NH3view (MSO project)

NH3: Towards a comprehensive view from space of ammonia emissions in the Netherlands (NH3view)

The main source of ammonia (NH₃) emissions is the agricultural sector via the spreading of manure and use of fertilizers. Excessive anthropogenic emissions of nitrogen compounds to the environment have a major effect on the global biogeochemical nitrogen cycle. Of the European countries, the Netherlands has the highest emission intensity of nitrogen. The Dutch government is obliged by EU laws to protect the natural environment and prevent damage caused by too high emissions of reactive nitrogen. Current methods for estimating NH₃ emissions are based on the collection of activity data with associated emission factors, which both have large uncertainties. With satellite observations and the inversion algorithm DECSO developed by KNMI, we intent to derive NH₃ emissions independently, i.e. without relying on the reported information.

We plan to derive NH₃ emissions in Western Europe with a focus on The Netherlands from satellite observations of CrIS (the Cross-track Infrared Sounder) and IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer). In this project, the DECSO algorithm will be further improved. The comparison of two chemical transport models (LOTOS-EUROS and CHIMERE) in the DECSO processing will be used to evaluate the models and estimate process uncertainty. The different overpass times of both satellites will be exploited to evaluate the emission time profiles. The accuracy will be further assessed by comparisons to in-situ concentration measurements and bottom-up emission inventories on the European scale. Also the spatial distribution, monthly variability and diurnal cycle of the NH3 emissions will be analyzed on the European scale. Together with the bottom-up inventories, we aim to gain a comprehensive view of NH₃ emissions in The Netherlands.