Andreas Pacholski

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• Dr.
• Group Leader at Thünen Institute

The use of urease and nitrification inhibitors in nitrogen fertilization is a highly debated measure for climate and environmental protection, combined with the expectation of increased agronomic efficiency of fertilizer application. These are mostly newly developed synthetic organic compounds, whose use can be associated with harm to humans and th...

Urea is the most widely used synthetic fertilizer worldwide, covering 16% of fertilizer consumption in Germany in 2022. It has a notable propensity to release nitrogen (N) in the form of ammonia (NH3) when applied to soil, contributing to environmental pollution, and indirectly increasing nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. This loss of NH3 from urea al...

Among the synthetic fertilizers used in crop production, the application of conventional urea is one of the major sources of ammonia (NH 3) emissions. However, NH 3 emission estimates based on existing emission factors (EFs) are subject to significant uncertainties due to limited underlying data, obtained under various conditions and applied method...

Urease and nitrification inhibitors can reduce ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions from fertilizers and manure but their effectiveness depends on the conditions under which they are used. Consequently, it is essential for the credibility of emission reductions reported in regulatory emission inventories that their effectiveness is assessed under r...

Ammonia volatilization from animal slurry applied to agricultural fields reduces nitrogen use efficiency in agriculture and pollutes the environment. This work presents new versions of a model and database focused on this route of N loss. The public ALFAM2 database (https://github.com/AU-BCE-EE/ALFAM2-data) was expanded with ammonia emission and an...

The use of urea fertilizers in agriculture is associated with many negative environmental impacts and is a source of ammonia (NH3) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. Such losses from urea fertilizer can be avoided by different mitigation techniques. Three different mitigation principles, urease inhibitor (N-(2-Nitrophenyl) phosphoric triamide, 2-NP...

Field-applied liquid animal manure (slurry) is a significant source of ammonia (NH3) emission, which is harmful to the environment and human health. To evaluate mitigation options, reliable emission measurement methods are needed. A new system of dynamic flux chambers (DFCs) with high-temporal-resolution online measurements was developed. The syste...

Ammonia emission following field application of animal slurry is a significant problem for the environment and human health. Accurate emission measurements are crucial for inventories, research, and mitigation. However, there may be large differences between results obtained with different methods. In this study measurement methods were compared in...

Field applied liquid animal manure (slurry) is a significant source of ammonia (NH3) emission, which is harmful to the environment and human health. To evaluate mitigation options, reliable measurements of effects are needed. A new system of dynamic flux chambers (DFC) with high time resolution online measurements was developed. The system was inve...

Significant greenhouse gas emissions during substrate cultivation reduces the potential environmental benefits of biogas production. This study investigates the productivity of different cropping systems and their environmental impact in terms of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions under the environmental conditions of the coastal marsh regions (Northern...

Ammonia (NH3) emissions affect the environment, the climate, and human health and originate mainly from agricultural sources like urea fertilizers. Such losses from urea fertilizer can be avoided by different application techniques like incorporation. However, the knowledge of the effect of these techniques on NH3 emissions is very limited and ambi...

Ammonia volatilization from animal slurry applied to fields is a major source of emissions throughout the world. The ALFAM2 model (Hafner et al., 2019) was developed for estimating ammonia emission from this source, and is used for research (Pedersen et al., 2022) and inventories (Hafner et al., 2021). In this contribution we will present recent de...

Background There is a great need for simple and inexpensive methods to quantify ammonia emissions in multi‐plot field trials. However, methods that meet these criteria have to be thoroughly validated. In the calibrated passive sampling approach, acid traps placed in the center of quadratic plots absorb ammonia, enabling relative comparisons between...

Poster presented at the EGU 2023 conference in Vienna, Austria.

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a powerful greenhouse gas and has an adverse effect on stratospheric ozone. Field application of synthetic N fertilizers is the largest source of global N2O emission and different N forms (nitrate vs. ammoniacal N) may play a significant role. In addition, the use of nitrification inhibitor (NI) is considered as a reliable wa...

Urea granule dissolution in soil and soil urease activity are essential parameters for the accurate prediction of nitrogen dynamics after urea application, but both are scarcely studied. The response of urease activity to temperature is unclear under the addition of urease or nitrification inhibitors. In this study, we conducted laboratory incubati...

Ammonia (NH3) emissions from agriculture have increased by 90% from 1970 to 2005, and agriculture is now the largest source of NH3 to the atmosphere. Calculated national NH3 emissions from agriculture using static emission factors do not reflect regional conditions. We propose, parameterize and test a simple model to calculate emission rates which...

The application of nitrification and urease inhibitors with urea can increase the residence time of ammonium (NH4+) in soils and thus reduce nitrogen (N) losses to the environment. We therefore hypothesized that these inhibitors would perform better in enhancing crop yield and lowering nitrous oxide (N2O) and ammonia (NH3) emissions in rice preferr...

Field application of organic slurries contributes considerably to emissions of ammonia (NH3) which causes sever environmental damage and can result in lower nitrogen (N) fertilizer efficiency. In recent years, field acidification systems have been introduced to reduce such NH3 emissions. However, combined field data on ammonia emissions and N use e...

Organic pot-based production of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) often has lower biomass yield than conventional cultivation. Previous investigations indicate that this growth impairment is related to high ammonium (NH4 ⁺) concentrations in the growing media released by the mineralization of organic nitrogen (N) fertilizers. However, as a result of this...

Urea is the most used fertilizer nitrogen (N), and is often applied as urea ammonium nitrate (UAN), which may be an ammonia (NH3) emission source after application. This study examined whether the addition of urease inhibitors reduced NH3 emission, and, in combination with nitrification inhibitors, enhanced fertilizer N crop uptake. In three experi...

Sugar beet was grown within a crop rotation over two rotation cycles (2001, 2004) at ambient and elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration (375 and 550 ppm) with practical (126, 156 kg N ha-1) and low levels (63, 78 kg N ha-1) of nitrogen supply. In the second year another cultivar was used to prevent infestation by rhizomania, which occured on one ha...

Increasing CO2 concentration ([CO2]) is thought to induce climate change and thereby increase air temperatures and the risk of drought stress, the latter impairing crop growth. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of elevated [CO2] and drought stress on root growth of one maize genotype (Zea mays cv. Simao) and two sorghum gen...

This work describes a semi-empirical dynamic model for predicting ammonia volatilization from field-applied slurry. Total volatilization is the sum of first-order transfer from two pools: a "fast" pool representing slurry in direct contact with the atmosphere, and a "slow" one representing fractions less available for emission due to infiltration o...

Ammonia (NH3) emission from animal manure contributes to air pollution and ecosystem degradation, and the loss of reactive nitrogen (N) from agricultural systems. Estimates of NH3 emission are necessary for national inventories and nutrient management, and NH3 emission from field-applied manure has been measured in many studies over the past few de...

The use of emission factors (EF) for ammonia (NH3) after fertilizer application is a central tool for nitrogen management. Ammonia loss measurements after application of urea fertilizer at three research sites in Germany indicated that emissions deviated from European standard EFs. Scenario modelling of emissions based on long term weather data and...

The captions of figures 3–6 in the original publication are misplaced. The correct figure captions are as follows.

Ammonia emission reduces the reliability and nitrogen (N) fertilizer efficiency of animal manure and mineral fertilizers applied to fields. The loss of ammonia to the atmosphere is frequently compensated for by costly over-application of N fertilizers. New technologies to reduce ammonia emission are regularly developed, and their efficacy needs to...

A 41-day incubation trial was conducted to test the single and combined effects of the novel urease (N-(2-Nitrophenyl) phosphoric triamide, 2-NPT) and nitrification inhibitors (mixture of dicyandiamide and 1H-1,2,4-triazole, DCD/TZ) on N2O emissions and underlying soil processes from a North German sandy loam soil. The effects of treatment on N2O e...

Surface application of cattle slurry on grassland is characterized by a high risk of ammonia (NH3) losses. Different techniques and measures to lower these emissions are available, but reported abatement efficiencies vary substantially among studies. Therefore, a direct comparison of five different slurry application techniques was conducted in a t...

Scenario simulation study on the effects of site and weather conditions on ammonia emissions from urea applied to winter wheat

Agricultural ammonia (NH3) emissions (90% of total EU emissions) are responsible for about 45% airborne eutrophication, 31% soil acidification and 12% fine dust formation within the EU15. But NH3 emissions also mean a considerable loss of nutrients. Many studies on NH3 emission from organic and mineral fertilizer application have been performed in...

tElevated atmospheric CO2concentrations [CO2] are known to change plant growth by stimulation of C3photosynthesis and by reduction of transpiration of both C3and C4crops. In comparison to the infor-mation on above ground plant responses only limited knowledge exists on the response of root growthof arable crops to elevated [CO2] which is particular...

Anaerobic digestates (AD) from biogas production are applied to agricultural land as organic fertilizers, but pose an ammonia (NH3) emission source. However, data about NH3 emissions of cold season AD land spreading is still lacking. Therefore, in the present study NH3 emissions of AD application under winter conditions were determined. AD was appl...

A considerable expansion of biogas production in Germany, paralleled by a strong increase in maize acreage, has caused growing concern that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during crop substrate production might counteract the GHG emission saving potential. Based on a 2-year field trial, a GHG balance was conducted to evaluate the mitigation potentia...

Due to energy crises and stricter environmental regulations, renewable energy sources like bio-methane produced by anaerobic digestion (biogas) become increasingly important. However, the application of slurries produced by biogas fermentation to agricultural land and subsequent ammonia emission may also create environmental risks to the atmosphere...

Increasing leaching losses of carbon from soils due to accelerated weathering and increasing concentrations of dissolved carbon as a result of intensified soil respiration are suspected to provide a negative feedback on rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations. We tested this hypothesis by studying concentrations of dissolved carbon and groundwater re...

Monitoring ammonia (NH3) emission is time consuming and requires specialized measurement equipment. The measurement time can be reduced if there is a close relationship between time and subsequent cumulated NH3 emission values. A statistical analysis was employed to study the relationship between cumulative NH3 emissions over varying time intervals...

Micrometeorological measurement techniques are regarded as standard methods for determining ammonia emissions following the field application of mineral fertilisers and animal slurries. In contrast with the standard agricultural experimental designs used to investigate crop productivity and crop nutrient status, the areas used for these measurement...

Over the past few years the number of biogas slurries, which are generally used as nitrogen fertilisers, have seen a steady increase in Germany. A mechanistic ammonia volatilisation model was developed to predict the ammonia losses of these slurries when applied to bare soil, maize, wheat and rye grass canopies. Data for model development were coll...

Anaerobic co-fermentation of animal slurries and crop silages leads to new types of biogas residues with an uncertain fertilizer value. Ammonia volatilization losses and crop productivity after supplying co-fermented biogas residues were investigated at a marshland site in Northern Germany. Due to the ecological risks of monocultures, maize (Zea ma...

The increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration [CO2] has been demonstrated to stimulate the growth of C3 crops. However, little information exists about the effect of elevated [CO2] on biomass production of sugar beet, and data from field experiments are lacking. In this study, sugar beet was grown within a crop rotation over two rotation cycles (20...

With respect to European growth conditions very little information is available on how future atmospheric CO2 concentrations [CO2] might affect quality characteristics of important crops. Winter wheat cv. ‘Batis’ and winter barley cv. ‘Theresa’ were grown for two growing seasons each under ambient [CO2] (ca. 375 μmol mol−1) and elevated [CO2] (550...

Rising levels of atmospheric CO2 have often been found to increase above and belowground biomass production of C3 plants. The additional translocation of organic matter into soils by increased root mass and exudates are supposed to possibly increase C pools in terrestrial ecosystems. Corresponding investigations were mostly conducted under more or...

The increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration [CO2] has been demonstrated to stimulate growth of C3 crops. Although barley is one of the important cereals of the world, little information exists about the effect of elevated [CO2] on grain yield of this crop, and realistic data from field experiments are lacking. Therefore, winter barley was grown w...

Ammonia losses following urea fertilization of maize and winter wheat were determined in field trials carried out at Fengqiu Experimental Station in the North China Plain in 1998 and 1999. Four experiments were carried out using two simplified micrometeorological integrated horizontal flux methods [IHF(L) and IHF(S)], a chamber method (calibrated D...

Apart from changes in temperature and precipitation patterns 'climate change' is driven by and entails marked changes in atmospheric chemistry. The future increase of the atmospheric CO2-concentration is the most prominent and undisputable change of the atmosphere. Elevated CO2 (e[CO2]) is known to stimulate leaf level photosynthesis and to reduce...

The determination of ammonia volatilization with sufficient spatial and temporal resolution requires a simple and versatile in situ measurement technique, particularly in developing countries. Therefore, a simple chamber method for determining ammonia (NH3) volatilization in the field (Dräger-Tube Method; DTM) was calibrated by comparison with simu...

Mostly based on assumptions derived from controlled-environment studies, predicted future atmospheric CO2 concentrations [CO2] are expected to have considerable impacts on carbon (C) turnover in agro-ecosystems. In order to allow the in situ examination of C-transformations in the plant-soil system of arable crop rotations under future [CO2], a fre...

Gaseous nitrogen losses, by NH3 volatilisation and denitrification, are mainly responsible for the low recovery of N fertiliser applied to irrigated maize on the North China Plain. Two field experiments were conducted to measure NH3 volatilisation and nitrification-denitrification losses from urea applied to maize (Zea mays L.) grown on a calcareou...

Ammonia volatilization, denitrification loss and total nitrogen (N) loss (unaccounted-for N) have been investigated from N fertilizer applied to a calcareous sandy loam fluvo-aquic soil at Fengqiu in the North China Plain. Ammonia volatilization was measured by the micrometeorological mass balance method, denitrification by the acetylene inhibition...

Deterministische Simulationsmodelle tragen wesentlich zu einem vertieften Prozessverständnis und zur Prognose von Gasflüssen aus Böden bei. Mineralische N-Düngung ist eine bedeutende NH3-Emissionquelle in China (Cai 1997). Bislang existiert noch kein Modell für die Simulation der NH3-Volatilisation nach mineralischer N-Düngung (z.B. Harnstoff, Ammo...