A new study co-led by University of Iowa researchers explains how ammonia is distributed in Earth’s upper atmosphere.
A new study co-led by University of Iowa researchers explains how ammonia is distributed in Earth’s upper atmosphere.
The study authors used computer modeling to determine that ammonia is eventually released as a gas into the upper atmosphere. The modeling explains a mystery—data gathered by satellites that shows plumes of ammonia in the upper atmosphere, especially over parts of Asia during the summer monsoon season.
The research is important because it answers on a molecular scale how ammonia is absorbed by liquid water droplets and later is pushed into air during convection, when air rises from Earth’s surface, and freezes in the upper atmosphere.
“We found we can simulate and predict where ammonia should be, and our predictions align with satellite measurements,” says Jun Wang, professor in chemical biochemical engineering in the UI’s College of Engineering and whose team led the study. “The novelty of the research is to combine what we know at the molecular level and put that into a global-scale simulation model.”
Read more at University of Iowa
Image: Jun Wang (Credit: University of Iowa)
