Calibration and field testing of cavity ring-down laser spectrometers measuring CH4, CO2, and δ13CH4 deployed on towers in the Marcellus Shale region

Miles, Natasha L.; Martins, Douglas K.; Richardson, Scott J.; Rella, Christopher W.; Arata, Caleb; Lauvaux, Thomas; Davis, Kenneth J.; Barkley, Zachary R.; McKain, Kathryn; Sweeney, Colm

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1273-2018

Articles | Volume 11, issue 3

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1273-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

The 10th International Carbon Dioxide Conference (ICDC10)...

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1273-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 11, issue 3

Research article

|

05 Mar 2018

Research article |

| 05 Mar 2018

Calibration and field testing of cavity ring-down laser spectrometers measuring CH₄, CO₂, and δ¹³CH₄ deployed on towers in the Marcellus Shale region

Natasha L. Miles, Douglas K. Martins, Scott J. Richardson, Christopher W. Rella, Caleb Arata, Thomas Lauvaux, Kenneth J. Davis, Zachary R. Barkley, Kathryn McKain, and Colm Sweeney

Data sets

In-situ tower atmospheric methane mole fraction and isotopic ratio of methane data, Marcellus Shale Gas Region, Pennsylvania, USA, 2015-2016 N. L. Miles, D. K. Martins, S. J. Richardson, T. Lauvaux, K. J. Davis, B. J. Haupt, and C. Rella https://doi.org/10.18113/D3SG6N

Short summary

Analyzers measuring methane and methane isotopic ratio were deployed at four towers in the Marcellus Shale natural gas extraction region of Pennsylvania. The methane isotopic ratio is helpful for differentiating emissions from natural gas activities from other sources (e.g., landfills). We describe the analyzer calibration. The signals observed in the study region were generally small, but the instrumental performance demonstrated here could be used in regions with stronger enhancements.