[1] The existence of gas-phase ammonia (NH 3 ) in the atmosphere and its interaction with other trace chemical species could have a substantial impact on tropospheric chemistry and global climate change. China is a large agricultural country with an enormous animal population, tremendous nitrogen fertilizer consumption and, consequently, a large emission of NH 3 . Despite the importance of NH 3 in the global nitrogen (N) cycle, considerable inaccuracies and uncertainty exist regarding its emission in China. In this study, a comprehensive NH 3 emission inventory was compiled for China on a 1 km  1 km grid, which is suitable for input to atmospheric models. We attempted to estimate NH 3 emissions accurately by taking into consideration as many native experiment results as possible and parameterizing the emission factors (EFs) by the ambient temperature, soil acidity and other factors. The total NH 3 emission in China was approximately 9.8 Tg in 2006. The emission sources considered included livestock excreta (5.3 Tg), fertilizer application (3.2 Tg), agricultural soil (0.2 Tg), nitrogen-fixing plants (0.05 Tg), crop residue compost (0.3 Tg), biomass burning (0.1 Tg), urine from rural populations (0.2 Tg), chemical industry (0.2 Tg), waste disposal (0.1 Tg) and traffic (0.1 Tg). The regions with the highest emission rates are located in Central and Southwest China. Seasonally, the peak ammonia emissions occur in spring and summer.

Ammonia (NH 3 ) can interact in the atmosphere with other trace chemical species, which can lead to detrimental environmental consequences, such as the formation of fine particulates and ultimately global climate change. China is a major agricultural country, and livestock numbers and nitrogen fertilizer use have increased drastically since 1978, following the rapid economic and industrial development experienced by the country. In this study, comprehensive NH 3 emissions inventories were compiled for China for 1980-2012. In a previous study, we parameterized emissions factors (EFs) considering ambient temperature, soil acidity, and the method and rate of fertilizer application. In this study, we refined these EFs by adding the effects of wind speed and new data from field experiments of NH 3 flux in cropland in northern China. We found that total NH 3 emissions in China increased from 5.9 to 11.1 Tg from 1980 to 1996, and then decreased to 9.7 Tg in 2012. The two major contributors were livestock manure and synthetic fertilizer application, which contributed 80-90 % of the total emissions. Emissions from livestock manure rose from 2.86 Tg (1980) to 6.16 Tg (2005, and then decreased to 5.0 Tg (2012); beef cattle were the largest source followed by laying hens and pigs. The remarkable downward trend in livestock emissions that occurred in 2007 was attributed to a decrease in the numbers of various livestock animals, including beef cattle, goats, and sheep. Meanwhile, emissions from synthetic fertilizer ranged from 2.

China has been experiencing fine particle (i.e., aerodynamic diameters ≤ 2.5 µm; PM2.5) pollution and acid rain in recent decades, which exert adverse impacts on human health and the ecosystem. Recently, ammonia (i.e., NH3) emission reduction has been proposed as a strategic option to mitigate haze pollution. However, atmospheric NH3 is also closely bound to nitrogen deposition and acid rain, and comprehensive impacts of NH3 emission control are still poorly understood in China. In this study, by integrating a chemical transport model with a high-resolution NH3 emission inventory, we find that NH3 emission abatement can mitigate PM2.5 pollution and nitrogen deposition but would worsen acid rain in China. Quantitatively, a 50% reduction in NH3 emissions achievable by improving agricultural management, along with a targeted emission reduction (15%) for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, can alleviate PM2.5 pollution by 11−17% primarily by suppressing ammonium nitrate formation. Meanwhile, nitrogen deposition is estimated to decrease by 34%, with the area exceeding the critical load shrinking from 17% to 9% of China’s terrestrial land. Nevertheless, this NH3 reduction would significantly aggravate precipitation acidification, with a decrease of as much as 1.0 unit in rainfall pH and a corresponding substantial increase in areas with heavy acid rain. An economic evaluation demonstrates that the worsened acid rain would partly offset the total economic benefit from improved air quality and less nitrogen deposition. After considering the costs of abatement options, we propose a region-specific strategy for multipollutant controls that will benefit human and ecosystem health.