406-6
Measurement, Simulation and Mitigation of Ammonia Volatilization From Intensive Agriculture.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013: 9:20 AM
Marriott Tampa Waterside, Florida Salon V, Second Level

Deli Chen, Agriculture and Food Systems, Melbourne School of Land and Environment, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia, Helen Suter, Melbourne School of Land and Envionment, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia, Yong Li, Changsha Research Station of Agricultural Environmental Observation, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China, John R. Freney, Plant Industry, CSIRO, Campbell, Australia and Owen Denmead, CSIRO, Canberra, Australia
Ammonia (NH3) volatilization is an important pathway in soil N cycling and often responsible for the low efficiency of N fertilizer in plant-soil systems.  The NH3 volatilization is strongly influenced by soil and climatic factors and management practices. The quantifying NH3 volatilization is a technically challenge and costly exercise.

We present the NH3 volatilization losses from the field experiments after the nitrogen fertilizer application in wheat, maize and pasture systems in Australia and China under different soil and climate conditions and management practices. The NH3 volatilizations were measured by micrometrological methods of full profile (mass balance), gradient fluxes and the recently developed technique of open path laser/FTIR- Lagrangian model of atmospheric dispersion.  

A NH3 volatilization sub-model was developed under the simulation framework of Water and Nitrogen Management Model (WNMM). A unique feature of this simulation component is the introduction of fertilizer N distribution function in soils for different applying methods. The effect of localized pH surrounding urea granules and urine patches due to urea hydrolysis has been simulated, which is the main cause of NH3 volatilization in acidic soils.

NH3 volatilization accounts up to up to 50% total N applied to alkaline in the North China Plain, up to 29% in the acidic pasture soils in Australia and 70% of dietary N in the intensive feedlot in Australia. The fertilizer application and irrigation methods strongly influence the NH3 volatilization as well as soil and climate conditions.  The WNMM model satisfactorily simulated NH3 volatilization from soil under different agricultural systems and different application methods, which can be used to identify the better management practices to reduces nitrogen losses and improve fertilizer use efficiency. The incorporation of urea fertilizer into soils and irrigation immediately followed urea application reduced NH3 volatilization by up to 75%. Application of urease inhibitor with urea in rain-feed wheat resulted in significant reduction in NH volatilization by up to 80%. Application lignite (brown coal) into the feedlot manure reduced NH3 volatilization by more than 50%.

See more from this Division: SSSA Division: Soil Fertility & Plant Nutrition
See more from this Session: Nitrogen Management and Cycling

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