Ammonia Volatilization from Winter Wheat Field Top Dressed with Urea

Ammonia volatilization was measured with a continuous air flow enclosure method from a winter wheat field in the Experimental Farm of Jurong Agricultural School to investigate its main influencing factors. The experiment with five treatments in triplicate, no N (control), 100, 200 and 300 kg N ha-1 with rice straw cover at a rate of 1500 kg ha-1 and 200 kg N ha-1 without rice straw, started when the winter wheat was sown in 1994. Sixty percent of the total amount of N applied was hasal and 40% was top-dressed. The measurement of ammonia volatilization was immediately conducted after urea was top-dressed on soil surface at wheat elongation stage in spring of 1996 and 1997. The results showed that there was a diurnal variation of ammonia volatilization rate from the winter wheat field, which synchronized with air temperature. N losses through ammonia volatilization increased with increasing N application rate, but the ratio of N lost through ammonia volatilization to applied N was not significantly affected by N application rate. The coverage of rice straw had no significant effect on ammonia volatilization. Soil moisture and rain events after urea was top-dressed affected ammonia volatilization significantly.