Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 14 September 1979:
Vol. 205. no. 4411, pp. 1125 - 1127
DOI: 10.1126/science.205.4411.1125
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Nitrous Oxide Emissions from an Irrigated Cornfield

G. L. HUTCHINSON 1 and A. R. MOSIER 1

1 Agricultural Research, Science and Education Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Fort Collins, Colorado 80522

During the 1978 growing season, nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from a typical well-managed northern Colorado field of corn (Zea mays L.) totaled approximately 2.6 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare, or about 1.3 percent of the applied fertilizer nitrogen. Thirty percent of the loss occurred during the 3 weeks following fertilization while ammonia was being rapidly nitrified, and 59 percent was emitted during the week after the field's first irrigation, when restricted oxygen diffusion favored denitrification. Considering the large spatial and temporal variability of N2O emissions from soil, micrometeorological estimates of vertical N2O flux density compared favorably with estimates based on a simple soil cover method.

Submitted on April 23, 1979
Revised on June 11, 1979


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Nitrogen Management for Subsurface Drip Irrigated Cotton: Ammonium Thiosulfate, Timing, and Canopy Reflectance.
R. Yabaji, J. W. Nusz, K. F. Bronson, A. Malapati, J. D. Booker, R. L. Nichols, and T. L. Thompson (2009)
Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 73, 589-597
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Wheat leaves emit nitrous oxide during nitrate assimilation.
D. R. Smart and A. J. Bloom (2001)
PNAS 98, 7875-7878
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)