Agriculture is a major source of NO _<i>x</i> pollution in California

Abstract

Nitrogen oxides (NO _<i>x</i> = NO + NO₂) are a primary component of air pollution-a leading cause of premature death in humans and biodiversity declines worldwide. Although regulatory policies in California have successfully limited transportation sources of NO _<i>x</i> pollution, several of the United States' worst-air quality districts remain in rural regions of the state. Site-based findings suggest that NO _<i>x</i> emissions from California's agricultural soils could contribute to air quality issues; however, a statewide estimate is hitherto lacking. We show that agricultural soils are a dominant source of NO _<i>x</i> pollution in California, with especially high soil NO _<i>x</i> emissions from the state's Central Valley region. We base our conclusion on two independent approaches: (i) a bottom-up spatial model of soil NO _<i>x</i> emissions and (ii) top-down airborne observations of atmospheric NO _<i>x</i> concentrations over the San Joaquin Valley. These approaches point to a large, overlooked NO _<i>x</i> source from cropland soil, which is estimated to increase the NO _<i>x</i> budget by 20 to 51%. These estimates are consistent with previous studies of point-scale measurements of NO _<i>x</i> emissions from the soil. Our results highlight opportunities to limit NO _<i>x</i> emissions from agriculture by investing in management practices that will bring co-benefits to the economy, ecosystems, and human health in rural areas of California.