Articles | Volume 14, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-945-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-945-2021
Research article
 | 
08 Feb 2021
Research article |  | 08 Feb 2021

Quantifying fugitive gas emissions from an oil sands tailings pond with open-path Fourier transform infrared measurements

Yuan You, Samar G. Moussa, Lucas Zhang, Long Fu, James Beck, and Ralf M. Staebler

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Interactive discussion

Status: closed
Status: closed
AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment
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Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision
AR by Ralf Staebler on behalf of the Authors (03 Nov 2020)  Author's response   Manuscript 
ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (13 Nov 2020) by Daniela Famulari
AR by Ralf Staebler on behalf of the Authors (18 Dec 2020)  Author's response   Manuscript 

Post-review adjustments

AA: Author's adjustment | EA: Editor approval
AA by Ralf Staebler on behalf of the Authors (02 Feb 2021)   Author's adjustment   Manuscript
EA: Adjustments approved (04 Feb 2021) by Daniela Famulari
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Short summary
Tailings ponds in the Alberta oil sands represent an insufficiently characterized source of fugitive emissions of pollutants to the atmosphere. In this study, a novel approach of using a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer along with measurements of atmospheric turbulence is shown to present a practical, non-intrusive method of quantifying emission rates for ammonia, alkanes, and methane. Results from a 1-month field study are presented and discussed.