics, land use, and mass of fertilizer applied), will be used to scale local emissions to the regional scale.The results of the project will be disseminated through the venues of research conferences and publications but also through the use of web-based tools. The principal investigators will interact with the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) to examine the potential of integration with the existing pilot Ammonia Monitoring Network and with the NADP's Critical Loads and Total Deposition Science subcommittees. As part of the educational and mentoring component, undergraduate students will be recruited, with specific emphasis on underrepresented groups, and mentored by the principal investigators and graduate students, on the research methods of this project. They will also be mentored on preparing presentation material for professional conferences and for transferring their knowledge to high school age female students from diverse backgrounds participating with STEM campus activities. As part of this research project, new teaching modules will be developed for air quality courses with focus on atmospheric deposition models and use of micrometeorological methods. Teaching modules will also be developed for a new summer camp focused on environmental engineering, for high school age female students. The additional teaching modules related to the topic of this proposal will focus on the effects of food and biofuel production on air quality and climate change.