Oxidized reactive nitrogen in the atmosphere mainly consists of nitrogen oxides (NO _X =NO+NO₂, NO₃) and nitric acid. The atmospheric cycling of NO _X influences the formation of ozone and hydroxyl radicals that are important for atmospheric oxidation capacity. Nitric acid, the final product of NO _X oxidation, not only is an important component of particulate pollutants, but also has a direct impact on the ecosystem through dry and wet deposition.

The stable nitrogen isotope (δ¹⁵N) shows the potential to study reactive nitrogen cycle, and to trace the emission, transport and deposition of reactive nitrogen from local to global scales. Here, we reviewed previous studies using δ¹⁵N to investigate NO _X emission and atmospheric reactive nitrogen cycle, and discuss the uncertainties of δ¹⁵N signatures of different NO _X sources from two aspects: NO _X generation mechanism and NO _X collection methods. We also discussed the nitrogen isotope fractionation and the consequences during the conversions of NO _y molecules. We ended up with discussions on the possibility of using δ¹⁵N to trace NO _X emissions. Although there are still large uncertainties in quantifying and tracing NO _X emissions using nitrogen stable isotopes, such isotope tool is efficient enough to trace reactive nitrogen cycles in the atmosphere. On the basis of this, we proposed that we can combine atmospheric chemistry transmission models with isotope tracers to improve our understanding of regional and global atmospheric reactive nitrogen cycle regarding the fluxes of different emission sources, their atmospheric transformation, etc.