A21H-0252
Vertical Profiles as Observational Constraints on Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Emissions in an Agricultural Region
Tuesday, 15 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Sally Pusede, University of Virginia Main Campus, Charlottesville, VA, United States and Glenn S Diskin, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, United States
Abstract:
We use diurnal variability in near-surface N2O vertical profiles to derive N2O emission rates. Our emissions estimates are ~3 times greater than are accounted for by inventories, a discrepancy in line with results from previous studies using different approaches. We quantify the surface N2O concentration’s memory of local surface emissions on previous days to be 50–90%. We compare measured profiles both over and away from a dense N2O source region in the San Joaquin Valley, finding that profile shapes, diurnal variability, and changes in integrated near-surface column abundances are distinct according to proximity to source areas. To do this work, we use aircraft observations from the wintertime DISCOVER-AQ project in California’s San Joaquin Valley, a region of intense agricultural activity.
