ALBERT

Description: This paper describes nitrogen losses from, and the characteristics of, 35 selected catchments (12 to 2000 ha) in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Average annual losses of N in 1994–1997 ranged from 5 to 75 kg ha-1, generally highest and characterised by significant within-country and interannual variations, in Norway and the lowest losses were observed in the Baltic countries. An important finding of the study is that the average nutrient losses varied greatly among the studied catchments. The main explanations for this variability were water runoff, fertiliser use (especially the amount of manure), soil type and erosion (including stream bank erosion). However, there were several exceptions, and it was difficult to find general relationships between the individual factors. For example, there was poor correlation between nitrogen losses and surpluses. Therefore, the results suggest that the observed variability in N losses cannot have been due solely to differences in farm management practices, although the studied catchments do include a wide range of nutrient application levels, animal densities and other relevant elements. There is considerable spatial variation in the physical properties (soil, climate, hydrology, and topography) and the agricultural management of the basins, and the interaction between and relative effects of these factors has an important impact on erosion and nutrient losses. In particular, hydrological processes may have a marked effect on N losses measured in the catchment stream water. The results indicate that significant differences in hydrological pathways (e.g. the relationship between fast- and slow-flow processes) lead to major regional differences in N inputs to surface waters and therefore also in the response to changes in field management practices. Agricultural practices such as crop rotation systems, nutrient inputs and soil conservation measures obviously play a significant role in the site-specific effects, although they cannot explain the large regional differences observed in this study. The interactions between agricultural practices and basic catchment characteristics, including hydrological processes, determine the final losses of nitrogen to surface waters, hence it is necessary to understand these interactions to manage diffuse losses of agricultural nutrients efficiently. Keywords: agriculture, catchments, diffuse sources, nitrogen, losses, Baltic, Nordic

Description: In this paper, we estimate the surface water retention of nitrogen (N) in all the 117 drainage basins to the Baltic Sea with the use of a statistical model (MESAW) for source apportionment of riverine loads of pollutants. Our results show that the MESAW model was able to estimate the N load at the river mouth of 88 Baltic Sea rivers, for which we had observed data, with a sufficient degree of precision and accuracy. The estimated retention parameters were also statistically significant. Our results show that around 380 000 t of N are annually retained in surface waters draining to the Baltic Sea. The total annual riverine load from the 117 basins to the Baltic Sea was estimated at 570 000 t of N, giving a total surface water N retention of around 40%. In terms of absolute retention values, three major river basins account for 50% of the total retention in the 117 basins; i.e. around 104 000 t of N are retained in Neva, 55 000 t in Vistula and 32 000 t in Oder. The largest retention was found in river basins with a high percentage of lakes as indicated by a strong relationship between N retention (%) and share of lake area in the river drainage areas. For example in Göta älv, we estimated a total N retention of 72%, whereof 67% of the retention occurred in the lakes of that drainage area (Lake Vänern primarily). The obtained results will hopefully enable the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) to refine the nutrient load targets in the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP), as well as to better identify cost-efficient measures to reduce nutrient loadings to the Baltic Sea.

Description: In this paper, we estimate the surface water retention of nitrogen (N) in all the 117 drainage basins to the Baltic Sea with the use of a statistical model (MESAW) for source apportionment of riverine loads of pollutants. Our results show that the MESAW model was able to estimate the N load at the river mouth of 88 Baltic Sea rivers, for which we had observed data, with a sufficient degree of precision and accuracy. The estimated retention parameters were also statistically significant. Our results show that around 380 000 t of N are annually retained in surface waters draining to the Baltic Sea. The total annual riverine load from the 117 basins to the Baltic Sea was estimated to 570 000 t of N, giving a total surface water N retention of around 40%. In terms of absolute retention values, three major river basins account for 50% of the total retention in the 117 basins; i.e. around 104 000 t of N is retained in Neva, 55 000 t in Vistula and 32 000 t in Oder. The largest retention was found in river basins with a high percentage of lakes as indicated by a strong relationship between N retention (%) and share of lake area in the river drainage areas. For example in Göta älv, we estimated a total N retention of 72%, whereof 67% of the retention occurred in the lakes of that drainage area (Lake Vänern primarily). The obtained results will hopefully enable the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) to refine the nutrient load targets in the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP), as well as to better identify cost-efficient measures to reduce nutrient loadings to the Baltic Sea.

Description: A local-scale Gaussian dispersion-deposition model (OML-DEP) has been coupled to a regional chemistry-transport model (DEHM) in the Danish Ammonia Modelling System, DAMOS. Thereby it has been possible to model the distribution of ammonia concentrations and depositions on a spatial resolution down to 400 m × 400 m for selected areas in Denmark. DAMOS has been validated against measured concentrations from the dense measuring network covering Denmark. Here measured data from 21 sites are included and the validation period covers 2–5 yr within the period 2005–2009. A standard time-series analysis (using statistic parameters like correlation and bias) show that the coupled model system captures the measured time-series better than the regional scale model alone. However, our study also shows that about 50% of the modelled concentration level at a given location originates from non-local emission sources. The local-scale model covers a domain of 16 km × 16 km and of the locally released ammonia (NH3) within this domain, our simulations at five sites, show that 14–27% of the locally emitted NH3 also deposit locally. These results underline the importance of including both high-resolution locale-scale modelling of NH3 as well as the regional scale component described by the regional model. The DAMOS system can be used as a tool in environmental management in relation to assessments of total nitrogen load of sensitive nature areas in intense agricultural regions. However, high spatio-temporal resolution in input parameters like NH3 emissions and land-use data are required.

Description: A local-scale Gaussian dispersion-deposition model (OML-DEP) has been coupled to a regional chemistry-transport model (DEHM with a resolution of approximately 6 km × 6 km over Denmark) in the Danish Ammonia Modelling System, DAMOS. Thereby, it has been possible to model the distribution of ammonia concentrations and depositions on a spatial resolution down to 400 m × 400 m for selected areas in Denmark. DAMOS has been validated against measured concentrations from the dense measuring network covering Denmark. Here measured data from 21 sites are included and the validation period covers 2–5 years within the period 2005–2009. A standard time series analysis (using statistic parameters like correlation and bias) shows that the coupled model system captures the measured time series better than the regional- scale model alone. However, our study also shows that about 50% of the modelled concentration level at a given location originates from non-local emission sources. The local-scale model covers a domain of 16 km × 16 km, and of the locally released ammonia (NH3) within this domain, our simulations at five sites show that 14–27% of the locally (within 16 km × 16 km) emitted NH3 also deposits locally. These results underline the importance of including both high-resolution local-scale modelling of NH3 as well as the regional-scale component described by the regional model. The DAMOS system can be used as a tool in environmental management in relation to assessments of total nitrogen load of sensitive nature areas in intense agricultural regions. However, high spatio-temporal resolution in input parameters like NH3 emissions and land-use data is required.

Description: Noctilucent clouds (NLC) are the highest clouds in the Earth's atmosphere, observed close to the mesopause at 80–90 km altitudes. Systematic NLC observations conducted in Moscow for the period of 1962–2005 and in Denmark for 1983–2005 are compared and statistical results both for seasonally summarized NLC parameters and for individual NLC appearances are described. Careful attention is paid to the weather conditions during each season of observations. This turns out to be a very important factor both for the NLC case study and for long-term data set analysis. Time series of seasonal values show moderate similarity (taking into account the weather conditions) but, at the same time, the comparison of individual cases of NLC occurrence reveals substantial differences. There are positive trends in the Moscow and Danish normalized NLC brightness as well as nearly zero trend in the Moscow normalized NLC occurrence frequency but these long-term changes are not statistically significant. The quasi-ten-year cycle in NLC parameters is about 1 year shorter than the solar cycle during the same period. The characteristic scale of NLC fields is estimated for the first time and it is found to be less than 800 km.