Improved modelling of atmospheric ammonia over Denmark using the coupled modelling system DAMOS

A local-scale Gaussian dispersion-deposition model (OML-DEP) has been coupled to a regional chemistry-transport model (DEHM with a resolution of approximately 6 km × 6 km over Denmark) in the Danish Ammonia Modelling System, DAMOS. Thereby, it has been possible to model the distribution of ammonia concentrations and depositions on a spatial resolution down to 400 m × 400 m for selected areas in Denmark. DAMOS has been validated against measured concentrations from the dense measuring network covering Denmark. Here measured data from 21 sites are included and the validation period covers 2–5 years within the period 2005–2009. A standard time series analysis (using statistic parameters like correlation and bias) shows that the coupled model system captures the measured time series better than the regional- scale model alone. However, our study also shows that about 50% of the modelled concentration level at a given location originates from non-local emission sources. The local-scale model covers a domain of 16 km × 16 km, and of the locally released ammonia (NH<sub>3</sub>) within this domain, our simulations at five sites show that 14–27% of the locally (within 16 km × 16 km) emitted NH<sub>3</sub> also deposits locally. These results underline the importance of including both high-resolution local-scale modelling of NH<sub>3</sub> as well as the regional-scale component described by the regional model. The DAMOS system can be used as a tool in environmental management in relation to assessments of total nitrogen load of sensitive nature areas in intense agricultural regions. However, high spatio-temporal resolution in input parameters like NH<sub>3</sub> emissions and land-use data is required

Correction: Agricultural policies exacerbate honeybee pollination service supply-demand mismatches across Europe

The following information was missing from the funding section: BBSRC, DEFRA, NERC, the Scottish Government and the Wellcome Trust, under the Insect Pollinators Initiative crops project. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Governing processes for reactive nitrogen compounds in the European atmosphere

Peer reviewe

Scientific Opinion addressing the state of the science on risk assessment of plant protection products for in-soil organisms

Following a request from EFSA, the Panel on Plant Protection Products and their Residues developed an opinion on the science behind the risk assessment of plant protection products for in-soil organisms. The current risk assessment scheme is reviewed, taking into account new regulatory frameworks and scientific developments. Proposals are made for specific protection goals for in-soil organisms being key drivers for relevant ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes such as nutrient cycling, soil structure, pest control and biodiversity. Considering the time-scales and biological processes related to the dispersal of the majority of in-soil organisms compared to terrestrial non-target arthropods living above soil, the Panel proposes that in-soil environmental risk assessments are made at in- and off-field scale considering field boundary levels. A new testing strategy which takes into account the relevant exposure routes for in-soil organisms and the potential direct and indirect effects is proposed. In order to address species recovery and long-term impacts of PPPs, the use of population models is also proposed

Economic Costs of Nitrogen Management in Agriculture

Nitrogen (N) management is one of the measures of Annex IX of the revised Gothenburg Protocol and described in detail in the Guidance Document (Bittman et al., Options for ammonia mitigation: guidance from the UNECE task force on reactive nitrogen. Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Edinburgh, 2014). The measures of Annex IX aim at the abatement of ammonia (NH3) emissions from agricultural sources. This chapter reviews literature dealing with the economic costs of N management, aimed at decreasing the N surplus and increasing N use efficiency (NUE) at farm level. Nitrogen balances are important tools for N management; they are prerequisites for monitoring, reporting and verification. They have been implemented in practice in Denmark and The Netherlands, and are used in many other countries as research tool. The economic costs of making N balances at farm level range between 200 and 500 € per farm per year. Possible additional costs relate to comparing and discussing these balances with other farmers. Also governments make costs for verification and control, estimated at 50–500 € per farm per year

Choice of reference in analysis of CAEPs to auditory and audiovisual stimuli

A general principle of EEG measurements is that each recorded channel represents the difference in activity between two electrodes on the head. Use of different reference schemes between studies may contribute, among other factors, to inconsistencies of findings (Hagemann, 1998). This study investigates the effect of choice of reference on the CAEPs to auditory and audiovisual stimuli in normal hearing adults. The CAEPs were recorded to natural speech tokens presented as auditory, visual and audiovisual stimuli. The CAEPs were recorded with FCz as a reference and re-referenced offline to right mastoid, left mastoid, mean mastoids and an average reference respectively. The amplitude of the average reference waveforms were significantly smaller compared to the other references. Three of the four references (right, left and mean mastoids) showed a temporal facilitation with shorter latencies for N1 in the audiovisual condition. No latency differences were found for the average reference. All references showed a modality effect with audiovisual stimuli resulting in significantly enhanced N1/P2 amplitudes compared to auditory. The results suggest that the choice of reference has a significant effect on the temporal analysis of CAEPs and emphasise the importance of indication and justification of any choice of reference.1 page(s

Enhanced incentives for mitigation efforts in the Land Use. : Land Use Change and Forestry sector in the next global climate change agreement

The Nordic Council of Ministers has set up the Nordic COP 15 Group to help achieve a successful outcome in the climate change negotiations at COP 15 in Copenhagen in December 2009. The Nordic COP 15 Group have identified key elements in the negotiations where efforts are needed to ensure a good outcome, i.e. adaptation to climate change, technolo-gy transfer, legal issues, sinks and deforestation. This report explore ways to adjust the current accounting rules on sinks into rules that would create better incen-tives for actively managing lands, in order to decrease the emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and/ or to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Different proposals for the treatment of the LULUCF-sector (Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry sector) are compared and analysed

Does visual stimuli assist in understanding speech in noise in children? - an EEG and MEG study

It is commonly recognised that visual cues can enhance speech intelligibility in quiet as well as in noisy listening environments. It has been shown that visual cues can improve speech perception in noise and that the improved signal-to-noise ratio may be perceived to be as much as 15 dB (Sumby, 1954). Children with auditory processing disorders are a heterogeneous group (ASHA, 1996; Chermak, 2002; Ramus et al., 2003; Sharma, Purdy, & Kelly, 2009) and are described as having listening difficulties, e.g. difficulties listening in noise and one of the main interventions recommended for this population is addition of visual cues; however, audiovisual integration is not well understood at a cortical level. This study aims to investigate the effect of visual cues on auditory perception of speech in noise in children (7-12 years) with and without auditory processing disorders. Cortical evoked potentials (CAEPS) were recorded using electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) in response to the natural speech token /ba/ presented as unimodal (auditory only and visual only) or bimodal (audiovisual) stimuli and at two different signal-to-noise ratios (+3 dB and +10dB). Results show that elevated noise levels have a detrimental effect on responses to unimodal auditory stimuli, but that the addition of visual cues results in robust auditory evoked responses at both noise levels