Nitrous oxide (N2O), commonly referred to as laughing gas, is a colourless, non-flammable, inorganic volatile with psychedelic effects. It has assorted uses among diverse fields: in medicine and dentistry, N2O provides a source of dissociative anaesthesia and analgesia; in the food and automobile industries, N2O serves as a propellant in whipped cream canisters and as an engine booster, respect...

IR photodissociation (IRPD) spectra of [(N2O)nH2O] with n = 2–7 are measured in the 1100–3800 cm region. In parallel, the geometry optimization and the vibrational analysis are carried out at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory. In the OH stretching (2400–3800 cm) region, the IRPD spectrum of the [(N2O)2H2O] ion shows a sharp band at 3452 cm and a broad one at around 2700 cm, which are assi...

The emission and mitigation of nitrous oxide (N2O) from high nitrogen (N) vegetable systems is not well understood. Nitrification inhibitors are widely used to decrease N2O emissions in many cropping systems. However, most N2O flux measurements and inhibitor impacts have been made with small chambers and have not been investigated at a paddock-scale using micrometeorological techniques. We quan...

Long-term field observations showed that N2O fluxes observed shortly after N application were not significantly affected by elevated CO2 in the Giessen Free Air Carbon dioxide Enrichment (FACE) study. To further investigate this unexpected result a 15N tracer study was carried out under controlled conditions where in parallel treatments either the NH+4 pool ( NH4NO3) or the NO − 3 pool (NH 15 4...

In this paper, the promoting effects of ash and biomass gas reburning on N2O decomposition were investigated based on a fluidized bed reactor, with the assessment of the influence of O2 on N2O decomposition with circulating ashes. Experimental results show that different metal oxides contained in ash play distinct roles in the process of N2O decomposition with biomass gas reburning. Compared wi...

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is produced in the lower Seine river at 40 to 60 kg N-N2O d–1, in a section greatly affected by effluents from the Achères Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Because water column denitrification is weak in this sector, we hypothesized that N2O could be produced by the nitrifier-denitrification process. To understand the controls of N2O emission, nitrifying bacterial cultures...

Nitrite (NO2 ) can accumulate during nitrification in soil following fertilizer application. While the role of NO2 as a substrate regulating nitrous oxide (N2O) production is recognized, kinetic data are not available that allow for estimating N2O production or soil-to-atmosphere fluxes as a function of NO2 levels under aerobic conditions. The current study investigated these kinetics as influe...

Few studies have assessed the common, yet unproven, hypothesis that an increase of plant nitrogen (N) uptake and/or recovery efficiency (NRE) will reduce nitrous oxide (N2O) emission during crop production. Understanding the relationships between N2O emissions and crop N uptake and use efficiency parameters can help inform crop N management recommendations for both efficiency and environmental ...

The incomplete understanding of the processes which control aquatic nitrous oxide (N2O) production is partially due to a lack of onsite data with which to describe the temporal resolution of N2O production. To help resolve this, we directly measured the N2O saturation (relative to atmospheric partial pressure) on an hourly basis over two survey periods (July and September 2003) in Lake Taihu, a...

The relationship between nitrous oxide (N2O) flux and N availability in agricultural ecosystems is usually assumed to be linear, with the same proportion of nitrogen lost as N2O regardless of input level. We conducted a 3-year, high-resolution N fertilizer response study in southwest Michigan USA to test the hypothesis that N2O fluxes increase mainly in response to N additions that exceed crop ...