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Combustion-related activities dominate atmospheric ammonia in the Pearl River Delta region, China

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Abstract

Ammonia (NH3) is a key precursor of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air; however, its emission sources at different heights remain poorly understood in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of China. In this study, we simultaneously collected PM2.5 samples at three atmospheric heights (ground, 118 m, and 488 m) based on the atmospheric observatories of Canton Tower, the tallest structure in the PRD region. Our results showed that the average NH4+ concentrations were 2.7 ± 1.4, 3.0 ± 1.8, and 2.6 ± 1.7 µg/m3 at the ground site, 118 m, and 488 m during the sampling campaign, with no significant difference (p > 0.05) among the three heights. However, the stable nitrogen isotope composition values in NH4+ (δ15N-NH4+) displayed a significant correlation with height (p < 0.05). We further calculated the initial δ15N-NH3 values and performed source apportionments using the Bayesian Isotope Mixture Model. The results indicated that the mean contributions of agriculture, waste, vehicle, biomass burning, NH3 slip, and coal combustion were 9.9% ± 4.4%, 8.3% ± 5.5%, 29% ± 8.0%, 16% ± 2.2%, 25% ± 6.0%, and 12% ± 3.4%, respectively, at the ground site during the sampling campaign. By contrast, the contributions of sources at 488 m remained relatively stable due to the limited influence of local activities. Overall, our study highlights the dominant role of combustion sources in NH3 emissions in the PRD region, with their contribution being highly dependent on atmospheric height.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 42230602), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2022YFC3700602), and the Guang Dong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (China) (No. 2024B1515040026).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environment and Climate, Institute for Environmental and Climate Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 511443, China

    Mengzhi He, Junwen Liu, Fan Jiang, Zixi Chen, Xueqin Zheng, Xiaoxiao Yang & Guanghui Li

  2. Guangzhou Sub-branch of Guangdong Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Chenglei Pei

  3. Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China

    Zheng Zong

  4. School of Ecology and Applied Meteorology, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China

    Fang Cao & Yanlin Zhang

  5. CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research (YIC), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Yantai, 264003, China

    Chongguo Tian

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  1. Mengzhi He
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  2. Junwen Liu
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  3. Chenglei Pei
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  4. Fan Jiang
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  6. Xueqin Zheng
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  8. Guanghui Li
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  9. Zheng Zong
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  10. Fang Cao
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  11. Yanlin Zhang
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  12. Chongguo Tian
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Correspondence to Junwen Liu.

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Conflict of Interests The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this manuscript.

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Highlights

• The NH4+ concentrations showed no significant differences at different altitudes.

• The δ15N-NH4+ values decreased with increasing altitude in urban areas.

• Combustion source was the largest emitter for NH3 in the PRD region.

• The contributions of different sources to NH3 vary with height.

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He, M., Liu, J., Pei, C. et al. Combustion-related activities dominate atmospheric ammonia in the Pearl River Delta region, China. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 19, 77 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-025-1997-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-025-1997-4

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