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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Kimberly, Idaho » Northwest Irrigation and Soils Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #220399

Title: Measurement of atmospheric ammonia, methane, and nitrous oxide at a concentrated dairy production facility in Southern Idaho using open-path FT-IR spectrometry

Author
item Leytem, April
item Bjorneberg, David - Dave
item WESTERMANN, D - USDA-ARS (RETIRED)
item GRIFFITHS, P - UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO
item SHAO, L - UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO
item POLLARD, M - UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO

Submitted to: Transactions of the ASABE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/1/2009
Publication Date: 9/1/2009
Citation: Leytem, A.B., Bjorneberg, D.L., Westermann, D.T., Griffiths, P.R., Shao, L., Pollard, M.J. 2009. Measurement of atmospheric ammonia, methane, and nitrous oxide at a concentrated dairy production facility in Southern Idaho using open-path FT-IR spectrometry. Transactions of the ASABE. 52(5):1749-1756.

Interpretive Summary: The intensification of livestock production facilities has generated concerns over the impact of these facilities on air quality. In Southern Idaho, the dairy industry has expanded rapidly over the past decade with an increase of 80% in the number of cows produced, with concentrated production facilities being the norm. Of concern from an air quality standpoint is the generation of ammonia which is a precursor to secondary particulates that could be a human health risk, and methane and nitrous oxide which are potent greenhouse gasses. To date there has been no published data looking at the emissions of these gasses from large scale open lot dairies typical of this region. To address this issue, we monitored three locations on a commercial dairy production facility in Southern Idaho over four seasons to determine ammonia, methane, and nitrous oxide concentration ranges using open-path Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (OP/FT-IR). Measurements were made at the property line, over the open lot pens, over the lagoon and over a composting area for approximately two days at each location during January, March, June, and September of 2005. Average ammonia concentrations measured over the open lots, lagoon, and composting area were between 0.13 to 0.41, 0.05 to 0.20, and 0.12 to 0.26 ppm, respectively, with concentrations tending to be lower during colder months. In general ammonia concentrations tended to be highest over the open lots, followed by the compost areas with the lagoon having the lowest concentrations. Average methane concentrations measured over the open lots, lagoon and composting area were between 2.15 to 3.0, 1.89 to 2.25, and 1.71 to 1.90 ppm, respectively with little seasonal variation. In general, average methane concentrations, tended to be greatest over the lots followed by the lagoon with the compost area having the lowest concentrations. Average nitrous oxide concentrations were between 0.31 to 0.33 ppm for all areas, which are similar to global background nitrous oxide concentrations. Concentrations of ammonia and methane tended to be inversely proportional to wind speed at speeds less than 2 m per s. The data generated in this study is some of the first published data reporting concentrations of ammonia, methane, and nitrous oxide from a large sale open lot dairy in this region. Further work utilizing air quality modeling techniques are necessary in order to quantify fluxes of gasses produced on these large scale dairies, and to determine ammonia and methane emission factors from these sites.

Technical Abstract: In Idaho, the number of dairy cows has increased by approximately 80% in the last decade with concentrated dairy production facilities being the norm. The majority of these production facilities are located in southern Idaho, which has generated environmental concerns related to regional air quality. To address the potential impact of these facilities on air quality, we measured the concentration ranges of ammonia (NH3), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) over four seasons on an open lot dairy typical of the region using open-path Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (OP/FT-IR). Measurements were made at the property line, over the open lot pens, over the lagoon and over a composting area for approximately two days at each location during January, March, June, and September of 2005. Average NH3 concentrations measured over the open lots, lagoon, and composting area were between 0.13 to 0.41, 0.05 to 0.20, and 0.12 to 0.26 ppm, respectively, with concentrations tending to be lower during colder months. In general NH3 concentrations tended to be highest over the open lots, followed by the compost areas with the lagoon having the lowest concentrations. Average CH4 concentrations measured over the open lots, lagoon and composting area were between 2.15 to 3.0, 1.89 to 2.25, and 1.71 to 1.90 ppm, respectively with little seasonal variation. In general, average CH4 concentrations, tended to be greatest over the lots followed by the lagoon with the compost area having the lowest concentrations. Average N2O concentrations were between 0.31 to 0.33 ppm for all areas, which are similar to global background N2O concentrations. Concentrations of NH3 and CH4 tended to be inversely proportional to wind speed at speeds less than 2 m per s. Further work utilizing air quality modeling is necessary in order to quantify fluxes of these gases produced at large scale dairies to determine emission factors for NH3 and CH4 from these sites.