Ammonia Emissions from a Western Open-Lot Dairy
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This paper is very interesting and a valuable contribution to the scientific literature. Due to the high level of this manuscript, I only have minor suggestions for corrections and modifications.
Some variables are not written in italic
The degree symbol seams not to be on the right place (e.g., L242)
L104: ground instead of grand?
L137: What is the meaning of ppm-m
L186: symbol for half-hour mean measurements?; I suggest to present panal A at the top and B below (same for all other Fig. with two panels)
L222ff: The mean milk production per cow should be given to get an idea of the metabolic level of the 80% cows, which produce milk.
L287: Tab. 4 should be modified: Width of some columns
L303: Tab.5: unit should read µg/m³
L354: Eq.3
L361: Which of the presented meteorological parameters can be assumed as predictors for the NH3 emission. I suggest to discuss the impact of the parameters on the NH3 Emission by a simple model even if the situation is not directly comparable like Hempel et al. 2016.
L362: Fig.5
L433: Eq. 3
L487: Fig.8 What is the meaning of the labels Haul….in panel A?
L516. This sentence should be deleted.
Author Response
- Some variables are not written in italic I do not see any requirement on this and I have not changed them.
- The degree symbol seams not to be on the right place (e.g., L242) Corrected
- L104: ground instead of grand? Deleted- it was referring to the statistical term ‘grand mean’
- L137: What is the meaning of ppm-m Explained in parenthetical
- L186: symbol for half-hour mean measurements?; I suggest to present panal A at the top and B below (same for all other Fig. with two panels) Not changed. Done so that one can read from caption up.
- L222ff: The mean milk production per cow should be given to get an idea of the metabolic level of the 80% cows, which produce milk. No information is available from the producer.
- L287: Tab. 4 should be modified: Width of some columns Adjusted
- L303: Tab.5: unit should read µg/m³Corrected
- L354: Eq.3Corrected
- L361: Which of the presented meteorological parameters can be assumed as predictors for the NH3 emission. I suggest to discuss the impact of the parameters on the NH3 Emission by a simple model even if the situation is not directly comparable like Hempel et al. 2016. This was done and explained in Equation 4 and lines 460-470- I have made no change.
- L362: Fig.5Corrected
- L433: Eq. 3Corrected
- L487: Fig.8 What is the meaning of the labels Haul….in panel A? I have added info in Table 1 to explain
- This sentence should be deleted. Done.
Reviewer 2 Report
Review of Grant et al “Ammonia emissions from a western open-lot dairy”
A very well written manuscript, with good science and approach, and a topic that is of great interest to the industry and public. I only had minor suggestions for improvement as itemized below:
Line 12: What is the largest source? Add “Next to ****, manure on dairies is….”
Line 13: Add the size of the dairy to the abstract, how many cows?
Line 75: Is this a typical size dairy for the region? How many dairies and total cows in the region?
Line 94: Good description. What size region are you talking about? Several counties? Entire state? Are all of these facilities dairies? Are there any beef cattle feedlots in the area as well?
Line 185: Excellent representation of values vs. wind direction. It would more sense to have A on top.
Table 2: Very windy conditions in this region. Does this add to NH3 emissions as compared to other regions in the country?
Table 3: The symbol for ‘degrees’ looks odd, is this the standard font selection for the journal?
Table 4: Significant digits for mean NH3 do not adequately describe. Can you add another significant digit to this table column?
Figure 3: Use Caps for y-axis. Add space between gs-1.
Figure 5: Add space between units on all y-axis titles
Author Response
- Line 12: What is the largest source? Add “Next to ****, manure on dairies is….” Not added since it would end up making sentence much longer, detract from the sentence purpose, and make it more complicated.
- Line 13: Add the size of the dairy to the abstract, how many cows? Added
- Line 75: Is this a typical size dairy for the region? How many dairies and total cows in the region? I have expanded on this in the text
- Line 94: Good description. What size region are you talking about? Several counties? Entire state? Are all of these facilities dairies? Are there any beef cattle feedlots in the area as well? I have expanded on this in the text
- Line 185: Excellent representation of values vs. wind direction. It would more sense to have A on top. Not changed. Reading from caption up.
- Table 2: Very windy conditions in this region. Does this add to NH3 emissions as compared to other regions in the country? Yes, in that wind speed was a ‘weak’ factor in emissions here (Figs 4B, 6B, lines 461-463): but the high wind probably essentially maximizes emissions due to wind speed (efficiency of exchange; see lines 341-343, 512-513). Other studies show stronger influences of wind speed on emissions when wind speeds are lower and with wider range.
- Table 3: The symbol for ‘degrees’ looks odd, is this the standard font selection for the journal? Yes it is.
- Table 4: Significant digits for mean NH3 do not adequately describe. Can you add another significant digit to this table column? The reports provided by the commercial lab do not have more significant digits.
- Figure 3: Use Caps for y-axis. Add space between gs-1.
- Figure 5: Add space between units on all y-axis titles
Reviewer 3 Report
The publication is practically a research report. Represents a known issue. Research is conducted over a longer period of time, which is an advantage.
I have no comments.
Author Response
No comments to respond to
