Ammonia emission factors for UK agriculture.

Ammonia (NH3) emission inventories are required for modelling atmospheric NH3 transport and estimating downwind deposition. A recent inventory for UK agriculture, estimating emission as 197 kt NH3–N yr−1, was constructed using 1993 statistical and census data for the UK. This paper describes the derivation of the UK-based emission factors used in the calculation of that emission for a range of livestock classes, farm practices and fertiliser applications to agricultural land. Some emission factors have been updated where more recent information has become available. Some of the largest emission factors derived for each farming practice include 16.9 g NH3–N dairy cow−1 d−1 for grazing, 148.8 g NH3–N liveweight unit−1 yr−1 for housed broilers and 4.8 g NH3–N m−2 d−1 for storage of solid pig and poultry waste as manure heaps. Emissions for land spreading of all livestock waste were 59% of the total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN) applied as a high dry matter content slurry and 76% of TAN applied as farm yard manure. An updated estimate of emission from UK agriculture, using updated emission factors together with 1997 statistical and census data, is presented, giving a total of 226 kt NH3–N per year.

[1]  Asman Wah.  Ammonia emission in Europa: Updated emission and emission variations , 1992 .

[2]  S. Jarvis,et al.  Ammonia emissions following the land spreading of solid manures. , 1997 .

[3]  E. Buijsman,et al.  Anthropogenic NH3 emissions in europe , 1987 .

[4]  T. J. van der Weerden,et al.  Ammonia emission factors for N fertilizers applied to two contrasting grassland soils. , 1997, Environmental pollution.

[5]  J. Hartung,et al.  Concentrations and emissions of ammonia in livestock buildings in Northern Europe , 1998 .

[6]  B. F. Pain,et al.  A new inventory for ammonia emissions from U.K. agriculture , 1998 .

[7]  H. ApSimon,et al.  Validity and uncertainty in the calculation of an emission inventory for ammonia arising from agriculture in Great Britain. , 1989, Environmental pollution.

[8]  D. R. Lockyer,et al.  Ammonia fluxes from grazed grassland: annual losses from cattle production systems and their relation to nitrogen inputs , 1989, The Journal of Agricultural Science.

[9]  E. A. Garwood,et al.  Ammonia emission from grassland and livestock production systems in the UK. , 1987, Environmental pollution.

[10]  R. J. Orr,et al.  Micrometeorological studies of ammonia emission from sheep grazed swards , 1991, The Journal of Agricultural Science.

[11]  B. F. Pain,et al.  Estimates of ammonia emission from dairy cow collecting yards , 1998 .

[12]  Brussels eng.  Ammonia emissions to air in Western Europe , 1994 .

[13]  G. Dollard,et al.  Uncertainties in current estimates of emissions of ammonia in the United Kingdom. , 1994, Environmental pollution.

[14]  S. G. Sommer,et al.  Ammonia volatilization during storage of cattle and pig slurry: effect of surface cover , 1993, The Journal of Agricultural Science.

[15]  Great Britain. Foreign Office.,et al.  The digest of agricultural census statistics : United Kingdom 1995 , 1996 .

[16]  Ammonia volatilization from agricultural land. , 1990 .

[17]  Mark A. Sutton,et al.  Assessment of the magnitude of ammonia emissions in the United Kingdom , 1995 .

[18]  K. A. Smith,et al.  Nutrient composition of poultry manures in England and Wales , 1996 .

[19]  A. J. Brewer,et al.  Estimates of Volumes and Exposed Surface Areas of Stored Animal Manures and Slurries in England & Wales , 1997 .

[20]  V. R. Phillips,et al.  Summer emissions of ammonia from a slurry-based, UK, dairy cow house , 1998 .

[21]  E. Holland,et al.  Gaseous Nitrogen Emissions from Grasslands , 1997 .