A decadal atmospheric ammonia reanalysis product in China

Bufan Xu; Jianbing Jin; Li Fang; Mijie Pang; Ji Xia; Baojie Li; Hong Liao

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169053

A decadal atmospheric ammonia reanalysis product in China

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Feb 20:912:169053. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169053. Epub 2023 Dec 12.

Authors

Bufan Xu¹, Jianbing Jin², Li Fang¹, Mijie Pang¹, Ji Xia¹, Baojie Li¹, Hong Liao³

Affiliations

¹ Joint International Research Laboratory of Climate and Environment Change, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
² Joint International Research Laboratory of Climate and Environment Change, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: jianbing.jin@nuist.edu.cn.
³ Joint International Research Laboratory of Climate and Environment Change, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: hongliao@nuist.edu.cn.

PMID: 38097067
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.169053

Abstract

Atmospheric ammonia has great environmental implications due to its important role in ecosystem and nitrogen cycle, as well as contribution to formation of secondary particles. China is recognized as a hotspot of NH₃ pollution owing to agricultural and livestock intensification. In the quest to achieve a comprehensive understanding of atmospheric ammonia load and to quantify its environmental impacts in China, relying solely either on existing measurements or on model simulations falls short. Their limitations, either in spatial coverage and integrity or in data quality, fails to meet the needs. Available reanalysis products exhibit a marked deficiency in ammonia data. We therefore aim to propose an integrated ammonia reanalysis product in China, adeptly melding satellite observations from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) NH₃ retrievals with chemical transport model simulation, capitalizing on the robust Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) data assimilation methodology. The product is validated in high quality via the comparison against independent measurements from ground monitoring stations. Spanning a decade from 2013 to 2022, our reanalysis uncovers not just the spatial intricacies of NH₃ concentrations but also their temporal dynamics. Our findings pinpointed the spatial disparities in atmospheric ammonia intensities, highlighting regional hotspots in the NCP, SCB, and Northeast China, and identified annual and seasonal patterns. Our research provides crucial insights for shaping future NH₃ pollution prevention and control strategies in China.

Keywords: Atmospheric ammonia; Data assimilation; IASI; Reanalysis.