> Research Highlight: ARL Participating in Ammonia Flux Experiment at Duke Forest
Research Highlight:
ARL Participating in Ammonia Flux Experiment at Duke Forest
Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) scientists will contribute their
expertise to the final phase of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) Ammonia Flux Experiment. The experiment will be held in the
Blackwood Division of Duke Forest, NC from June 23 to July 3, 2008. ARL
scientists from Headquarters, led by Winston Luke, and the Atmospheric
Turbulence and Diffusion Division (ATDD), led by Tilden Meyers, will
quantify ammonia fluxes in a forest ecosystem through various real-time
and integrated measurement techniques. In addition, a NOAA EPP
Undergraduate Scholar, Zakiya Hoyett, will use this experiment as her
summer internship experience. ARL's instrumentation will include gas
and particle collection systems; fast-response gas collectors; and
supplementary micrometeorological equipment. The ATDD also will take
measurements to thoroughly characterize the site vegetation, including
leaf area indices.
The USDA Ammonia Flux Experiment is a joint effort between North
Carolina State University, U.S. EPA, and NOAA. The overall goal of the
project is to measure the net flux and exchange processes of ammonia in
forest and agricultural landscapes representative of the eastern U.S.
Ammonia emissions from agriculture have increased dramatically in recent
years. These emissions influence atmospheric chemistry and, through
deposition, can alter soil and water chemistry. Previous phases of the
experiment were conducted in 2006 and 2007 over soybean and maize crops,
respectively.
This experiment will facilitate the
determination of processes which govern the magnitude and temporal
variability of ammonia flux. Increased ammonia flux may affect plant
development and, in aquatic bodies, promote eutrophication. Data from
the different measurement techniques will be compared to identify best
practices for ammonia flux measurement.