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Comparison of different methods for the measurement of ammonia volatilization after urea application in Henan Province, China
Author(s) -
Pacholski Andreas,
Cai GuiXin,
Fan XiaoHui,
Ding Hong,
Chen Deli,
Nieder Rolf,
Roelcke Marco
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of plant nutrition and soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1522-2624
pISSN - 1436-8730
DOI - 10.1002/jpln.200625195
Subject(s) - ammonia volatilization from urea , volatilisation , ammonia , fertilizer , urea , flux (metallurgy) , environmental science , calibration , chemistry , zoology , hydrology (agriculture) , soil science , atmospheric sciences , mathematics , physics , biology , geology , statistics , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry
Ammonia losses following urea fertilization of maize and winter wheat were determined in field trials carried out at Fengqiu Experimental Station in the North China Plain in 1998 and 1999. Four experiments were carried out using two simplified micrometeorological integrated horizontal flux methods [IHF(L) and IHF(S)], a chamber method (calibrated Dräger‐Tube Method DTM) and the 15 N‐balance method using 15 N‐labeled urea. The IHF(L) was taken as the reference method. Both IHF methods showed good agreement in one experiment only, while the IHF(S) overestimated as well as underestimated cumulative ammonia losses compared to IHF(L) in the other experiments (deviation ranged from 12.5% to 64% based on cumulative ammonia losses). Regression analysis of the fluxes showed that in particular different sensitivities of the samplers to wind speed accounted for the discrepancies observed. The IHF(L) and the DTM flux curves were very similar in three experiments, while the values obtained with DTM considerably deviated from IHF(L) results in one experiment. A comparison with apparent fertilizer‐N losses determined by the 15 N‐labeling approach showed that ammonia volatilization was the major pathway of fertilizer‐N loss in this study.