Emission of nitrous oxide from soils fertilized with anhydrous ammonia

Thesis/Dissertation · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:5697650

Breitenbeck, G A

Field studies of the effects of different N fertilizers on emission of N/sub 2/O from three Iowa soils showed that the N/sub 2/O emissions induced by application of 180 kg ha/sup -1/ of fertilizer N as anhydrous ammonia greatly exceeded those induced by application of the same amount of fertilizer N as aqueous ammonia or urea. On the average, the emission of N/sub 2/O-N induced by anhydrous ammonia was more than 13 times that induced by aqueous ammonia or urea and represented 1.2% of the anhydrous ammonia N applied. This confirms indications from previous work that anhydrous ammonia has a much greater effect on emission of N/sub 2/O from soils than do other commonly used fertilizers. Laboratory studies of the effect of different amounts of NH/sub 4/OH on emission of N/sub 2/O from Webster soil indicated that the exceptionally large emissions of N/sub 2/O induced by fertilization of soil with anhydrous ammonia are due, at least in part, to the fact that the customary method of applying this fertilizer by injection into soil produces highly alkaline soil zones of high ammonium-N concentration. Field experiments to determine the effects of rate and depth of fertilizer application on emission of N/sub 2/O from soil fertilized with anhydrous ammonia showed that the fertilizer-induced emission of N/sub 2/O-N in 116 days increased from 1.22 to 4.09 kg N/sub 2/O-N ha/sup -1/ as the rate of anhydrous ammonia application increased from 75 to 450 kg N ha/sup -1/, and that a 100% increase in the rate of anhydrous ammonia application led to a 60% increase in the emission of N/sub 2/O.

• OSTI ID: 5697650
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION MONITORING
AMMONIA
DECOMPOSITION
IOWA
AGRICULTURE
NITROUS OXIDE
AIR POLLUTION
FERTILIZERS
SOILS
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
FEDERAL REGION VII
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INDUSTRY
MONITORING
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN HYDRIDES
NITROGEN OXIDES
NORTH AMERICA
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION
USA
500200* - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)