Premium
Enrichment of the Atmosphere with Nitrogen Compounds Volatilized from a Large Dairy Area
Author(s) -
Luebs R. E.,
Davis K. R.,
Laag A. E.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq1973.00472425000200010025x
Subject(s) - atmosphere (unit) , environmental science , nitrogen , population , environmental chemistry , population density , zoology , land area , dairy cattle , atmospheric sciences , hydrology (agriculture) , chemistry , geography , meteorology , biology , geology , demography , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , agricultural science , sociology
A dairy cow population of 143,000 in an area of 150 km 2 enriched the atmosphere with distillable N (mostly NH 3 ) over an area in excess of 560 km 2 . Over an area of 35 km 2 , where cow population density was approximately 1,600 cows/km 2 , the concentration of distillable N in the atmosphere was between 20 to 30 times greater than at a control site outside the dairy area. Highest concentrations of N were associated with wet corral surfaces and favorable evaporative conditions. Approximately 20% of the total N absorbed by acid‐surface traps in the dairy area was nondistillable N while filtered air samples contained 5% or less. Rainfall delivered three times as much N to the land surface inside than outside the dairy area.