Field inter-comparison of eleven atmospheric ammonia measurement techniques

Eleven instruments for the measurement of ambient concentrations of atmospheric ammonia gas (NH3), based on eight different measurement methods were inter-compared above an intensively managed agricultural field in late summer 2008 in Southern Scotland. To test the instruments over a wide range of concentrations, the field was fertilised with urea midway through the experiment, leading to an increase in the average concentration from 10 to 100 ppbv. The instruments deployed included three wet-chemistry systems, one with offline analysis (annular rotating batch denuder, RBD) and two with online-analysis (Annular Denuder sampling with online Analysis, AMANDA; AiRRmonia), two Quantum Cascade Laser Absorption Spectrometers (a large-cell dual system; DUAL-QCLAS, and a compact system; c-QCLAS), two photo-acoustic spectrometers (WaSul-Flux; Nitrolux-100), a Cavity Ring Down Spectrosmeter (CRDS), a Chemical Ionisation Mass Spectrometer (CIMS), an ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) and an Open-Path Fourier Transform Infra-Red (OP-FTIR) Spectrometer. The instruments were compared with each other and with the average concentration of all instruments. An overall good agreement of hourly average concentrations between the instruments (R2>0.84), was observed for NH3 concentrations at the field of up to 120 ppbv with the slopes against the average ranging from 0.67 (DUAL-QCLAS) to 1.13 (AiRRmonia) with intercepts of −0.74 ppbv (RBD) to +2.69 ppbv (CIMS). More variability was found for performance for lower concentrations (<10 ppbv). Here the main factors affecting measurement precision are (a) the inlet design, (b) the state of inlet filters (where applicable), and (c) the quality of gas-phase standards (where applicable). By reference to the fast (1 Hz) instruments deployed during the study, it was possible to characterize the response times of the slower instruments

Field inter-comparison of eleven atmospheric ammonia measurement techniques

Eleven instruments for the measurement of ambient concentrations of atmospheric ammonia gas (NH3), based on eight different measurement methods were inter-compared above an intensively managed agricultural field in late summer 2008 in Southern Scotland. To test the instruments over a wide range of concentrations, the field was fertilised with urea midway through the experiment, leading to an increase in the average concentration from 10 to 100 ppbv. The instruments deployed included three wet-chemistry systems, one with offline analysis (annular rotating batch denuder, RBD) and two with online-analysis (Annular Denuder sampling with online Analysis, AMANDA; AiRRmonia), two Quantum Cascade Laser Absorption Spectrometers (a large-cell dual system; DUAL-QCLAS, and a compact system; c-QCLAS), two photo-acoustic spectrometers (WaSul-Flux; Nitrolux-100), a Cavity Ring Down Spectrosmeter (CRDS), a Chemical Ionisation Mass Spectrometer (CIMS), an ion mobility spectrometer (IMS) and an Open-Path Fourier Transform Infra-Red (OP-FTIR) Spectrometer. The instruments were compared with each other and with the average concentration of all instruments. An overall good agreement of hourly average concentrations between the instruments (R2>0.84), was observed for NH3 concentrations at the field of up to 120 ppbv with the slopes against the average ranging from 0.67 (DUAL-QCLAS) to 1.13 (AiRRmonia) with intercepts of −0.74 ppbv (RBD) to +2.69 ppbv (CIMS). More variability was found for performance for lower concentrations (<10 ppbv). Here the main factors affecting measurement precision are (a) the inlet design, (b) the state of inlet filters (where applicable), and (c) the quality of gas-phase standards (where applicable). By reference to the fast (1 Hz) instruments deployed during the study, it was possible to characterize the response times of the slower instruments

Exploiting satellite measurements to explore uncertainties in UK bottom-up NOx emission estimates

Nitrogen oxides (NOx, NO + NO2) are potent air pollutants which directly impact on human health and which aid the formation of other hazardous pollutants such as ozone (O3) and particulate matter. In this study, we use satellite tropospheric column nitrogen dioxide (TCNO2) data to evaluate the spatiotemporal variability and magnitude of the United Kingdom (UK) bottom-up National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) NOx emissions. Although emissions and TCNO2 represent different quantities, for UK city sources we find a spatial correlation of ∼0.5 between the NAEI NOx emissions and TCNO2 from the high-spatial-resolution TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI), suggesting a good spatial distribution of emission sources in the inventory. Between 2005 and 2015, the NAEI total UK NOx emissions and long-term TCNO2 record from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), averaged over England, show annually decreasing trends of 4.4 % and 2.2 %, respectively. Top-down NOx emissions were derived in this study by applying a simple mass balance approach to TROPOMI-observed downwind NO2 plumes from city sources. Overall, these top-down estimates were consistent with the NAEI, but for larger cities such as London and Birmingham the inventory is significantly (>25 %) less than the top-down emissions

State-corporate environmental harms and paradoxical interventions: Thoughts in honour of Stanley Cohen

Critical criminologists have come to recognize the major impact that environmental crime has on society, and have begun to consider what role the concept of harm should play in its analysis. A broadened field of criminology has especially engendered changes in the way environmental crimes are perceived and the victims that are considered to be produced through environmental crime. In this volume, leading international scholars analyze the injustices produced by the powers that drive harmful practices, such as capitalism and consumerism. They adopt a number of perspectives that importantly encapsulate both human and non-human animal rights, including: speciesism, environmental (in)justice, species (in)justice and ecological (in)justice. Green Harms and Crimes celebrates the 40th anniversary of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control and particularly pays tribute to the theoretical roots of critical criminology, as well as its developments, alongside empirical contributions in this field. The contributors address pressing topics encompassing: victimization, waste and corporate crimes, agribusiness and food crimes, biomedical research, illegal wildlife trafficking, and political protest and oppression