Surface-exchange of NOx and NH3 above a winter wheat field in the Yangtze Delta, China

A four-dynamic-chamber system was constructed to measure NOx and NH3 surface-exchange between a typical wheat field and the atmosphere in the Yangtze Delta, China. The average fluxes ofNO, NO2 and NH3 were 79, -5.6 and -5.1 ngN/(m2 x s), and 91, -1.8 and 23 ngN/(m2 x s), respectively for the wheat field and the bare soil. The NO flux was positively correlated with soil temperature and the fluxes of NO2 and NH3 were negatively correlated with their ambient concentrations during the investigated period. The compensation point of NO2 between the wheat field and the atmosphere was 11.9 microg/m3. The emissions of NO-N and NH3-N from the urea applied to the wheat field were 2.3% and 0.2%, respectively, which indicated that the main pathway of N loss from the investigated winter wheat field was NO. Application of a mixture of urea and lignin increased the emissions of NO, but also greatly increased the yield of the winter wheat.