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THE NITROGEN CYCLE

THE NITROGEN CYCLE. TOPICS FOR TODAY. The Nitrogen Cycle Fixed Nitrogen in the Atmosphere Sources of NOx What about N 2 O? Nitrogen Cycle: on the particle side How might the nitrogen cycle be affected by climate change?. Nitrogen:

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THE NITROGEN CYCLE

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  1. THE NITROGEN CYCLE

  2. TOPICS FOR TODAY • The Nitrogen Cycle • Fixed Nitrogen in the Atmosphere • Sources of NOx • What about N2O? • Nitrogen Cycle: on the particle side • How might the nitrogen cycle be affected by climate change?

  3. Nitrogen: Nitrogen is a major component of the atmosphere, but an essential nutrient in short supply to living organisms. OXIDATION STATES OF NITROGENN has 5 electrons in valence shell a9 oxidation states from –3 to +5 Increasing oxidation number (oxidation reactions) free radical free radical Decreasing oxidation number (reduction reactions)

  4. THE NITROGEN CYCLE: MAJOR PROCESSES combustion lightning free radical ATMOSPHERE N2 NO oxidation denitri- fication HNO3 biofixation deposition orgN decay NH3/NH4+ NO3- BIOSPHERE assimilation nitrification weathering burial LITHOSPHERE "fixed" or "odd" N is less stable globally=> N2

  5. BOX MODEL OF THE NITROGEN CYCLE Inventories in Tg N Flows in Tg N yr-1 [Jacob, 1999]

  6. TOPICS FOR TODAY • The Nitrogen Cycle • FixedNitrogen in the Atmosphere • Sources of NOx • What about N2O? • Nitrogen Cycle: on the particle side • How might the nitrogen cycle be affected by climate change?

  7. NOx: KEY TO MAINTAINING THE OXIDIZING POWER OF THE TROPOSPHERE • ALSO key player in stratospheric O3 loss O2 hn O3 STRATOSPHERE 8-18 km TROPOSPHERE hn NO2 NO O3 hn, H2O OH HO2 H2O2 Deposition CO, CH4 SURFACE

  8. NOy CYCLING Example of PAN formation from acetaldehyde: CH3CHO + OH  CH3CO + H2O CH3CO + O2 + M  CH3C(O)OO + M CH3C(O)OO+NO2 + M  CH3C(O)OONO2 + M PAN carbonyl oxidation T NO3 O3 O3 M O2 hn N2O5 NO2 NO Combustion lightning H2O OH, M HO2 HNO3 O3 ~ 1 day

  9. PEROXYACETYLNITRATE (PAN) AS RESERVOIR FOR LONG-RANGE TRANSPORT OF NOx [Jacob, 1999]

  10. TOPICS FOR TODAY • The Nitrogen Cycle • Fixed Nitrogen in the Atmosphere • Sources of NOx • What about N2O? • Nitrogen Cycle: on the particle side • How might the nitrogen cycle be affected by climate change?

  11. NOx EMISSIONS (Tg N yr-1) TO TROPOSPHERE • Zeldovich Mechanism: combustion and lightning • At high T (~2000K) oxygen thermolyzes: • O2 O + O • O + N2  NO + N • N + O2  NO + O [IPCC, 2007]

  12. USING SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS OF NO2 TO MONITOR NOx EMISSIONS SCIAMACHY data. May-Oct 2004 (R.V. Martin, Dalhousie U.) detection limit

  13. LIGHTNING FLASHES SEEN FROM SPACE (2000) DJF JJA Bottom-up Emission Estimate: Emission = (# flashes) x (NOx molecules /flash) HIGHLY UNCERTAIN IC or CG flash? Length of flash?

  14. Obs (satellite) Model (6 TgN/yr) Model (4-8 TgN/yr) Model (no lightning) TOP-DOWN ESTIMATES OF GLOBAL LIGHTNING NOx EMISSIONS Using SCIAMACHY (NO2), OMI (O3), ACE-FTS (HNO3): Target locations/times where NO2 column is dominated by lightning source Global source of 6 ± 2 TgN/yr from lightning [Martin et al., 2007]

  15. USING SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS TO ESTIMATE SOIL NOx EMISSIONS • Use GOME observations over Africa: • Soils: 3.3 TgN/year • Biomass Burning: 3.8 TgN/year • 40% of surface NOx emissions! • Extrapolating to all the tropics: • 7.3 TgN/year biogenic soil • (twice the IPCC value) Biomass Burning Soils Fossil + biofuels [Jaeglé et al., 2004]

  16. GROWING CONTRIBUTION OF AGRICULTURE TO N CYCLE [IPCC, 2007]

  17. TOPICS FOR TODAY • The Nitrogen Cycle • Fixed Nitrogen in the Atmosphere • Sources of NOx • What about N2O? • Nitrogen Cycle: on the particle side • How might the nitrogen cycle be affected by climate change?

  18. N2O: LOW-YIELD PRODUCT OF BACTERIAL NITRIFICATION AND DENITRIFICATION • Important as • source of NOx radicals in stratosphere • greenhouse gas [IPCC, 2007]

  19. N2O EMISSIONS (Tg N yr-1) TO TROPOSPHERE Source is MOSTLY (~75%) natural [IPCC, 2007]

  20. 1.53 x103 N2O 8 4 4 Inventories in Tg N Flows in Tg N yr-1 ADDING N2O TO THE NITROGEN BOX MODEL Although a closed budget can be constructed, uncertainties in sources are large! (N2O atm mass = 5.13 1018 kg x 3.1 10-7 x28/29 = 1535 Tg )

  21. TOPICS FOR TODAY • The Nitrogen Cycle • Fixed Nitrogen in the Atmosphere • Sources of NOx • What about N2O? • Nitrogen Cycle: on the particle side • How might the nitrogen cycle be affected by climate change?

  22. ANNUAL MEAN PM2.5 CONCENTRATIONS AT U.S. SITES Air quality standard Dry mass concentrations

  23. Thermodynamic rules: Sulfate always forms an aqueous aerosol Ammonia dissolves in the sulfate aerosol totally or until titration of acidity, whichever happens first Nitrate is taken up by aerosol if (and only if) excess NH3 is available after sulfate titration HNO3 and excess NH3 can also form a solid aerosol if RH is low FORMATION OF SULFATE-NITRATE-AMMONIUM AEROSOLS SO42- H+ NH4+ NH3 OH- HNO3 NO3- [Park et al., 2006]

  24. GLOBAL SOURCES OF AMMONIA VERY UNCERTAIN! Measurements are tough, so hard to verify regional estimates. [Park et al., 2004]

  25. Efficient scavenging of both HNO3(g) and nitrate aerosol Efficient scavenging of both NH3(g) and ammonium aerosol

  26. TOPICS FOR TODAY • The Nitrogen Cycle • Fixed Nitrogen in the Atmosphere • Sources of NOx • What about N2O? • Nitrogen Cycle: on the particle side • How might the nitrogen cycle be affected by climate change?

  27. PREDICTED CHANGES IN ANTHROPOGENIC NOX EMISSIONS Emissions declining in NA, EU, growing in AS (transportation), but predicted to level off (may peak as early as 2015). What about natural sources? Note: this include aviation NOx sources which are small but in UT and have grown from 0.55 to 0.7 Tg/yr from 1992-2002 (may double in next 20 years) [IPCC 2007 (WG3)]

  28. CHANGING LNOX? Warmer climate = more thunderclouds = more lightning • Impact: • increasing UT ozone formation (positive forcing) • Increasing OH leads to small reductions in CH4 (negative forcing) Models predict + 4-60 % LNOx per °K

  29. THE NITROGEN CYCLE: MAJOR PROCESSES combustion lightning ATMOSPHERE N2 NO oxidation denitri- fication HNO3 biofixation deposition orgN decay NH3/NH4+ NO3- BIOSPHERE assimilation nitrification weathering burial LITHOSPHERE "fixed" or "odd" N is less stable globally=> N2

  30. NOy CYCLING Example of PAN formation from acetaldehyde: CH3CHO + OH  CH3CO + H2O CH3CO + O2 + M  CH3C(O)OO + M CH3C(O)OO+NO2 + M  CH3C(O)OONO2 + M PAN carbonyl oxidation T NO3 O3 O3 M O2 hn N2O5 NO2 NO Combustion lightning H2O OH, M HO2 HNO3 O3 ~ 1 day

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