Nitrous oxide emissions from barley plots treated with ammonium nitrate or sewage sludge

Journal Article · · J. Environ. Qual.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5485001

Mosier, A R ^[1]; Hutchinson, G L; Sabey, B R; Baxter, J

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1. Dept. of Agriculture, Fort Collins, CO

Application of 56, 112, or 224 kg N ha/sup -1/ as ammonium nitrate (NH/sub 4/NO/sub 3/) (AN) to barley (Hordeum vulgare) plots in northeastern Colorado led to a marked, but short-lived, increase in nitrous oxide (N/sub 2/O) emissions that was linearly related to the amount of AN applied. The AN treatment effects became statistically insignificant after about 6 weeks. Compared with total N/sub 2/O emissions of 0.54 kg N ha/sup -1/ from the control plots, totals from the AN-treated plots ranged from 0.93 to 1.43 kg N ha/sup -1/, representing an average 0.5% of the fertilizer added. Nitrous oxide emissions from plots treated with 16.7 metric tons ha/sup -1/ dry anaerobically digested sewage sludge (SS) totaled 1.09 kg N ha/sup -1/ and exhibited temporal variability similar to that of AN-treated plots, while the emissions from plots treated with 83.5 metric tons SS ha/sup -1/ were significantly larger than from the other treatments throughout the 155-day study period and totaled 4.19 kg N ha/sup -1/. The increase in N/sub 2/O emissions that results from application of organic or inorganic N amendments appears to be much smaller than assumed by models developed to describe the effect of agricultural fertilizers upon stratospheric ozone depletion.

• OSTI ID: 5485001
• Journal Information: J. Environ. Qual.; (United States), Journal Name: J. Environ. Qual.; (United States) Vol. 11:1; ISSN JEVQA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320604* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Municipalities & Community Systems-- Municipal Waste Management-- (1980-)
500200 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AGRICULTURE
AIR POLLUTION
AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS
AMMONIUM NITRATES
BARLEY
CEREALS
CHALCOGENIDES
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
FERTILIZERS
GRAMINEAE
GRASS
GROUND DISPOSAL
INDUSTRY
LAYERS
MANAGEMENT
NITRATES
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN CYCLE
NITROGEN OXIDES
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
OZONE
OZONE LAYER
PLANTS
POLLUTION
SEWAGE
SEWAGE SLUDGE
STRATOSPHERE
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES