Estimating the magnitude of ammonia (NH₃) volatilization losses under different conditions is important for best management nitrogen (N) recommendations aimed to satisfy the optimal crop N requirement while minimizing N losses. Currently used field techniques to trap volatilized NH₃ from soils amended with various N sources and the techniques for quantitative determination of NH₃ require substantial financial resources, therefore, cannot be widely used. Thus, there is a compelling need for alternative techniques which are cost effective and applicable under wide range of conditions. The technique described in this study is a modification of the currently used two passive flux methods. The modified technique involves the use of sponge treated with oxalic acid to trap volatilized NH₃ and extract NH₃ from sponge with de-ionized water and determine NH₃ quantitatively by ion chromatograph (IC). This improved method has been tested against the conventional technique in multiple laboratory experiments using soils amended with various N sources. These evaluations have revealed that the NH₃ volatilization estimates by the proposed new technique compared favorably with those by the conventional techniques. Therefore, this study confirmed that the proposed new technique of estimation of NH₃ volatilization is cost effective, less labor intensive, and is applicable for varied conditions for accurate determination of NH₃ volatilization losses.