Complexities in nitrogen cycling are not captured in widely used atmospheric models

A farm tractor sprays ammonia fertilizer. Credit: NOAA Air Resources Laboratory

To tackle gaps in our understanding of how nitrogen cycles between air, plants, and soil, the Climate Program Office’s Atmospheric Chemistry, Carbon Cycle and Climate (AC4) Program supported new research to compare experimental measurements with widely used atmospheric models. Through a grant aimed toward improving our understanding of the nitrogen cycle, AC4-funded scientist Ronald Cohen of the University of California, Berkeley alongside Erin Delaria of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center demonstrated important variability in nitrogen reactions that is not captured in simplified models.