Cropland nitrogen dioxide emissions and effects on the ozone pollution in the North China plain

Ruonan Wang; Naifang Bei; Jiarui Wu; Xia Li; Suixin Liu; Jiaoyang Yu; Qian Jiang; Xuexi Tie; Guohui Li

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118617

Cropland nitrogen dioxide emissions and effects on the ozone pollution in the North China plain

Environ Pollut. 2022 Feb 1:294:118617. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118617. Epub 2021 Dec 1.

Authors

Ruonan Wang¹, Naifang Bei², Jiarui Wu³, Xia Li³, Suixin Liu³, Jiaoyang Yu³, Qian Jiang³, Xuexi Tie³, Guohui Li⁴

Affiliations

¹ Key Lab of Aerosol Chemistry and Physics, SKLLQG, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, 710061, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
² School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710049, China.
³ Key Lab of Aerosol Chemistry and Physics, SKLLQG, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, 710061, China.
⁴ Key Lab of Aerosol Chemistry and Physics, SKLLQG, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an, 710061, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Quaternary Science and Global Change, Xi'an, 710061, China. Electronic address: ligh@ieecas.cn.

PMID: 34863895
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118617

Abstract

Soil nitrogen dioxide (NO_X = NO₂ + NO) emissions have been measured and estimated to be the second most significant contributor to the NO_X burden following the fossil fuel combustion source globally. NO_X emissions from croplands are subject to being underestimated or overlooked in air pollution simulations of regional atmospheric chemistry models. With constraints of ground and space observations of NO₂, the WRF-Chem model is used to investigate the cropland NO_X emission and its contribution to the near-surface ozone (O₃) pollution in North China Plain (NCP) during a growing season as a case study. Model simulations have revealed that the cropland NO_X emissions are underestimated by around 80% without constraints of satellite measured NO₂ column densities. The biogenic NO_X source is estimated to account for half of the anthropogenic NO_X emissions in the NCP during the growing season. Additionally, the cropland NO_X source contributes around 5.0% of the maximum daily average 8h O₃ concentration and 27.7% of NO₂ concentration in the NCP. Our results suggest the agriculture NO_X emission exerts non-negligible impacts on the summertime air quality and needs to be considered when designing emission abatement strategies.

Keywords: Croplands; O(3) pollution; Soil NO(X) emissions; The North China Plain.

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants* / analysis
Air Pollution* / analysis
China
Crops, Agricultural
Environmental Monitoring
Nitrogen Dioxide
Ozone* / analysis

Substances

Air Pollutants
Ozone
Nitrogen Dioxide