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Ammonia (NH3) is the most abundant alkaline compound in the atmosphere, with consequences for the environment, human health, and radiative forcing. In urban environments, it is known to play a key role in the formation of secondary aerosols through its reactions with nitric and sulfuric acids. However, there are only a few studies about NH3 in Mexico City. In this work, atmospheric NH3 was measured over Mexico City between 2012 and 2020 by means of ground-based solar absorption spectroscopy using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometers at two sites (urban and remote). Total columns of NH3 were retrieved from the FTIR spectra and compared with data obtained from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) satellite instrument. The diurnal variability of NH3 differs between the two FTIR stations and is strongly influenced by the urban sources. Most of the NH3 measured at the urban station is from local sources, while the NH3 observed at the remote site is most likely transported from the city and surrounding areas. The evolution of the boundary layer and the temperature play a significant role in the recorded seasonal and diurnal patterns of NH3. Although the vertical columns of NH3 are much larger at the urban station, the observed annual cycles are similar for both stations, with the largest values in the warm months, such as April and May. The IASI measurements underestimate the FTIR NH3 total columns by an average of 32.2±27.5 % but exhibit similar temporal variability. The NH3 spatial distribution from IASI shows the largest columns in the northeast part of the city. In general, NH3 total columns over Mexico City measured at the FTIR stations exhibited an average annual increase of 92±3.9×1013 molecules cm−2 yr−1 (urban, from 2012 to 2019) and 8.4±1.4×1013 molecules cm−2 yr−1 (remote, from 2012 to 2020), while IASI data within 20 km of the urban station exhibited an average annual increase of 38±7.6×1013 molecules cm−2 yr−1 from 2008 to 2018.

Atmospheric ammonia (NH3) is a precursor to fine particulate matter and a source of nitrogen (N) deposition that can adversely affect ecosystem health. The main sources of NH3 – agriculture and biomass burning – are undergoing are or expected to undergo substantial changes in Africa. Although evidence of increasing NH3 over parts of Africa has been observed, the mechanisms behind these trends are not well understood. Here we use observations of atmospheric NH3 vertical column densities (VCDs) from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) along with other satellite observations of the land surface and atmosphere to evaluate how NH3 concentrations have changed over Africa from 2008 through 2018, and what has caused those changes. In West Africa NH3 VCDs are observed to increase during the late dry season, with increases of over 6 % yr−1 in Nigeria during February and March (p

Ammonia (NH3) is an essential reactive nitrogen species in the biosphere and through its use in agriculture in the form of fertilizer (important for sustaining humankind). The current emission levels, however, are up to 4 times higher than in the previous century and continue to grow with uncertain consequences to human health and the environment. While NH3 at its current levels is a hazard to environmental and human health, the atmospheric budget is still highly uncertain, which is a product of an overall lack of measurements. The capability to measure NH3 with satellites has opened up new ways to study the atmospheric NH3 budget. In this study, we present the first estimates of NH3 emissions, lifetimes and plume widths from large (>∼5 kt yr−1) agricultural and industrial point sources from Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) satellite observations across the globe with a consistent methodology. The same methodology is also applied to the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) (A and B) satellite observations, and we show that the satellites typically provide comparable results that are within the uncertainty of the estimates. The computed NH3 lifetime for large point sources is on average 2.35±1.16 h. For the 249 sources with emission levels detectable by the CrIS satellite, there are currently 55 locations missing (or underestimated by more than an order of magnitude) from the current Hemispheric Transport Atmospheric Pollution version 2 (HTAPv2) emission inventory and only 72 locations with emissions within a factor of 2 compared to the inventories. The CrIS emission estimates give a total of 5622 kt yr−1, for the sources analyzed in this study, which is around a factor of ∼2.5 higher than the emissions reported in HTAPv2. Furthermore, the study shows that it is possible to accurately detect short- and long-term changes in emissions, demonstrating the possibility of using satellite-observed NH3 to constrain emission inventories.

Air pollution reaching hazardous levels in many Chinese cities has been a major concern in China over the past decades. New policies have been applied to regulate anthropogenic pollutant emissions, leading to changes in atmospheric composition and in particulate matter ( PM ) production. Increasing levels of atmospheric ammonia columns have been observed by satellite during recent years. In particular, observations from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) reveal an increase of these columns by 15 % and 65 % from 2011 to 2013 and 2015, respectively, over eastern China. In this paper we performed model simulations for 2011, 2013 and 2015 in order to understand the origin of this increase and to quantify the link between ammonia and the inorganic components of particles: NH 4 ( p ) + / SO 4 ( p ) 2 - / NO 3 ( p ) - . Interannual change of meteorology can be excluded as a reason: year 2015 meteorology leads to enhanced sulfate production over eastern China, which increases the ammonium and decreases the ammonia content, which is contrary to satellite observations. Reductions in SO2 and NOx emissions from 2011 to 2015 of 37.5 % and 21 % respectively, as constrained from satellite data, lead to decreased inorganic matter (by 14 % for NH 4 ( p ) + + SO 4 ( p ) 2 - + NO 3 ( p ) - ). This in turn leads to increased gaseous NH3(g) tropospheric columns by as much as 24 % and 49 % (sampled corresponding to IASI data availability) from 2011 to 2013 and 2015 respectively and thus can explain most of the observed increase.

Vegetation fires are a major source of ammonia (NH3) in the atmosphere. Their emissions are mainly estimated using bottom-up approaches that rely on uncertain emission factors. In this study, we derive new biome-specific NH3 enhancement ratios relative to carbon monoxide (CO), ERNH3 ∕ CO (directly related to the emission factors), from the measurements of the IASI sounder onboard the Metop-A satellite. This is achieved for large tropical regions and for an 8-year period (2008–2015). We find substantial differences in the ERNH3 ∕ CO ratios between the biomes studied, with calculated values ranging from 7 × 10−3 to 23 × 10−3. For evergreen broadleaf forest these are typically 50–75 % higher than for woody savanna and savanna biomes. This variability is attributed to differences in fuel types and size and is in line with previous studies. The analysis of the spatial and temporal distribution of the ERNH3 ∕ CO ratio also reveals a (sometimes large) within-biome variability. On a regional level, woody savanna shows, for example, a mean ERNH3 ∕ CO ratio for the region of Africa south of the Equator that is 40–75 % lower than in the other five regions studied, probably reflecting regional differences in fuel type and burning conditions. The same variability is also observed on a yearly basis, with a peak in the ERNH3 ∕ CO ratio observed for the year 2010 for all biomes. These results highlight the need for the development of dynamic emission factors that take into better account local variations in fuel type and fire conditions. We also compare the IASI-derived ERNH3 ∕ CO ratio with values reported in the literature, usually calculated from ground-based or airborne measurements. We find general good agreement in the referenced ERNH3 ∕ CO ratio except for cropland, for which the ERNH3 ∕ CO ratio shows an underestimation of about 2–2.5 times.

Concentrated agricultural activities and animal feeding operations in the northeastern plains of Colorado represent an important source of atmospheric ammonia (NH3). The NH3 from these sources contributes to regional fine particle formation and to nitrogen deposition to sensitive ecosystems in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), located ∼80 km to the west. In order to better understand temporal and spatial differences in NH3 concentrations in this source region, weekly concentrations of NH3 were measured at 14 locations during the summers of 2010 to 2015 using Radiello passive NH3 samplers. Weekly (biweekly in 2015) average NH3 concentrations ranged from 2.66 to 42.7μ-3, with the highest concentrations near large concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). The annual summertime mean NH3 concentrations were stable in this region from 2010 to 2015, providing a baseline against which concentration changes associated with future changes in regional NH3 emissions can be assessed. Vertical profiles of NH3 were also measured on the 300 m Boulder Atmospheric Observatory (BAO) tower throughout 2012. The highest NH3 concentration along the vertical profile was always observed at the 10 m height (annual average concentration of 4.63 μgm-3), decreasing toward the surface (4.35g μg-3) and toward higher altitudes (1.93g μg-3). The NH3 spatial distributions measured using the passive samplers are compared with NH3 columns retrieved by the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) satellite and concentrations simulated by the Comprehensive Air Quality Model with Extensions (CAMx). The satellite comparison adds to a growing body of evidence that IASI column retrievals of NH3 provide very useful insight into regional variability in atmospheric NH3, in this case even in a region with strong local sources and sharp spatial gradients. The CAMx comparison indicates that the model does a reasonable job simulating NH3 concentrations near sources but tends to underpredict concentrations at locations farther downwind. Excess NH3 deposition by the model is hypothesized as a possible explanation for this trend., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Global distributions of atmospheric ammonia (NH3) measured with satellite instruments such as the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) contain valuable information on NH3 concentrations and variability in regions not yet covered by ground-based instruments. Due to their large spatial coverage and (bi-)daily overpasses, the satellite observations have the potential to increase our knowledge of the distribution of NH3 emissions and associated seasonal cycles. However the observations remain poorly validated, with only a handful of available studies often using only surface measurements without any vertical information. In this study, we present the first validation of the IASI-NH3 product using ground-based Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) observations. Using a recently developed consistent retrieval strategy, NH3 concentration profiles have been retrieved using observations from nine Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) stations around the world between 2008 and 2015. We demonstrate the importance of strict spatio-temporal collocation criteria for the comparison. Large differences in the regression results are observed for changing intervals of spatial criteria, mostly due to terrain characteristics and the short lifetime of NH3 in the atmosphere. The seasonal variations of both datasets are consistent for most sites. Correlations are found to be high at sites in areas with considerable NH3 levels, whereas correlations are lower at sites with low atmospheric NH3 levels close to the detection limit of the IASI instrument. A combination of the observations from all sites (Nobs = 547) give a mean relative difference of −32.4 ± (56.3) %, a correlation r of 0.8 with a slope of 0.73. These results give an improved estimate of the IASI-NH3 product performance compared to the previous upper-bound estimates (−50 to +100 %).