Organic nitrogen in the atmosphere — Where does it come from? A review of sources and methods

Cape, J. N.; Cornell, Sarah; Jickells, Timothy D.; Nemitz, Eiko

doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2011.07.009

Cited by 235 publications

(243 citation statements)

References 165 publications

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“…Consequently, the presentation of the general characteristics of the data includes all negative concentrations (see Table 1) and the values presented in Table 1 will be used for calculating dry and wet deposition. It has been stated that the uncertainty in WSON concentrations results from the additions of errors such as the oxidation efficiency of the method, the sampling material, the storage of the samples and the usage of preservatives (Cape et al, 2011). These authors have particularly pointed out the low precision for samples with low concentrations of WSON and high levels of WSIN (see Eq.…”

Section: Calculationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Anthropogenic sources include agricultural activities (including fertilizer application, livestock and animal husbandry), cooking, high-temperature fossil fuel combustion, vehicle exhaust, man-made biomass burning and industrial activities. In contrast, natural sources of WSON include mineral dust, bacteria, algal blooms, degraded proteins, sea salt, organic debris and natural biomass burning (Neff et al, 2002;Cornell et al, 2003;Mace et al, 2003a, b, c;Glibert et al, 2005;Sorooshian et al, 2008;Cape et al, 2011;Altieri et al, 2016). Atmospheric organic nitrogen can also be formed through chemical reactions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Atmospheric water-soluble organic nitrogen (WSON) in the eastern Mediterranean: origin and ramifications regarding marine productivity

Nehir

Koçak

2018

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. Aerosol and rain sampling in two size fractions was carried out at a rural site located on the coast of the eastern Mediterranean, Erdemli, Turkey (36 • 33 54 N, 34 • 15 18 E). A total of 674 aerosol samples in two size fractions (337 coarse, 337 fine) and 23 rain samples were collected between March 2014 and April 2015. Samples were analyzed for NO − 3 , NH + 4 and ancillary water-soluble ions using ion chromatography and water-soluble total nitrogen (WSTN) by applying a high-temperature combustion method. The mean aerosol water-soluble organic nitrogen (WSON) was 23.8 ± 16.3 nmol N m −3 , reaching a maximum of 79 nmol N m −3 , with about 66 % being associated with coarse particles. The volume weighted mean (VWM) concentration of WSON in rain was 21.5 µmol N L −1 . The WSON contributed 37 and 29 % to the WSTN in aerosol and rainwater, respectively. Aerosol WSON concentrations exhibited large temporal variation, mainly due to meteorology and the origin of air mass flow. The highest mean aerosol WSON concentration was observed in the summer and was attributed to the absence of rain and resuspension of cultivated soil in the region. The mean concentration of WSON during dust events (38.2 ± 17.5 nmol N m −3 ) was 1.3 times higher than that of non-dust events (29.4 ± 13.9 nmol N m −3 ). Source apportionment analysis demonstrated that WSON was originated from agricultural activities (43 %), secondary aerosol (20 %), nitrate (22 %), crustal material (10 %) and sea salt (5 %). The dry and wet depositions of WSON were equivalent and amounted to 36 % of the total atmospheric WSTN flux.

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Section: Calculationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric water-soluble organic nitrogen (WSON) in the eastern Mediterranean: origin and ramifications regarding marine productivity

Nehir

Koçak

2018

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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“…The reactive nitrogen concentrations in precipitation observed in this study are generally at the upper end of the range of literature values reported for coastal sites globally over the past decade (Keene et al, 2002;Luo et al, 2002;Mace et al, 2003b;Kieber et al, 2005;Calderon et al, 2007;Violaki et al, 2010;Cape et al, 2011;Zamora et al, 2011). However, much higher concentrations have been found in rainwater over coastal areas of China, which were attributed to significant pollution associated with the rapid economic development Zhang et al, 2012).…”

Section: Concentrations and Speciationmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…While the major sources for inorganic reactive nitrogen in the atmosphere are known to be anthropogenic (Galloway et al, 2004;Fowler et al, 2013), the primary origins of the organic fraction remain poorly characterized (Cape et al, 2011;Cornell, 2011). Previous studies have suggested that atmospheric organic nitrogen may stem from a variety of natural and anthropogenic processes, including resuspension of soil dust, marine emissions, biomass burning, agricultural activities, industrial production, and fossil-fuel combustion (Jickells et al, 2013 and references therein).…”

Section: Source Identification For Donmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, their approximation on nitrogen deposition was an underestimate, since it did not take into account organic nitrogen, which is a globally significant constituent of total reactive nitrogen in the atmosphere (ca. 30 % on average) (Jickells, 2006;Cape et al, 2011;Cornell, 2011). Indeed, the growing weight of evidence from global observational studies suggests that a considerable fraction of deposited nitrogen is in organic form (Cornell, 2011, and references therein), which is able to stimulate the productivity of bacteria and phytoplankton in the receiving marine ecosystems (Seitzinger and Sanders, 1999;Bronk et al, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sources and fluxes of organic nitrogen in precipitation over the southern East Sea/Sea of Japan

Yan

Kim

2015

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. We measured total dissolved reactive nitrogen in precipitation samples collected at Uljin, a Korean coastal site upwind of the southern East Sea/Sea of Japan (EJS), selected as a representative study site of atmospheric deposition over the northwestern Pacific margin. NO − 3 was found to be the most abundant nitrogen species, followed by NH + 4 and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON). Air-mass back-trajectory (AMBT) analysis revealed that a significant fraction of the inorganic nitrogen (NO − 3 and NH + 4 ) originated from mainland Asia, whereas the DON was primarily derived from Korea. Using varimax-rotated factor analysis in combination with major ions as tracers, agricultural activities in Korea were identified as the primary sources of DON in these samples. In addition, a positive correlation was found at Uljin between the size of organic fraction in total reactive nitrogen and nitrogen to carbon atomic ratio in organic matter. This correlation has also been observed at other locations worldwide, implying the utilization potential of atmospheric organic nitrogen might increase with its proportion in total nitrogen. Combining wet deposition measurements in this study with literature values for dry deposition observed at a remote island in the EJS, the total atmospheric depositional flux of reactive nitrogen was estimated to be 115 mmol N m −2 yr −1 over the southern EJS. Our study sheds new light on the potentially significant contribution to primary productivity of the northwestern Pacific Ocean by atmospheric deposition of nitrogen, especially the organic fraction.

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Reconciling modeled and observed atmospheric deposition of soluble organic nitrogen at coastal locations

Ito

Lin

Penner

2014

Global Biogeochemical Cycles

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Atmospheric deposition of reactive nitrogen (N) species from air pollutants is a significant source of exogenous nitrogen in marine ecosystems. Here we use an atmospheric chemical transport model to investigate the supply of soluble organic nitrogen (ON) from anthropogenic sources to the ocean. Comparisons of modeled deposition with observations at coastal and marine locations show good overall agreement for inorganic nitrogen and total soluble nitrogen. However, previous modeling approaches result in significant underestimates of the soluble ON deposition if the model only includes the primary soluble ON and the secondary oxidized ON in gases and aerosols. Our model results suggest that including the secondary reduced ON in aerosols as a source of soluble ON contributes to an improved prediction of the deposition rates (g N m À2 yr À1). The model results show a clear distinction in the vertical distribution of soluble ON in aerosols between different processes from the primary sources and the secondary formation. The model results (excluding the biomass burning and natural emission changes) suggest an increase in soluble ON outflow from atmospheric pollution, in particular from East Asia, to the oceans in the twentieth century. These results highlight the necessity of improving the process-based quantitative understanding of the chemical reactions of inorganic nitrogen species with organics in aerosol and cloud water.

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Organic nitrogen in the atmosphere — Where does it come from? A review of sources and methods

Cited by 235 publications

References 165 publications

Atmospheric water-soluble organic nitrogen (WSON) in the eastern Mediterranean: origin and ramifications regarding marine productivity

Atmospheric water-soluble organic nitrogen (WSON) in the eastern Mediterranean: origin and ramifications regarding marine productivity

Sources and fluxes of organic nitrogen in precipitation over the southern East Sea/Sea of Japan

Reconciling modeled and observed atmospheric deposition of soluble organic nitrogen at coastal locations

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