Magnitude and Uncertainty of Nitrous Oxide Emissions From North America Based on Bottom-Up and Top-Down Approaches: Informing Future Research and National Inventories

Xu, R.; Tian, H.; Pan, N.; Thompson, R. L.; Canadell, J. G.; Davidson, E. A.; Nevison, C.; Winiwarter, W.; Shi, H.; Pan, S.; Chang, J.; Ciais, P.; Dangal, S. R. S.; Ito, A.; Jackson, R. B.; Joos, F.; Lauerwald, R.; Lienert, S.; Maavara, T.; Millet, D. B.; ... (2021). Magnitude and Uncertainty of Nitrous Oxide Emissions From North America Based on Bottom-Up and Top-Down Approaches: Informing Future Research and National Inventories. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(23) American Geophysical Union 10.1029/2021GL095264

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We synthesized N2O emissions over North America using 17 bottom-up (BU) estimates from 1980–2016 and five top-down (TD) estimates from 1998 to 2016. The BU-based total emission shows a slight increase owing to U.S. agriculture, while no consistent trend is shown in TD estimates. During 2007–2016, North American N2O emissions are estimated at 1.7 (1.0–3.0) Tg N yr−1 (BU) and 1.3 (0.9–1.5) Tg N yr−1 (TD). Anthropogenic emissions were twice as large as natural fluxes from soil and water. Direct agricultural and industrial activities accounted for 68% of total anthropogenic emissions, 71% of which was contributed by the U.S. Our estimates of U.S. agricultural emissions are comparable to the EPA greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory, which includes estimates from IPCC tier 1 (emission factor) and tier 3 (process-based modeling) approaches. Conversely, our estimated agricultural emissions for Canada and Mexico are twice as large as the respective national GHG inventories.

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