Atmospheric ammonia emissions from agricultural waste combustion

Measurements of ammonia and ammonium aerosol were made during straw and stubble burning experiments in the field. Factors were determined for the calculation of emissions of ammonia and ammonium ion, from this source, in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1992. Emissions of NH x from straw burning were calculated to be equivalent to approximately 20 ktonnes N yr −1 in 1981 and have declined to 3.3 ktonnes N yr −1 in 1991 as a result of changes in agricultural practices in response to impending U.K. legislation. The fraction of total plant nitrogen released as NH x was estimated to be between approximately 40 and 80%. Emissions of ammonia from straw and stubble burning over a 6—8 week period over which this typically occurs were calculated to be 27% of the total U.K. emissions over the equivalent period in 1981 and 7% in 1991. We have identified straw and stubble burning as another source of ammonia currently not accounted for in European and North American emission inventories; these focus almost exclusively on emissions from animal sources.