Fully Funded PhD Project: Ammonia cycling and emerging particulate matter pollutants under arable land-use management: A modelling approach

Air quality monitoring in Ireland is undertaken by the EPA in compliance with the Gothenburg Protocol, EU/national legislation and the National Clean Air Strategy. Fine Particulate Matter ≤ 2.5μm (PM2.5) has been acknowledged as an important atmospheric pollutant with serious public health impacts and no safe threshold. Ammonia (NH3) emissions are closely linked with the secondary production of PM2.5. This study seeks to advance knowledge and understanding of the role of arable agricultural practices in NH3 generation and map the sources of PM2.5 production. The nature and chemical speciation of PM2.5 in defined arable settings will be examined to provide greater insight into system dynamics and facilitate emission control. This will be achieved through a review of existing systems knowledge and database assessment combined with the application of a localised and systematic field monitoring network in an arable agricultural setting. The output of this research will build on existing theories of system function, and combine these with field data, including agricultural practices, NH3 source production and PM2.5 generation, to synthesise a new mechanistic paradigm. This new understanding will be operationalised through the development of a localised geo-spatial and temporal forecasting model of Ammonia-PM2.5 atmospheric agri-ecological interactions.