Emission factors

The emission factors tell us what proportion of nitrogen

  • deposited as excrement onto pastures, in the barn or yard
  • ending up in the manure store with slurry and solid manure
  • applied as manure onto pasture or arable land

is released into the air as ammonia. As ammonia emissions from animal husbandry, manure storage and manure application originate to a large extent from soluble nitrogen, emission factors are given as a percent of the amount of soluble nitrogen (% TAN; Total Ammoniacal Nitrogen).

Furthermore, a certain amount of nitrogen applied as mineral or recycling fertilizer is also lost as ammonia. The emission factors are  expressed as a percent of the amount of applied total nitrogen or soluble nitrogen. Finally, the of plant material on the soil surface, such as crop residues, losses from fodder harvesting, or green manure, also result in ammonia emissions. The emission factor used is kg of ammoniacal nitrogen per ha of agricultural land.

 

The emission factors used in the model are outlined under Technical Description.