Ammonia emissions in tropical biomass burning regions: Comparison between satellite-derived emissions and bottom-up fire inventories

International audienceVegetation fires emit large amounts of nitrogen compounds in the atmosphere, including ammonia (NH3). Excess NH3 is known to be responsible for several environmental issues: eutrophication of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem, soil acidification, and loss of plant diversity. NH3 emissions, which are mainly estimated from bottom-up approaches, are still subject to large uncertainties. NH3 satellite measurements are now available since a few years and offer the possibility to enhance our knowledge of NH3 sources and to reduce the remaining uncertainties on their magnitude. Global bi-daily NH3 total columns can in particular be derived from the IASI infrared sounder onboard MetOp satellites using a retrieval method developed at the Universi