Airborne observations over the North Atlantic Ocean reveal the importance of gas-phase urea in the atmosphere

Emily Matthews; Thomas J. Bannan; M. Anwar H. Khan; Dudley E. Shallcross; Harald Stark; Eleanor C. Browne; Alexander T. Archibald; Archit Mehra; Stéphane J.B. Bauguitte; Chris Reed; Navaneeth M. Thamban; Huihui Wu; Patrick Barker; James Lee; Lucy J. Carpenter; Mingxi Yang; Thomas G. Bell; Grant Allen; John T. Jayne; Carl J. Percival; Gordon McFiggans; Martin Gallagher; Hugh Coe

doi:10.1073/pnas.2218127120

Airborne observations over the North Atlantic Ocean reveal the importance of gas-phase urea in the atmosphere

Emily Matthews, Thomas J. Bannan, M. Anwar H. Khan, Dudley E. Shallcross, Harald Stark, Eleanor C. Browne, Alexander T. Archibald, Archit Mehra, Stéphane J.B. Bauguitte, Chris Reed, Navaneeth M. Thamban, Huihui Wu, Patrick Barker, James Lee, Lucy J. Carpenter, Mingxi Yang, Thomas G. Bell, Grant Allen, John T. Jayne, Carl J. PercivalGordon McFiggans, Martin Gallagher, Hugh Coe

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Reduced nitrogen (N) is central to global biogeochemistry, yet there are large uncertainties surrounding its sources and rate of cycling. Here, we present observations of gas-phase urea (CO(NH2)2) in the atmosphere from airborne high-resolution mass spectrometer measurements over the North Atlantic Ocean. We show that urea is ubiquitous in the lower troposphere in the summer, autumn, and winter but was not detected in the spring. The observations suggest that the ocean is the primary emission source, but further studies are required to understand the responsible mechanisms. Urea is also observed aloft due to long-range transport of biomass-burning plumes. These observations alongside global model simulations point to urea being an important, and currently unaccounted for, component of reduced-N to the remote marine atmosphere. Airborne transfer of urea between nutrient-rich and -poor parts of the ocean can occur readily and could impact ecosystems and oceanic uptake of carbon dioxide, with potentially important climate implications.

Original language	English
Article number	e2218127120
Number of pages	7
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	120
Issue number	25
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2218127120
Publication status	Published - 14 Jun 2023

Bibliographical note

Keywords

atmosphere
mass spectrometry
nitrogen cycling
ocean

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Airborne observations over the North Atlantic Ocean reveal the importance of gas-phase urea in the atmosphere
© 2023 the Author(s).
Final published version, 1.51 MBLicence: CC BY

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Matthews, E., Bannan, T. J., Khan, M. A. H., Shallcross, D. E., Stark, H., Browne, E. C., Archibald, A. T., Mehra, A., Bauguitte, S. J. B., Reed, C., Thamban, N. M., Wu, H., Barker, P., Lee, J., Carpenter, L. J., Yang, M., Bell, T. G., Allen, G., Jayne, J. T., ... Coe, H. (2023). Airborne observations over the North Atlantic Ocean reveal the importance of gas-phase urea in the atmosphere. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120(25), Article e2218127120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2218127120

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title = "Airborne observations over the North Atlantic Ocean reveal the importance of gas-phase urea in the atmosphere",

abstract = "Reduced nitrogen (N) is central to global biogeochemistry, yet there are large uncertainties surrounding its sources and rate of cycling. Here, we present observations of gas-phase urea (CO(NH2)2) in the atmosphere from airborne high-resolution mass spectrometer measurements over the North Atlantic Ocean. We show that urea is ubiquitous in the lower troposphere in the summer, autumn, and winter but was not detected in the spring. The observations suggest that the ocean is the primary emission source, but further studies are required to understand the responsible mechanisms. Urea is also observed aloft due to long-range transport of biomass-burning plumes. These observations alongside global model simulations point to urea being an important, and currently unaccounted for, component of reduced-N to the remote marine atmosphere. Airborne transfer of urea between nutrient-rich and -poor parts of the ocean can occur readily and could impact ecosystems and oceanic uptake of carbon dioxide, with potentially important climate implications.",

keywords = "atmosphere, mass spectrometry, nitrogen cycling, ocean",

author = "Emily Matthews and Bannan, {Thomas J.} and Khan, {M. Anwar H.} and Shallcross, {Dudley E.} and Harald Stark and Browne, {Eleanor C.} and Archibald, {Alexander T.} and Archit Mehra and Bauguitte, {St{\'e}phane J.B.} and Chris Reed and Thamban, {Navaneeth M.} and Huihui Wu and Patrick Barker and James Lee and Carpenter, {Lucy J.} and Mingxi Yang and Bell, {Thomas G.} and Grant Allen and Jayne, {John T.} and Percival, {Carl J.} and Gordon McFiggans and Martin Gallagher and Hugh Coe",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2023 the Author(s).",

year = "2023",

month = jun,

day = "14",

doi = "10.1073/pnas.2218127120",

language = "English",

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Matthews, E, Bannan, TJ, Khan, MAH, Shallcross, DE, Stark, H, Browne, EC, Archibald, AT, Mehra, A, Bauguitte, SJB, Reed, C, Thamban, NM, Wu, H, Barker, P, Lee, J , Carpenter, LJ, Yang, M, Bell, TG, Allen, G, Jayne, JT, Percival, CJ, McFiggans, G, Gallagher, M & Coe, H 2023, 'Airborne observations over the North Atlantic Ocean reveal the importance of gas-phase urea in the atmosphere', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 120, no. 25, e2218127120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2218127120

TY - JOUR

T1 - Airborne observations over the North Atlantic Ocean reveal the importance of gas-phase urea in the atmosphere

AU - Matthews, Emily

AU - Bannan, Thomas J.

AU - Khan, M. Anwar H.

AU - Shallcross, Dudley E.

AU - Stark, Harald

AU - Browne, Eleanor C.

AU - Archibald, Alexander T.

AU - Mehra, Archit

AU - Bauguitte, Stéphane J.B.

AU - Reed, Chris

AU - Thamban, Navaneeth M.

AU - Wu, Huihui

AU - Barker, Patrick

AU - Lee, James

AU - Carpenter, Lucy J.

AU - Yang, Mingxi

AU - Bell, Thomas G.

AU - Allen, Grant

AU - Jayne, John T.

AU - Percival, Carl J.

AU - McFiggans, Gordon

AU - Gallagher, Martin

AU - Coe, Hugh

PY - 2023/6/14

Y1 - 2023/6/14

N2 - Reduced nitrogen (N) is central to global biogeochemistry, yet there are large uncertainties surrounding its sources and rate of cycling. Here, we present observations of gas-phase urea (CO(NH2)2) in the atmosphere from airborne high-resolution mass spectrometer measurements over the North Atlantic Ocean. We show that urea is ubiquitous in the lower troposphere in the summer, autumn, and winter but was not detected in the spring. The observations suggest that the ocean is the primary emission source, but further studies are required to understand the responsible mechanisms. Urea is also observed aloft due to long-range transport of biomass-burning plumes. These observations alongside global model simulations point to urea being an important, and currently unaccounted for, component of reduced-N to the remote marine atmosphere. Airborne transfer of urea between nutrient-rich and -poor parts of the ocean can occur readily and could impact ecosystems and oceanic uptake of carbon dioxide, with potentially important climate implications.

AB - Reduced nitrogen (N) is central to global biogeochemistry, yet there are large uncertainties surrounding its sources and rate of cycling. Here, we present observations of gas-phase urea (CO(NH2)2) in the atmosphere from airborne high-resolution mass spectrometer measurements over the North Atlantic Ocean. We show that urea is ubiquitous in the lower troposphere in the summer, autumn, and winter but was not detected in the spring. The observations suggest that the ocean is the primary emission source, but further studies are required to understand the responsible mechanisms. Urea is also observed aloft due to long-range transport of biomass-burning plumes. These observations alongside global model simulations point to urea being an important, and currently unaccounted for, component of reduced-N to the remote marine atmosphere. Airborne transfer of urea between nutrient-rich and -poor parts of the ocean can occur readily and could impact ecosystems and oceanic uptake of carbon dioxide, with potentially important climate implications.

KW - atmosphere

KW - mass spectrometry

KW - nitrogen cycling

KW - ocean

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85162044636&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1073/pnas.2218127120

DO - 10.1073/pnas.2218127120

M3 - Article

C2 - 37314935

AN - SCOPUS:85162044636

SN - 0027-8424

VL - 120

JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

IS - 25

M1 - e2218127120

ER -

Airborne observations over the North Atlantic Ocean reveal the importance of gas-phase urea in the atmosphere

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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