Data Gap: Air Quality Networks Miss Air Pollution from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations.

ABSTRACT: In the U.S., the agricultural sector is the largest controllable source of several air pollutants, including ammonia (NH₃), which is a key precursor to PM_2.5 formation. Livestock waste is the dominant contributor to ammonia emissions. In contrast to most controllable air pollutants, satellite records show ammonia mixing ratios are rising. The number of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) that generate considerable livestock waste is also increasing. Spatial and temporal trends in USDA-reported animal numbers normalized by county area at medium and large CAFOs provide plausible explanations for patterns in satellite-derived NH₃ over the contiguous U.S. (CONUS). The correlation between summertime ammonia derived from the European Space Agency's (ESA) I

SUBMITTER: Burns AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10720380 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature