Footprints on ammonia concentrations from environmental regulations

Releases of ammonia (NH3) to the atmosphere contribute significantly to the deposition of nitrogen to both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. This is the background for the national NH3 emission ceilings in Europe. However, in some countries the national legislation aims not only to meet these ceilings but also to reduce the atmospheric nitrogen deposition to local ecosystems. Such measures to reduce the load of nitrogen to local ecosystems were introduced in Denmark in 1994. In this paper we demonstrate that this regulation is reflected in the NH3 concentrations in Denmark. The Danish legislation forces farmers to applying manure to the fields during the crop-growing season. We have analyzed the seasonal variation in local NH3 concentrations over the time period of 1989-2003. During this period the seasonal variation has changed from having moderate spring and autumn concentration peaks to having a single and much more pronounced spring peak. In the analysis we apply an NH3 emission model to demonstrate that these changes in the seasonal variation are a result of the changes in the Danish legislation. The analysis demonstrates the strength of using a high-resolution emission model in the analysis of routine monitoring data.