A tunable diode laser absorption spectrometer (TDLAS) was deployed during the PMTACS-NY Supersite winter 2004 intensive field campaign at Queens College in New York City to measure the ambient gaseous ammonia. For the characterization of ammonia emissions from the mobile sources, a LI-7000 CO2/H2O analyzer was also collocated with the TDLAS to measure ambient CO2 and H2O vapor. The field measurements and laboratory calibration with certified ammonia standard have been used to evaluate the performance of the TDLAS system. High time resolved TDLAS ambient ammonia measurements performed at Queens College from 10 January to 6 February showed high variability, with NH3 concentrations ranging from below the detection limit (0.1 ppb) to maxima of 197.4 ppb and a mean value of 0.8 ppb over the entire campaign. Many high-frequency NH3 spikes spanning over a less than 1-min duration were observed during the high traffic periods. The occurrence of the NH3 spikes was closely correlated with observed CO2 spikes, a good marker of traffic exhaust. This correlation yielded an NH3 emission ratio of 0.12 ppbv/ppmv, which can be used to estimate an NH3 emission factor of 35.5 mg/km. The 3>/2> ratios over the entire field study was also obtained and added into the best NH3 emission estimates. On a snowy day, no obvious drop of NH3 and CO2 concentrations was measured as the ambient H2O vapor increased. The observed dramatic decrease in the ambient NH3 and CO2 concentrations on a rainy day resulted from a quick air mass switch. Two similar bimodal diurnal patterns associated with the rush hour traffic were observed during school holidays and school days of Queens College, New York. More NH3 emissions from cold start vehicles might contribute to a higher peak in the late afternoon hours. Such observations suggest that the NH3 emissions from the traffic exhaust could be a major source of the ambient NH3 in urban areas.