Improving Ammonia Emission Modeling and Inventories by Data Mining and Intelligent Interpretation of the National Air Emission Monitoring Study Database

Ammonia emission is one of the greatest environmental concerns in sustainable agriculture development. Several limitations and fundamental problems associated with the current agricultural ammonia emission modeling and emission inventories have been identified. They were associated with a significant disconnection between field monitoring data and knowledge about the data. Comprehensive field measurement datasets have not been fully exploited for scientific research and emission regulations. This situation can be considerably improved if the currently available data are better interpreted and the new knowledge is applied to update ammonia emission modeling techniques. The world\u27s largest agricultural air quality monitoring database with more than 2.4 billion data points has recently been created by the United States\u27 National Air Emission Monitoring Study. New approaches of data mining and intelligent interpretation of the database are planned to uncover new knowledge and to answer a series of questions that have been raised. The expected results of this new research idea include enhanced fundamental understanding of ammonia emissions from animal agriculture and improved accuracy and scope in regional and national ammonia emission inventories

Socio-Economic and Governance Conditions Corresponding to Change in Animal Agriculture: South Dakota Case Study

Understanding sustainable livestock production requires consideration of both qualitative and quantitative factors in a temporal and/or spatial frame. This study adapted Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to relate conditions of social, economic, and governance factors to changes in livestock inventory across several counties and over time. This paper presents an approach that (1) identified factors with the potential to relate to a change in livestock inventory and (2) analyzed commonalities within these factors related to changes spatially and temporally. This paper illustrates the approach and results when applied to five counties in eastern South Dakota. The specific response variables were periods of increasing, no change, or decreasing beef cattle, dairy cattle, and swine inventories in the specific counties for five-year census periods between 1992 and 2017. In the spatial analysis of counties, stable beef inventories and decreasing dairy inventories related to counties with increasing gross domestic products. The presence of specific social communities related to increases in county swine inventories. In the temporal analysis of census periods, local governance and economic factors, particularly market price influences, were more prevalent. Swine inventory showed a stronger link to cash crop markets than to livestock markets, whereas cattle market price increases associated with stable inventories for all animal types. Local governance tools had mixed effects for the different animal types across space and time. The factors and analysis results are context-specific. However, the process considers the various socio-economic processes in livestock production and community development applicable to agricultural sustainability questions in the Midwest and beyond

Environmental conditions and gas concentrations in deep-pit finishing cattle facilities: A descriptive study

There is a lack of data to describe the range of environmental and air quality conditions in beef cattle confinement buildings with deep-pit manure storage. The objective of this article is to describe the environmental conditions, manure nutrient concentrations, and aerial gas concentrations for three deep-pit manure storage finishing beef cattle facilities and varying weather conditions. Measurements were collected from three barns finishing beef cattle with deep pits in Minnesota on three sampling days per barn in summer, fall, and spring weather conditions. The air temperatures throughout the barns closely mirrored the ambient temperature conditions, although significantly lower temperatures were sometimes evident at the manure surface or in the inlet opening. However, the manure and floor surfaces had 2°C and 5°C temperature increases over ambient temperatures. Air speeds through the barn openings were generally 40% of the ambient wind speed; at animal level, the average air speed was 1 to 3 m s-1. Manure nutrient distributions were not consistent between the surface and agitated (whole pit) samples, and this was likely due in part to solids distribution in the storage. Total nitrogen levels ranged from 4.5 to 6.7 g L-1, and ammonium-N was 50% to 65% of total N in agitated whole-pit samples. Phosphate and potassium oxide levels ranged from 2.8 to 4.2 g L-1 and from 3.7 to 4.5 g L-1, respectively. Aerial ammonia and combined sulfur concentrations varied by location within a barn, pen, and season. Ammonia and combined sulfur increased with proximity to the manure surface. Higher ammonia and combined sulfur concentrations at manure level and floor level for one of the three barns may have related to water quality and/or feed composition and resulting manure nutrients, in addition to warmer temperatures. At floor level, the greatest average ammonia concentration was 8.5 ppm, and 3.9 ppm at nose level. Maximum combined sulfur levels were a maximum of 270 ppb at floor level in summer conditions in one of the barns, while 52 ppb was the maximum average during spring conditions. Carbon dioxide levels also varied by location within a barn, pen, and season and were related in part to the presence of cattle in the pen. This project is the first to quantify air quality in slatted-floor cattle barns and contributes to a body of knowledge that can be used to develop process-based models for estimating air emissions from cattle facilities

Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry Monitoring of Nitrogen Volatilization from Beef Cattle Feces and 15N-Labeled Synthetic Urine

A 15-day bench-scale manure storage experiment with a slurry mixture comprising beef cattle feces and synthetic urine with 15N-labeled urea was conducted to evaluate the source of volatilized ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N). Beef cattle feces was mixed daily in a 1:2.2 mass ratio with 15N-labeled urine and added for four consecutive days to 2-L storage containers and then left undisturbed for eleven days. Isotope ratio mass spectrometry was used to determine the origin of aerial NH3-N losses from the relative isotopic abundance of N in the 15N-labeled slurry mixture. On average 84% of total NH3-N losses originated from the urine portion and were highest during the first two to four days, when fresh material was added. After fresh material addition ceased, daily NH3-N emission from the urine decreased gradually, whereas emission from the feces remained relatively constant. Calculations showed that over 34% of aerial N was not captured, suggesting that other N gas emission is significant from slurry mixtures. Likely all uncaptured N losses were from urinary urea. The study verified the applicability of 15N-labeled synthetic urine for beef slurry mixtures. However, the results suggest further research to explain and model the NH3 and N release from fecal material is warranted and to determine the identity of the uncaptured N losses

Thermal environmental control of high-rise layer houses in California

The ventilation systems of two high-rise layer houses in California were monitored from 10/25/07 to 10/31/09 (m/d/y) for the National Air Emission Monitoring Study to facilitate the calculation of air pollutant emission rates. The ventilation systems, building structural design, feeding systems, and manure management practices of the houses were identical. Each house had approximately 32,500 laying hens in cages on the second floor (layer room) and was mechanically ventilated in cross-flow fashion with 12 sidewall single-speed exhaust fans on the first floor, consisting of two 91 cm fans and ten 122 cm fans. The fan rotational speeds, differential static pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and the evaporative misting system of each house and outside weather variables were continuously monitored. All 24 fans were evaluated with a portable fan tester three times during the two-year test. Fan airflow models were developed from in situ fan test data to calculate the fan airflow rates based on house differential static pressure and fan rotational speeds. The results showed that the fan performance factors of the 91 cm and 122 cm fans were 75% and 84% of the airflows, respectively, of new unused fans. The daily mean dry standard house ventilation rate averaged 47 m(3) s(-1) at dry standard conditions and ranged from 12 to 88 m(3) s(-1). The daily mean hen-specific ventilation rates averaged 5 m(3) h(-1) hen(-1) and ranged from 1.3 to 9.8 m(3) h(-1) hen(-1). Relative uncertainties of the hourly mean hen-specific ventilation rates averaged +/- 4.8% and ranged from +/- 2.9% to +/- 8.8%. The house differential static pressures ranged from -35 to -10 Pa 92% of the time. The layer room temperatures were controlled by adjusting the ventilation rate, which generally increased with ambient temperature. The evaporative misting system decreased the layer room temperature by up to 8 degrees C from the ambient, or barn inlet, air temperature while contributing to an increase of up to 3.8 g kg(-1) in the house humidity ratio relative to barn inlet conditions.Agricultural Air Research Counci

The national air emissions monitoring study's Southeast Layer Site: Part III. Ammonia concentrations and emissions

This article reports two years of quality-assured measurements of concentrations and baseline emissions of ammonia (NH3) at two tunnel-ventilated high-rise houses (houses 3 and 4) located at an egg production facility in North Carolina. The study was conducted as part of the National Air Emissions Monitoring Study (NAEMS). The inside NH3 concentrations, as represented by the exhaust air, were characterized by significant diurnal and seasonal variations. The lowest exhaust concentrations (17.0 +/- 14.0 ppm in house 3; 15.8 +/- 13.0 ppm in house 4) were observed in early afternoon (i.e., 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m) at the maximum diurnal ventilation rate. The highest concentrations (29.5 +/- 22.7 ppm in house 3; 28.8 +/- 22.2 ppm in house 4) occurred in early morning (i.e., 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m.) when the ventilation rate was the lowest. Similarly, the concentrations were lowest during summer and maximum ventilation rates, and highest during winter and minimum ventilation rates. The average NH3 concentrations were 0.7, 22.9, and 20.7 ppm for inlet air and the exhausts of houses 3 and 4, respectively. The average daily mean NH3 emission rate of house 3 (fully occupied and active) was 0.599 +/- 0.200 g d(-1) hen(-1) (197 +/- 66.3 g d(-1) AU(-1), 18.2 +/- 6.04 g d(-1) m(-2)) at an average ambient temperature of 16.7 degrees C and that of house 4 was 0.600 +/- 0.250 g d(-1) hen(-1) (197 +/- 82.3 g d(-1) AU(-1), 18.2 +/- 7.53 g d(-1) m(-2)) at an average ambient temperature of 16.3 degrees C. Ammonia emission rates exhibited less daily and seasonal variation than inside NH3 concentrations. Slightly elevated NH3 emission rates were observed in early afternoon (12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m), when house temperatures were relatively high. No significant differences in emissions between summer and winter were observed. Factors significantly affecting hen-specific NH3 emissions included house ventilation rate, ambient and exhaust air temperatures, exhaust air humidity ratio, hen population, hen activity, feed and water consumption rates, and manure accumulation time. Among all these factors, house exhaust temperature had the greatest effect on NH3 emission rate, followed by manure accumulation time.Agricultural Air Research CouncilAmerican Egg BoardNational Science Foundation (NSF) NSF - Office of the Director (OD) (CBET-0954673

Socio-Economic and Governance Conditions Corresponding to Change in Animal Agriculture: South Dakota Case Study

Understanding sustainable livestock production requires consideration of both qualitative and quantitative factors in a temporal and/or spatial frame. This study adapted Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to relate conditions of social, economic, and governance factors to changes in livestock inventory across several counties and over time. This paper presents an approach that (1) identified factors with the potential to relate to a change in livestock inventory and (2) analyzed commonalities within these factors related to changes spatially and temporally. This paper illustrates the approach and results when applied to five counties in eastern South Dakota. The specific response variables were periods of increasing, no change, or decreasing beef cattle, dairy cattle, and swine inventories in the specific counties for five-year census periods between 1992 and 2017. In the spatial analysis of counties, stable beef inventories and decreasing dairy inventories related to counties with increasing gross domestic products. The presence of specific social communities related to increases in county swine inventories. In the temporal analysis of census periods, local governance and economic factors, particularly market price influences, were more prevalent. Swine inventory showed a stronger link to cash crop markets than to livestock markets, whereas cattle market price increases associated with stable inventories for all animal types. Local governance tools had mixed effects for the different animal types across space and time. The factors and analysis results are context-specific. However, the process considers the various socio-economic processes in livestock production and community development applicable to agricultural sustainability questions in the Midwest and beyond.This article is published as Welles, Jacqueline S., Noelle Cielito T. Soriano, Freda Elikem Dorbu, G. M. Pereira, Laura M. Rubeck, Erica L. Timmermans, Benjamin Ndayambaje et al. "Socio-Economic and Governance Conditions Corresponding to Change in Animal Agriculture: South Dakota Case Study." Sustainability 13, no. 19 (2021): 10682. DOI: 10.3390/su131910682. Copyright 2021 by the authors. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Posted with permission