Observation- and model-based estimates of particulate dry nitrogen deposition to the oceans

Global-scale understanding of the impacts of N deposition to the oceans is reliant on our ability to produce and validate models of nitrogen emission, atmospheric chemistry, transport and deposition.

In this work, similar to 2900 observations of aerosol NO3- and NH4+ concentrations, acquired from sampling aboard ships in the period 1995-2012, are used to assess the performance of modelled N concentration and deposition fields over the remote ocean. Three ocean regions (the eastern tropical North Atlantic, the northern Indian Ocean and northwest Pacific) were selected, in which the density and distribution of observational data were considered sufficient to provide effective comparison to model products.