Measuring Soluble Atmospheric Nitrogen Flux to Forest Ecosystems

Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo MI

Investigators

Abstract

The objective of this project is to develop a methodology for measuring atmospheric fluxes of soluble nitrogen compounds. The system will first be developed and used to measure nitrous acid (HONO) fluxes at the forest of the University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) in conjunction with the atmospheric chemistry program PROPHET (Program for Research on Oxidants: PHotochemistry, Emissions, and Transport). These measurements will provide information on the importance of forest surfaces as a source of HONO to the atmosphere. Later the method could be expanded to cover other soluble chemical species. The long-term goal of the PI and his collaborators is to understand fluxes of nitrogen constituents to and from forest ecosystems, the effect of atmospheric constituents on ecological processes, and conversely, the effect of emissions on the chemistry of the atmosphere.