Eddy-covariance measurements of nitrous oxide fluxes above a city

Daniela Famulari*, Eiko Nemitz, Chiara Di Marco, Gavin J. Phillips, Rick Thomas, Emily House, David Fowler

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Direct measurements of urban N2O emissions were made for the first time using the eddy-covariance technique from a tower, approximately 65m above the street level of Edinburgh (Scotland, UK) during November 2005. The measured N2O concentrations had a median value of 358ppbV and the overall mean measured flux was 91ngN2O-Nm-2s-1, proving that the urban area was a significant net source of N2O for the period in question.The fluxes of N2O showed a diurnal cycle following the dynamics of the boundary layer mixing, and presenting good agreement with the traffic counts data.Emission ratios of the fluxes of N2O and the anthropogenic markers CO2 and CO were derived from the measurements, which showed for N2O/CO2 a value of 0.00025 and for N2O/CO a value of 0.011. These results show a good agreement with the NAEI implied emission ratio for urban sources and vehicular traffic.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)786-793
Number of pages8
JournalAgricultural and Forest Meteorology
Volume150
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2010
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Eddy covariance
  • NO emission factor
  • NO fluxes
  • Urban emission

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Eddy-covariance measurements of nitrous oxide fluxes above a city'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this