Air emissions from animal agriculture operations consist of many different gases as well as suspended particulates (dust or microbes). One of these gases, ammonia, is gaining greater attention for its role in odor, but also as a precursor of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5). PM 2.5 has implications in haze and visibility as well as human health. The materials on this page were developed to assist educators and professors who include an introduction to include ammonia emissions as a topic in their classrooms or programs.
Fact Sheets
- Atmospheric Ammonia: Understanding Its Effects. Ron Sheffield, Louisiana State University
- Ammonia Emissions from Cattle Feeding Operations Part 1 of 2: Issues and Emissions.Sharon L. P. Sakirkin, Texas AgriLife Research; N. Andy Cole and Richard W. Todd, USDA-Agricultural Research Service; Brent W. Auvermann, Texas AgriLife Extension Service,Texas AgriLife Research.
Alternate download: Ammonia from Cattle Operations part 1 (Introduction) and part 2 (abatement) combined in a single document (17 pages; PDF format)
Videos
Ammonia Deposition Alpine Ecosystems
A look at the growing concern about the impacts of ammonia deposition in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Download a copy of this video (48 MB; mp4 format)
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Ammonia Emissions
Rick Todd, USDA ARS (10 minutes)
Presentation Slides
Download a Copy of This Segment (7 MB)
Acknowledgements
These materials were developed by the Air Quality Education in Animal Agriculture (AQEAA) project with with financial support from the National Research Initiative Competitive Grant 2007-55112-17856 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
For questions about the materials on this page contact Dr. Ron Sheffield, Louisiana State University Ag Center. For questions about the AQEAA project, contact Dr. Rick Stowell, Unviersity of Nebraska (rstowell2@unl.edu).
If you have presentations, photos, video, publications, or other instructional materials that could be added to the curricula on this page, please contact Dr. Sheffield or Jill Heemstra (jheemstra@unl.edu).
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Photo (right): Ammonia is a precursor to fine particulate matter (also known as PM 2.5) which can lead to hazy conditions. These conditions are becoming a more common occurrence for visitors to Rocky Mountain National Park.
