Microbial nitric oxide, nitrous oxide, and nitrous acid emissions from drylands

authored by

Thomas Behrendt, Nurit Agam, Marcus Andreas Horn

Abstract

Reactive nitrogen compounds (Nr, which include NOx (i.e., NO+NO2), N2O, ammonia, and HONO) have a large impact on atmospheric chemical composition and, thus, on climate. Nitric oxide (NO) is a chemically reactive trace gas that reacts with ozone (O3) to form NO2 (Crutzen 1979). The formation of O3 depends on a sensitive relationship between NOx (NO+NO2) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) (Sillman et al. 1990). Thus, even trace levels of NOx can activate O3 production. O3 itself can enrich the troposphere and as a short-lived climate pollutant (SLCP) can affect the climate (Shoemaker et al. 2013). Nitrous oxide (N2O) is among the most important greenhouse gases, together with H2O, CO2, and CH4. N2O has a relatively long lifetime, is enriched in the troposphere, and impacts the earth’s radiative balance (Ciais et al. 2013). When N2O enters the stratosphere, it reacts with O3 to NO, thereby depleting the ozone layer (Crutzen 1979).

Organisation(s)

Institute of Microbiology

External Organisation(s)

Max Planck Institute of Biogeochemistry (MPI-BGC)
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

Type

Contribution to book/anthology

Pages

335-365

No. of pages

31

Publication date

27.10.2019

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all), Environmental Science(all), Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 13 - Climate Action

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.15488/15941 (Access: Open)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23269-6_13 (Access: Closed)