Articles | Volume 15, issue 21
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6285-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6285-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
02 Nov 2022
Research article |
| 02 Nov 2022
| 02 Nov 2022
A quantitative comparison of methods used to measure smaller methane emissions typically observed from superannuated oil and gas infrastructure
Stuart N. Riddick
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
The Energy Institute, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
80524, USA
Riley Ancona
The Energy Institute, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
80524, USA
Mercy Mbua
The Energy Institute, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
80524, USA
Clay S. Bell
The Energy Institute, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
80524, USA
Aidan Duggan
The Energy Institute, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
80524, USA
Timothy L. Vaughn
The Energy Institute, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
80524, USA
Kristine Bennett
The Energy Institute, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
80524, USA
Daniel J. Zimmerle
The Energy Institute, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
80524, USA
Related authors
Mercy Mbua, Stuart N. Riddick, Elijah Kiplimo, and Daniel Zimmerle
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3161, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3161, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Accurate methane quantification from oil and gas sites is essential for reliable methane reporting and assessing the impact on climate change. This paper explores the uncertainties that arise when models developed for other sectors, such as agriculture and landfills, are applied in the oil and gas sector. Our findings demonstrate that testing these models in controlled environments that closely mimic their intended applications is critical to ensuring credible emission reports.
Stuart N. Riddick, Denise L. Mauzerall, Michael Celia, Neil R. P. Harris, Grant Allen, Joseph Pitt, John Staunton-Sykes, Grant L. Forster, Mary Kang, David Lowry, Euan G. Nisbet, and Alistair J. Manning
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 9787–9796, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-9787-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-9787-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Currently, bottom-up methods estimate that 0.13 % of methane produced by UK North Sea oil and gas installations is lost. Here we measure emissions from eight platforms in the North Sea and, when considered collectively, the methane loss is estimated at 0.19 % of gas production. As this ambient loss is not explicitly accounted for in the bottom-up approach, these measured emissions represent significant additional emissions above previous estimates.
Sarah Connors, Alistair J. Manning, Andrew D. Robinson, Stuart N. Riddick, Grant L. Forster, Anita Ganesan, Aoife Grant, Stephen Humphrey, Simon O'Doherty, Dave E. Oram, Paul I. Palmer, Robert L. Skelton, Kieran Stanley, Ann Stavert, Dickon Young, and Neil R. P. Harris
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2018-1187, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2018-1187, 2018
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
Methane is an important greenhouse gas & reducing its emissions is a vital part of climate change mitigation to limit global temperature increase to 1.5 °C or 2.0 °C. This paper explains a way to estimate emitted methane over a sub-national area by combining measurements & computer dispersion modelling in a so-called
inversiontechnique. Compared with the current national inventory, our results show lower emissions for Cambridgeshire, possibly due to waste sector emission differences.
Paul I. Palmer, Simon O'Doherty, Grant Allen, Keith Bower, Hartmut Bösch, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Sarah Connors, Sandip Dhomse, Liang Feng, Douglas P. Finch, Martin W. Gallagher, Emanuel Gloor, Siegfried Gonzi, Neil R. P. Harris, Carole Helfter, Neil Humpage, Brian Kerridge, Diane Knappett, Roderic L. Jones, Michael Le Breton, Mark F. Lunt, Alistair J. Manning, Stephan Matthiesen, Jennifer B. A. Muller, Neil Mullinger, Eiko Nemitz, Sebastian O'Shea, Robert J. Parker, Carl J. Percival, Joseph Pitt, Stuart N. Riddick, Matthew Rigby, Harjinder Sembhi, Richard Siddans, Robert L. Skelton, Paul Smith, Hannah Sonderfeld, Kieran Stanley, Ann R. Stavert, Angelina Wenger, Emily White, Christopher Wilson, and Dickon Young
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 11753–11777, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11753-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11753-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This paper provides an overview of the Greenhouse gAs Uk and Global Emissions (GAUGE) experiment. GAUGE was designed to quantify nationwide GHG emissions of the UK, bringing together measurements and atmospheric transport models. This novel experiment is the first of its kind. We anticipate it will inform the blueprint for countries that are building a measurement infrastructure in preparation for global stocktakes, which are a key part of the Paris Agreement.
Hannah Sonderfeld, Hartmut Bösch, Antoine P. R. Jeanjean, Stuart N. Riddick, Grant Allen, Sébastien Ars, Stewart Davies, Neil Harris, Neil Humpage, Roland Leigh, and Joseph Pitt
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 3931–3946, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3931-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3931-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
The waste sector is the second largest source of methane in the UK. However, uncertainties of methane emissions from landfill sites still remain. In this study we present a new approach for the estimation of methane emissions from a landfill site by applying a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for precise measurements of methane with in situ Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Different source areas could be distinguished with this method and their emissions were assessed.
Stuart N. Riddick, Sarah Connors, Andrew D. Robinson, Alistair J. Manning, Pippa S. D. Jones, David Lowry, Euan Nisbet, Robert L. Skelton, Grant Allen, Joseph Pitt, and Neil R. P. Harris
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 7839–7851, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7839-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7839-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
High methane mixing ratios occurred at our long-term measurement site. Isotopic measurements show the source is a landfill 7 km away; the emissions were estimated using three different approaches. The emission estimates made by near-source and middle-distance methods agree well for a period of intense observation. The estimate of the inverse modelling is similar to the labour-intensive middle-distance approach, which shows it can be used to identify point sources within an emission landscape.
Stuart Riddick, Daniel Ward, Peter Hess, Natalie Mahowald, Raia Massad, and Elisabeth Holland
Biogeosciences, 13, 3397–3426, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3397-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3397-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Future increases are predicted in the amount of nitrogen produced as manure or used as synthetic fertilizer in agriculture. However, the impact of climate on the subsequent fate of this nitrogen has not been evaluated. Here we describe, analyze and evaluate the FAN (flows of agricultural nitrogen) process model that simulates the the climate-dependent flows of nitrogen from agriculture. The FAN model is suitable for use within a global terrestrial climate model.
Mercy Mbua, Stuart N. Riddick, Elijah Kiplimo, and Daniel Zimmerle
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3161, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3161, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Accurate methane quantification from oil and gas sites is essential for reliable methane reporting and assessing the impact on climate change. This paper explores the uncertainties that arise when models developed for other sectors, such as agriculture and landfills, are applied in the oil and gas sector. Our findings demonstrate that testing these models in controlled environments that closely mimic their intended applications is critical to ensuring credible emission reports.
Rachel Edie, Anna M. Robertson, Robert A. Field, Jeffrey Soltis, Dustin A. Snare, Daniel Zimmerle, Clay S. Bell, Timothy L. Vaughn, and Shane M. Murphy
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 341–353, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-341-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-341-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Ground-based measurements of emissions from oil and natural gas production are important for understanding emission distributions and improving emission inventories. Here, measurement technique Other Test Method 33A (OTM 33A) is validated through several test releases staged at the Methane Emissions Technology Evaluation Center. These tests suggest OTM 33A has no inherent bias and that a group of OTM measurements is within 5 % of the known mean emission rate.
Stuart N. Riddick, Denise L. Mauzerall, Michael Celia, Neil R. P. Harris, Grant Allen, Joseph Pitt, John Staunton-Sykes, Grant L. Forster, Mary Kang, David Lowry, Euan G. Nisbet, and Alistair J. Manning
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 9787–9796, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-9787-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-9787-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Currently, bottom-up methods estimate that 0.13 % of methane produced by UK North Sea oil and gas installations is lost. Here we measure emissions from eight platforms in the North Sea and, when considered collectively, the methane loss is estimated at 0.19 % of gas production. As this ambient loss is not explicitly accounted for in the bottom-up approach, these measured emissions represent significant additional emissions above previous estimates.
Sarah Connors, Alistair J. Manning, Andrew D. Robinson, Stuart N. Riddick, Grant L. Forster, Anita Ganesan, Aoife Grant, Stephen Humphrey, Simon O'Doherty, Dave E. Oram, Paul I. Palmer, Robert L. Skelton, Kieran Stanley, Ann Stavert, Dickon Young, and Neil R. P. Harris
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2018-1187, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2018-1187, 2018
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
Methane is an important greenhouse gas & reducing its emissions is a vital part of climate change mitigation to limit global temperature increase to 1.5 °C or 2.0 °C. This paper explains a way to estimate emitted methane over a sub-national area by combining measurements & computer dispersion modelling in a so-called
inversiontechnique. Compared with the current national inventory, our results show lower emissions for Cambridgeshire, possibly due to waste sector emission differences.
Paul I. Palmer, Simon O'Doherty, Grant Allen, Keith Bower, Hartmut Bösch, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Sarah Connors, Sandip Dhomse, Liang Feng, Douglas P. Finch, Martin W. Gallagher, Emanuel Gloor, Siegfried Gonzi, Neil R. P. Harris, Carole Helfter, Neil Humpage, Brian Kerridge, Diane Knappett, Roderic L. Jones, Michael Le Breton, Mark F. Lunt, Alistair J. Manning, Stephan Matthiesen, Jennifer B. A. Muller, Neil Mullinger, Eiko Nemitz, Sebastian O'Shea, Robert J. Parker, Carl J. Percival, Joseph Pitt, Stuart N. Riddick, Matthew Rigby, Harjinder Sembhi, Richard Siddans, Robert L. Skelton, Paul Smith, Hannah Sonderfeld, Kieran Stanley, Ann R. Stavert, Angelina Wenger, Emily White, Christopher Wilson, and Dickon Young
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 11753–11777, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11753-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11753-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This paper provides an overview of the Greenhouse gAs Uk and Global Emissions (GAUGE) experiment. GAUGE was designed to quantify nationwide GHG emissions of the UK, bringing together measurements and atmospheric transport models. This novel experiment is the first of its kind. We anticipate it will inform the blueprint for countries that are building a measurement infrastructure in preparation for global stocktakes, which are a key part of the Paris Agreement.
Hannah Sonderfeld, Hartmut Bösch, Antoine P. R. Jeanjean, Stuart N. Riddick, Grant Allen, Sébastien Ars, Stewart Davies, Neil Harris, Neil Humpage, Roland Leigh, and Joseph Pitt
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 3931–3946, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3931-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-3931-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
The waste sector is the second largest source of methane in the UK. However, uncertainties of methane emissions from landfill sites still remain. In this study we present a new approach for the estimation of methane emissions from a landfill site by applying a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for precise measurements of methane with in situ Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Different source areas could be distinguished with this method and their emissions were assessed.
Stuart N. Riddick, Sarah Connors, Andrew D. Robinson, Alistair J. Manning, Pippa S. D. Jones, David Lowry, Euan Nisbet, Robert L. Skelton, Grant Allen, Joseph Pitt, and Neil R. P. Harris
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 7839–7851, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7839-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7839-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
High methane mixing ratios occurred at our long-term measurement site. Isotopic measurements show the source is a landfill 7 km away; the emissions were estimated using three different approaches. The emission estimates made by near-source and middle-distance methods agree well for a period of intense observation. The estimate of the inverse modelling is similar to the labour-intensive middle-distance approach, which shows it can be used to identify point sources within an emission landscape.
Stuart Riddick, Daniel Ward, Peter Hess, Natalie Mahowald, Raia Massad, and Elisabeth Holland
Biogeosciences, 13, 3397–3426, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3397-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-3397-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Future increases are predicted in the amount of nitrogen produced as manure or used as synthetic fertilizer in agriculture. However, the impact of climate on the subsequent fate of this nitrogen has not been evaluated. Here we describe, analyze and evaluate the FAN (flows of agricultural nitrogen) process model that simulates the the climate-dependent flows of nitrogen from agriculture. The FAN model is suitable for use within a global terrestrial climate model.
J. R. Roscioli, T. I. Yacovitch, C. Floerchinger, A. L. Mitchell, D. S. Tkacik, R. Subramanian, D. M. Martinez, T. L. Vaughn, L. Williams, D. Zimmerle, A. L. Robinson, S. C. Herndon, and A. J. Marchese
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 2017–2035, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2017-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-2017-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
This report presents an overview and detailed description of the measurement methods, analysis approach, and example data from a 10-week EDF-sponsored field campaign measuring methane emissions from natural gas gathering and processing facilities across the US. The dual-tracer ratio method was employed to quantify methane release rates and identify emission sources at a wide variety of facilities, using downwind measurements of CH4, C2H6, CO2, and CO with N2O and C2H2 as tracers.
Related subject area
Subject: Gases | Technique: In Situ Measurement | Topic: Validation and Intercomparisons
Interpretation of mass spectra by a Vocus proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometer (PTR-MS) at an urban site: insights from gas chromatographic pre-separation
Improving the quantification of peak concentrations for air quality sensors via data weighting
Long-term observations of atmospheric CO2 and CH4 trends and comparison of two measurement systems at Pallas-Sammaltunturi station in Northern Finland
Evaluating mass flow meter measurements from chambers for greenhouse gas emission from orphan wells and other point sources
An evaluation of airborne mass balance and tracer correlation approaches to estimate site-level CH4 emissions from LNG facilities using CO2 as a tracer of opportunity
Calibrating adsorptive and reactive losses of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes in dynamic chambers using deuterated surrogates
Orphaned Oil & Gas Well Methane Emission Rates Quantified with Gaussian Plume Inversions of Ambient Observations
OF–CEAS laser spectroscopy to measure water isotopes in dry environments: example of application in Antarctica
Performance evaluation of air quality sensors for environmental epidemiology
Towards a high-quality in situ observation network for oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) in Europe: transferring metrological traceability to the field
Improving Consistency in Methane Emission Quantification from the Natural Gas Distribution System across Measurement Devices
Intercomparison of IAGOS-CORE, IAGOS-CARIBIC and WMO/GAW-WCCOS Ozone Instruments at the Environmental Simulation Facility at Jülich, Germany
Validation of formaldehyde products from three satellite retrievals (OMI SAO, OMPS-NPP SAO, and OMI BIRA) in the marine atmosphere with four seasons of Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom) aircraft observations
Methodology and uncertainty estimation for measurements of methane leakage in a manufactured house
Alternate materials for the capture and quantification of gaseous oxidized mercury in the atmosphere
Lower-cost eddy covariance for CO2 and H2O fluxes over grassland and agroforestry
Evaluation of optimized flux chamber design for measurement of ammonia emission after field application of slurry with full-scale farm machinery
Preparation of low-concentration H2 test gas mixtures in ambient air for calibration of H2 sensors
Pico-Light H2O: intercomparison of in situ water vapour measurements during the AsA 2022 campaign
Mobile air quality monitoring and comparison to fixed monitoring sites for instrument performance assessment
Intercomparison of eddy-covariance software for urban tall-tower sites
Assessment of current methane emission quantification techniques for natural gas midstream applications
Performance assessment of state-of-the-art and novel methods for remote compliance monitoring of sulfur emissions from shipping
Intercomparison of detection and quantification methods for methane emissions from the natural gas distribution network in Hamburg, Germany
Comparison of photoacoustic spectroscopy and cavity ring-down spectroscopy for ambient methane monitoring at Hohenpeißenberg
Comparison of atmospheric CO, CO2 and CH4 measurements at the Schneefernerhaus and the mountain ridge at Zugspitze
Intercomparison of commercial analyzers for atmospheric ethane and methane observations
Real-time measurement of phase partitioning of organic compounds using a proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer coupled to a CHARON inlet
Comparing airborne algorithms for greenhouse gas flux measurements over the Alberta oil sands
Characterization of inexpensive metal oxide sensor performance for trace methane detection
Intercomparison of upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric water vapor measurements over the Asian Summer Monsoon during the StratoClim campaign
Air pollution measurement errors: is your data fit for purpose?
Performance characterization of low-cost air quality sensors for off-grid deployment in rural Malawi
Comment on “Comparison of ozone measurement methods in biomass burning smoke: an evaluation under field and laboratory conditions” by Long et al. (2021)
Homogenization of the Observatoire de Haute Provence electrochemical concentration cell (ECC) ozonesonde data record: comparison with lidar and satellite observations
Long-term behavior and stability of calibration models for NO and NO2 low-cost sensors
Controlled-release experiment to investigate uncertainties in UAV-based emission quantification for methane point sources
Ozone formation sensitivity study using machine learning coupled with the reactivity of volatile organic compound species
Evaluating uncertainty in sensor networks for urban air pollution insights
Estimating oil sands emissions using horizontal path-integrated column measurements
Global evaluation of the precipitable-water-vapor product from MERSI-II (Medium Resolution Spectral Imager) on board the Fengyun-3D satellite
Field testing two flux footprint models
Validation of a new cavity ring-down spectrometer for measuring tropospheric gaseous hydrogen chloride
Comparison of formaldehyde measurements by Hantzsch, CRDS and DOAS in the SAPHIR chamber
A field intercomparison of three passive air samplers for gaseous mercury in ambient air
Beef cattle methane emissions measured with tracer-ratio and inverse dispersion modelling techniques
Methane emissions from an oil sands tailings pond: a quantitative comparison of fluxes derived by different methods
Performance of open-path GasFinder3 devices for CH4 concentration measurements close to ambient levels
Water vapor density and turbulent fluxes from three generations of infrared gas analyzers
Quantifying fugitive gas emissions from an oil sands tailings pond with open-path Fourier transform infrared measurements
Ying Zhang, Yuwei Wang, Chuang Li, Yueyang Li, Sijia Yin, Megan S. Claflin, Brian M. Lerner, Douglas Worsnop, and Lin Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 3547–3568, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3547-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3547-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study provides insight into how individual ions measured by proton-transfer-reaction (PTR) mass spectrometry are produced by multiple volatile organic compounds (VOCs). A reference table is provided for attributing the PTR signal to contributing VOC species. The signals are grouped according to the complexity of their potential identities. We find that a number of signal ions such as C6H7+ for benzene and C5H9+ for isoprene merely give an upper limit of their corresponding concentrations.
Caroline Frischmon, Jonathan Silberstein, Annamarie Guth, Erick Mattson, Jack Porter, and Michael Hannigan
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 3147–3159, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3147-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3147-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Air quality sensors often underpredict peak concentrations, which is a major issue in applications such as emission event detection. Here, we detail a novel approach involving data weighting to improve quantification of these peak values. To demonstrate its effectiveness, we applied data weighting to carbon monoxide, methane, and volatile organic compound sensor data. This work broadens our ability to use air sensors in contexts where accurate quantification of peak concentrations is essential.
Antti Laitinen, Hermanni Aaltonen, Christoph Zellweger, Aki Tsuruta, Tuula Aalto, and Juha Hatakka
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 3109–3133, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3109-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3109-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents long-term observations of atmospheric CO2 and CH4 mole fractions and a comparison of two permanent and two mobile measurement systems located in Northern Finland. Furthermore, the observed mole fractions are compared against the mean marine boundary layer product for the Northern Hemisphere. The comparisons of all the systems show good agreement in relation to the World Meteorological Organization/Global Atmosphere Watch network compatibility goal limits for CO2 and CH4.
Karl B. Haase and Nicholas J. Gianoutsos
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1201, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1201, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This work demonstrates a simple approach for using mass flow meters connected to rigid chambers for measuring gas emissions rates in situations the meter cannot be attached directly, such as orphan oil and gas wells. This paper shows the results of performance testing, demonstrates common sources of uncertainty, and provides suggestions for how to use the approach to generate the best quality data. The findings can be used by researchers, the petroleum industry, regulators, and carbon markets.
Mark F. Lunt, Stephen J. Harris, Jorg Hacker, Ian Joynes, Tim Robertson, Simon Thompson, and James L. France
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1926, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1926, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
To ensure robust use of measurement-based approaches to estimate methane emissions from individual sites, it is important to validate the accuracy of the methods used in the field. By using co-emitted carbon dioxide, we evaluate the performance of one such quantification method at liquefied natural gas terminals. We further demonstrate the potential for a more efficient quantification approach by considering the ratio of methane to carbon dioxide concentrations.
Jianqiang Zeng, Yanli Zhang, Haofan Ran, Weihua Pang, Hao Guo, Zhaobin Mu, Wei Song, and Xinming Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1811–1821, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1811-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1811-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study revealed the existence of significant species-specific adsorptive and reactive losses of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes in dynamic chambers. The deuterated α-pinene-d3 and β-caryophyllene-d2 were proven as effective surrogates in tracing these losses for some key monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. The findings highlight the importance of selecting internal surrogates that closely match the adsorptive and reactive behaviors of target compounds for precise loss correction.
Emily Follansbee, James E. Lee, Mohit L. Dubey, Jonathan F. Dooley, Curtis Shuck, Ken Minschwaner, Andre Santos, Sebastien C. Biraud, and Manvendra K. Dubey
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-344, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-344, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This work uses ambient methane and wind measurements to quantify methane emissions from a leaking orphaned oil and gas well using Gaussian plume inversions. Our analysis shows that existing Gaussian plume methods that assume atmospheric stability are prone to large errors. We report a more robust analysis that determines plume dispersion coefficients from our in situ observations. Our technique enables more accurate methane quantification of orphaned oil and gas wells to prioritize plugging.
Thomas Lauwers, Elise Fourré, Olivier Jossoud, Daniele Romanini, Frédéric Prié, Giordano Nitti, Mathieu Casado, Kévin Jaulin, Markus Miltner, Morgane Farradèche, Valérie Masson-Delmotte, and Amaëlle Landais
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1135–1147, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1135-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1135-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Water vapour isotopes are important tools to better understand processes governing the atmospheric hydrological cycle. In polar regions, their measurement helps to improve the interpretation of water isotopic records in ice cores. However, in situ water vapour isotopic monitoring is an important challenge, especially in dry places of East Antarctica. We present here an alternative laser spectroscopy technique adapted for such measurements, with a limit of detection down to 10 ppm humidity.
Miriam Chacón-Mateos, Héctor García-Salamero, Bernd Laquai, and Ulrich Vogt
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-587, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-587, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study evaluates air quality sensors in indoor & outdoor environments to support health research. Sensors were calibrated using data from reference instruments, and regression and machine learning models were tested for data correction. Results highlight the importance of using high-quality training data during co-location. Integrating metadata, such as activity logs, helps validate calibrated sensor data. These findings can enhance the use of air quality sensors in health studies globally.
Maitane Iturrate-Garcia, Thérèse Salameh, Paul Schlauri, Annarita Baldan, Martin K. Vollmer, Evdokia Stratigou, Sebastien Dusanter, Jianrong Li, Stefan Persijn, Anja Claude, Rupert Holzinger, Christophe Sutour, Tatiana Macé, Yasin Elshorbany, Andreas Ackermann, Céline Pascale, and Stefan Reimann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 371–403, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-371-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-371-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Accurate and comparable measurements of oxygenated organic compounds (OVOCs) are crucial in assessing tropospheric ozone burdens and trends. However, the monitoring of many OVOCs remains challenging because of their low atmospheric abundance and lack of stable and traceable calibration standards. This paper describes the calibration standards developed for OVOCs at a low amount of substance fractions (<100 nmol mol-1) to transfer traceability of the International System of Units to the field.
Judith Tettenborn, Daniel Zavala-Araiza, Daan Stroeken, Hossein Maazallahi, Carina van der Veen, Arjan Hensen, Ilona Velzeboer, Pim van den Bulk, Felix Vogel, Lawson Gillespie, Sebastien Ars, James France, David Lowry, Rebecca Fisher, and Thomas Röckmann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3620, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3620, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Measurements of methane with vehicle-based sensors are an effective method to identify and quantify leaks from urban gas distribution systems. We deliberately released methane in different environments, and calibrated the response of different methane analyzers when they transect the plumes in a vehicle. We derived an improved statistical function for consistent emission estimations using different instruments. Repeated transects reduce the uncertainty in emission rate estimates.
Herman G.J. Smit, Torben Galle, Romain Blot, Florian Obersteiner, Philippe Nédélec, Andreas Zahn, Jean-Marc Cousin, Ulrich Bundke, Andreas Petzold, Valerie Thouret, and Hannah Clark
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3760, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3760, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The two ozone instruments of IAGOS (In-service Aircraft for a Global Observation System) have been compared with the Ozone PhotoMeter (OPM) of the World Calibration Center of Ozone Sondes (WCCOS) in an atmospheric simulation chamber under realistic flight conditions of pressure, temperature, and ozone concentrations. The two IAGOS-instruments showed good agreement with the OPM within 5–6 %. The observed differences are small but systematic and reproducible during the intercomparison.
Jin Liao, Glenn M. Wolfe, Alexander E. Kotsakis, Julie M. Nicely, Jason M. St. Clair, Thomas F. Hanisco, Gonzalo González Abad, Caroline R. Nowlan, Zolal Ayazpour, Isabelle De Smedt, Eric C. Apel, and Rebecca S. Hornbrook
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1–16, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Validation of satellite HCHO over the remote marine regions is relatively low, and modeled HCHO in these regions is usually added as a global satellite HCHO background. This paper intercompares three satellite HCHO retrievals and validates them against in situ observations from the NASA ATom mission. All retrievals are correlated with ATom-integrated columns over remote oceans, with OMI SAO (v004) showing the best agreement. A persistent low bias is found in all retrievals at high latitudes.
Anna Karion, Michael F. Link, Rileigh Robertson, Tyler Boyle, and Dustin Poppendieck
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 7065–7075, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-7065-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-7065-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Methane leaks into houses that use natural gas from appliances, pipes, and fittings. We measured methane emitted from a manufactured house under different ventilation conditions using indoor and outdoor concentration measurements. We injected methane at prescribed rates into the house and then measured the emissions using our method. We report the error in the calculation based on these tests. We also describe the method and provide guidance on conducting this type of experiment.
Livia Lown, Sarrah M. Dunham-Cheatham, Seth N. Lyman, and Mae S. Gustin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6397–6413, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6397-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6397-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
New sorbent materials are needed to preconcentrate atmospheric oxidized mercury for analysis by developing mass spectrometry methods. Chitosan, α-Al2O3, and γ-Al2O3 were tested for quantitative gaseous oxidized mercury sorption in ambient air under laboratory and field conditions. Although these materials sorbed gaseous oxidized mercury without sorbing elemental mercury in the laboratory, less oxidized mercury was recovered from these materials compared to cation exchange membranes in the field.
Justus G. V. van Ramshorst, Alexander Knohl, José Ángel Callejas-Rodelas, Robert Clement, Timothy C. Hill, Lukas Siebicke, and Christian Markwitz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6047–6071, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6047-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6047-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this work we present experimental field results of a lower-cost eddy covariance (LC-EC) system, which can measure the ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide and water vapour with the atmosphere. During three field campaigns on a grassland and agroforestry grassland, we compared the LC-EC with a conventional eddy covariance (CON-EC) system. Our results show that LC-EC has the potential to measure EC fluxes at only approximately 25 % of the cost of a CON-EC system.
Johanna Pedersen, Sasha D. Hafner, Andreas Pacholski, Valthor I. Karlsson, Li Rong, Rodrigo Labouriau, and Jesper N. Kamp
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4493–4505, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4493-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4493-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Field-applied animal slurry is a significant source of NH3 emission. A new system of dynamic flux chambers for NH3 measurements was developed and validated using three field trials in order to assess the variability after application with a trailing hose at different scales: manual (handheld) application, a 3 m slurry boom, and a 30 m slurry boom. The system facilitates NH3 emission measurement with replication after both manual and farm-scale slurry application with relatively high precision.
Niklas Karbach, Lisa Höhler, Peter Hoor, Heiko Bozem, Nicole Bobrowski, and Thorsten Hoffmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4081–4086, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4081-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4081-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The system presented here can accurately generate and reproduce a stable flow of gas mixtures of known concentrations over several days using ambient air as a dilution medium. In combination with the small size and low weight of the system, this enables the calibration of hydrogen sensors in the field, reducing the influence of matrix effects on the accuracy of the sensor. The system is inexpensive to assemble and easy to maintain, which is the key to reliable measurement results.
Mélanie Ghysels, Georges Durry, Nadir Amarouche, Dale Hurst, Emrys Hall, Kensy Xiong, Jean-Charles Dupont, Jean-Christophe Samake, Fabien Frérot, Raghed Bejjani, and Emmanuel D. Riviere
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3495–3513, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3495-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3495-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A tunable diode laser hygrometer, “Pico-Light H2O”, is presented and its performances are evaluated during the AsA 2022 balloon-borne intercomparison campaign from Aire-sur-l'Adour (France) in September 2022. A total of 15 balloons were launched within the framework of the EU-funded HEMERA project. Pico-Light H2O has been compared in situ with the NOAA Frost Point Hygrometer in the upper troposphere and stratosphere, as well as with meteorological sondes (iMet-4 and M20) in the troposphere.
Andrew R. Whitehill, Melissa Lunden, Brian LaFranchi, Surender Kaushik, and Paul A. Solomon
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2991–3009, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2991-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2991-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present an analysis from two large-scale mobile air quality monitoring campaigns in Colorado and California. We compare mobile measurements of air quality to measurements from nearby regulatory sites. The goal of this paper is to explore how fixed-site measurements (such as regulatory site measurements) can be used for ongoing instrument performance assessment of mobile monitoring platforms over extended measurement campaigns.
Changxing Lan, Matthias Mauder, Stavros Stagakis, Benjamin Loubet, Claudio D'Onofrio, Stefan Metzger, David Durden, and Pedro-Henrique Herig-Coimbra
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2649–2669, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2649-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2649-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Using eddy-covariance systems deployed in three cities, we aimed to elucidate the sources of discrepancies in flux estimations from different software packages. One crucial finding is the impact of low-frequency spectral loss corrections on tall-tower flux estimations. Our findings emphasize the significance of a standardized measurement setup and consistent postprocessing configurations in minimizing the systematic flux uncertainty resulting from the usage of different software packages.
Yunsong Liu, Jean-Daniel Paris, Gregoire Broquet, Violeta Bescós Roy, Tania Meixus Fernandez, Rasmus Andersen, Andrés Russu Berlanga, Emil Christensen, Yann Courtois, Sebastian Dominok, Corentin Dussenne, Travis Eckert, Andrew Finlayson, Aurora Fernández de la Fuente, Catlin Gunn, Ram Hashmonay, Juliano Grigoleto Hayashi, Jonathan Helmore, Soeren Honsel, Fabrizio Innocenti, Matti Irjala, Torgrim Log, Cristina Lopez, Francisco Cortés Martínez, Jonathan Martinez, Adrien Massardier, Helle Gottschalk Nygaard, Paula Agregan Reboredo, Elodie Rousset, Axel Scherello, Matthias Ulbricht, Damien Weidmann, Oliver Williams, Nigel Yarrow, Murès Zarea, Robert Ziegler, Jean Sciare, Mihalis Vrekoussis, and Philippe Bousquet
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1633–1649, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1633-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1633-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated the performance of 10 methane emission quantification techniques in a blind controlled-release experiment at an inerted natural gas compressor station. We reported their respective strengths, weaknesses, and potential complementarity depending on the emission rates and atmospheric conditions. Additionally, we assess the dependence of emission quantification performance on key parameters such as wind speed, deployment constraints, and measurement duration.
Jörg Beecken, Andreas Weigelt, Simone Griesel, Johan Mellqvist, Alexander V. Conde Jacobo, Daniëlle van Dinther, Jan Duyzer, Jon Knudsen, Bettina Knudsen, and Leonidas Ntziachristos
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5883–5895, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5883-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5883-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Air pollution from shipping is a debated topic in science and politics. We compare different monitoring systems currently used in different European countries for the enforcement of emission limits regarding air pollution from ships according to regulation. The system performances were individually assessed in the field by comparison with true values. Non-compliant vessels with actual fuel sulfur contents > 0.15–0.19 % Sm/m can be detected by the compared systems with 95 % confidence.
Hossein Maazallahi, Antonio Delre, Charlotte Scheutz, Anders M. Fredenslund, Stefan Schwietzke, Hugo Denier van der Gon, and Thomas Röckmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5051–5073, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5051-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5051-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Measurement methods are increasingly deployed to verify reported methane emissions of gas leaks. This study describes unique advantages and limitations of three methods. Two methods are rapidly deployed, but uncertainties and biases exist for some leak locations. In contrast, the suction method could accurately determine leak rates in principle. However, this method, which provides data for the German emission inventory, creates an overall low bias in our study due to non-random site selection.
Max Müller, Stefan Weigl, Jennifer Müller-Williams, Matthias Lindauer, Thomas Rück, Simon Jobst, Rudolf Bierl, and Frank-Michael Matysik
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4263–4270, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4263-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4263-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Over a period of 5 d, a photoacoustic methane sensor was compared with a Picarro cavity ring-down (G2301) spectrometer. Both devices measured the ambient methane concentration at the meteorological observatory Hohenpeißenberg. Cross-sensitivities on the photoacoustic signal, due to fluctuating ambient humidity, were compensated by applying the CoNRad algorithm. The results show that photoacoustic sensors have the potential for accurate and precise greenhouse gas monitoring.
Antje Hoheisel, Cedric Couret, Bryan Hellack, and Martina Schmidt
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2399–2413, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2399-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2399-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
High-precision CO2, CH4 and CO measurements have been carried out at Zugspitze for decades. New technologies make it possible to analyse these gases with high temporal resolution. This allows the detection of local pollution. To this end, measurements have been performed on the mountain ridge (ZGR) and are compared to routine measurements at the Schneefernerhaus (ZSF). Careful manual flagging of pollution events in the ZSF data leads to consistency with the little influenced ZGR time series.
Róisín Commane, Andrew Hallward-Driemeier, and Lee T. Murray
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1431–1441, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1431-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1431-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Methane / ethane ratios can be used to identify and partition the different sources of methane, especially in areas with natural gas mixed with biogenic methane emissions, such as cities. We tested three commercially available laser-based analyzers for sensitivity, precision, size, power requirement, ease of use on mobile platforms, and expertise needed to operate the instrument, and we make recommendations for use in various situations.
Yarong Peng, Hongli Wang, Yaqin Gao, Shengao Jing, Shuhui Zhu, Dandan Huang, Peizhi Hao, Shengrong Lou, Tiantao Cheng, Cheng Huang, and Xuan Zhang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 15–28, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-15-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-15-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This work examined the phase partitioning behaviors of organic compounds at hourly resolution in ambient conditions with the use of the CHemical Analysis of aeRosols ONline (CHARON) inlet coupled to a proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-ToF-MS). Properly accounting for the neutral losses of small moieties during the molecular feature extraction from PTR mass spectra could significantly reduce uncertainties associated with the gas–particle partitioning measurements.
Broghan M. Erland, Cristen Adams, Andrea Darlington, Mackenzie L. Smith, Andrew K. Thorpe, Gregory R. Wentworth, Steve Conley, John Liggio, Shao-Meng Li, Charles E. Miller, and John A. Gamon
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5841–5859, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5841-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5841-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Accurately estimating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is essential to reaching net-zero goals to combat the climate crisis. Airborne box-flights are ideal for assessing regional GHG emissions, as they can attain small error. We compare two box-flight algorithms and found they produce similar results, but daily variability must be considered when deriving emissions inventories. Increasing the consistency and agreement between airborne methods moves us closer to achieving more accurate estimates.
Daniel Furuta, Tofigh Sayahi, Jinsheng Li, Bruce Wilson, Albert A. Presto, and Jiayu Li
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5117–5128, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5117-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5117-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Methane is a major greenhouse gas and contributor to climate change with various human-caused and natural sources. Currently, atmospheric methane is expensive to sense. We investigate repurposing cheap methane safety sensors for atmospheric sensing, finding several promising sensors and identifying some of the challenges in this approach. This work will help in developing inexpensive sensor networks for methane monitoring, which will aid in reducing methane leaks and emissions.
Clare E. Singer, Benjamin W. Clouser, Sergey M. Khaykin, Martina Krämer, Francesco Cairo, Thomas Peter, Alexey Lykov, Christian Rolf, Nicole Spelten, Armin Afchine, Simone Brunamonti, and Elisabeth J. Moyer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4767–4783, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4767-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4767-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In situ measurements of water vapor in the upper troposphere are necessary to study cloud formation and hydration of the stratosphere but challenging due to cold–dry conditions. We compare measurements from three water vapor instruments from the StratoClim campaign in 2017. In clear sky (clouds), point-by-point differences were <1.5±8 % (<1±8 %). This excellent agreement allows detection of fine-scale structures required to understand the impact of convection on stratospheric water vapor.
Sebastian Diez, Stuart E. Lacy, Thomas J. Bannan, Michael Flynn, Tom Gardiner, David Harrison, Nicholas Marsden, Nicholas A. Martin, Katie Read, and Pete M. Edwards
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4091–4105, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4091-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4091-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Regardless of the cost of the measuring instrument, there are no perfect measurements. For this reason, we compare the quality of the information provided by cheap devices when they are used to measure air pollutants and we try to emphasise that before judging the potential usefulness of the devices, the user must specify his own needs. Since commonly used performance indices/metrics can be misleading in qualifying this, we propose complementary visual analysis to the more commonly used metrics.
Ashley S. Bittner, Eben S. Cross, David H. Hagan, Carl Malings, Eric Lipsky, and Andrew P. Grieshop
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3353–3376, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3353-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3353-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present findings from a 1-year pilot deployment of low-cost integrated air quality sensor packages in rural Malawi using calibration models developed during collocation with US regulatory monitors. We compare the results with data from remote sensing products and previous field studies. We conclude that while the remote calibration approach can help extract useful data, great care is needed when assessing low-cost sensor data collected in regions without reference instrumentation.
Noah Bernays, Daniel A. Jaffe, Irina Petropavlovskikh, and Peter Effertz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3189–3192, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3189-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3189-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Ozone is an important pollutant that impacts millions of people worldwide. It is therefore important to ensure accurate measurements. A recent surge in wildfire activity in the USA has resulted in significant enhancements in ozone concentration. However given the nature of wildfire smoke, there are questions about our ability to accurately measure ozone. In this comment, we discuss possible biases in the UV measurements of ozone in the presence of smoke.
Gérard Ancellet, Sophie Godin-Beekmann, Herman G. J. Smit, Ryan M. Stauffer, Roeland Van Malderen, Renaud Bodichon, and Andrea Pazmiño
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3105–3120, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3105-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3105-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The 1991–2021 Observatoire de Haute Provence electrochemical concentration cell (ECC) ozonesonde data have been homogenized according to the recommendations of the Ozonesonde Data Quality Assessment panel. Comparisons with ground-based instruments also measuring ozone at the same station (lidar, surface measurements) and with colocated satellite observations show the benefits of this homogenization. Remaining differences between ECC and other observations in the stratosphere are also discussed.
Horim Kim, Michael Müller, Stephan Henne, and Christoph Hüglin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2979–2992, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2979-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2979-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, the performance of electrochemical sensors for NO and NO2 for measuring air quality was determined over a longer operating period. The performance of NO sensors remained reliable for more than 18 months. However, the NO2 sensors showed decreasing performance over time. During deployment, we found that the NO2 sensors can distinguish general pollution levels, but they proved unsuitable for accurate measurements due to significant biases.
Randulph Morales, Jonas Ravelid, Katarina Vinkovic, Piotr Korbeń, Béla Tuzson, Lukas Emmenegger, Huilin Chen, Martina Schmidt, Sebastian Humbel, and Dominik Brunner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2177–2198, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2177-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2177-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Mapping trace gas emission plumes using in situ measurements from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is an emerging and attractive possibility to quantify emissions from localized sources. We performed an extensive controlled-release experiment to develop an optimal quantification method and to determine the related uncertainties under various environmental and sampling conditions. Our approach was successful in quantifying local methane sources from drone-based measurements.
Junlei Zhan, Yongchun Liu, Wei Ma, Xin Zhang, Xuezhong Wang, Fang Bi, Yujie Zhang, Zhenhai Wu, and Hong Li
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1511–1520, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1511-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1511-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Our study investigated the O3 formation sensitivity in Beijing using a random forest model coupled with the reactivity of volatile organic
compound (VOC) species. Results found that random forest accurately predicted O3 concentration when initial VOCs were considered, and relative importance correlated well with O3 formation potential. The O3 isopleth curves calculated by the random forest model were generally comparable with those calculated by the box model.
Daniel R. Peters, Olalekan A. M. Popoola, Roderic L. Jones, Nicholas A. Martin, Jim Mills, Elizabeth R. Fonseca, Amy Stidworthy, Ella Forsyth, David Carruthers, Megan Dupuy-Todd, Felicia Douglas, Katie Moore, Rishabh U. Shah, Lauren E. Padilla, and Ramón A. Alvarez
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 321–334, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-321-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-321-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present more than 2 years of NO2 pollution measurements from a sensor network in Greater London and compare results to an extensive network of expensive reference-grade monitors. We show the ability of our lower-cost network to generate robust insights about local air pollution. We also show how irregularities in sensor performance lead to some uncertainty in results and demonstrate ways that future users can characterize and mitigate uncertainties to get the most value from sensor data.
Timothy G. Pernini, T. Scott Zaccheo, Jeremy Dobler, and Nathan Blume
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 225–240, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-225-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-225-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We demonstrate a novel approach to estimating emissions from oil sands operations that utilizes the GreenLITE™ gas concentration measurement system and an atmospheric model. While deployed at a facility in the Athabasca region of Alberta, Canada, CH4 emissions from a tailings pond were estimated to be 7.2 t/d for July–October 2019, and 5.1 t/d for March–July 2020. CH4 emissions from an open-pit mine were estimated to be 24.6 t/d for September–October 2019.
Wengang Zhang, Ling Wang, Yang Yu, Guirong Xu, Xiuqing Hu, Zhikang Fu, and Chunguang Cui
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7821–7834, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7821-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7821-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Global precipitable water vapor (PWV) derived from MERSI-II (Medium Resolution Spectral Imager) is compared with PWV from the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA). Our results show a good agreement between PWV from MERSI-II and IGRA and that MERSI-II PWV is slightly underestimated on the whole, especially in summer. The bias between MERSI-II and IGRA grows with a larger spatial distance between the footprint of the satellite and the IGRA station, as well as increasing PWV.
Trevor W. Coates, Monzurul Alam, Thomas K. Flesch, and Guillermo Hernandez-Ramirez
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7147–7152, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7147-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7147-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A field study tested two footprint models for calculating surface emissions from downwind flux measurements. Emission rates from a 10 × 10 m synthetic source were estimated with the simple Kormann–Meixner model and a sophisticated Lagrangian stochastic model. Both models underestimated emissions by approximately 30 %, and no statistical differences were observed between the models. Footprint models are critically important for interpreting eddy covariance measurements.
Teles C. Furlani, Patrick R. Veres, Kathryn E. R. Dawe, J. Andrew Neuman, Steven S. Brown, Trevor C. VandenBoer, and Cora J. Young
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5859–5871, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5859-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5859-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study characterized and validated a commercial spectroscopic instrument for the measurement of hydrogen chloride (HCl) in the atmosphere. Near the Earth’s surface, HCl acts as the dominant reservoir for other chlorine-containing reactive chemicals that play an important role in atmospheric chemistry. The properties of HCl make it challenging to measure. This instrument can overcome many of these challenges, enabling reliable HCl measurements.
Marvin Glowania, Franz Rohrer, Hans-Peter Dorn, Andreas Hofzumahaus, Frank Holland, Astrid Kiendler-Scharr, Andreas Wahner, and Hendrik Fuchs
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4239–4253, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4239-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4239-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Three instruments that use different techniques to measure gaseous formaldehyde concentrations were compared in experiments in the atmospheric simulation chamber SAPHIR at Forschungszentrum Jülich. The results demonstrated the need to correct the baseline in measurements by instruments that use the Hantzsch reaction or make use of cavity ring-down spectroscopy. After applying corrections, all three methods gave accurate and precise measurements within their specifications.
Attilio Naccarato, Antonella Tassone, Maria Martino, Sacha Moretti, Antonella Macagnano, Emiliano Zampetti, Paolo Papa, Joshua Avossa, Nicola Pirrone, Michelle Nerentorp, John Munthe, Ingvar Wängberg, Geoff W. Stupple, Carl P. J. Mitchell, Adam R. Martin, Alexandra Steffen, Diana Babi, Eric M. Prestbo, Francesca Sprovieri, and Frank Wania
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3657–3672, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3657-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3657-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Mercury monitoring in support of the Minamata Convention requires effective and reliable analytical tools. Passive sampling is a promising approach for creating a sustainable long-term network for atmospheric mercury with improved spatial resolution and global coverage. In this study the analytical performance of three passive air samplers (CNR-PAS, IVL-PAS, and MerPAS) was assessed over extended deployment periods and the accuracy of concentrations was judged by comparison with active sampling.
Mei Bai, José I. Velazco, Trevor W. Coates, Frances A. Phillips, Thomas K. Flesch, Julian Hill, David G. Mayer, Nigel W. Tomkins, Roger S. Hegarty, and Deli Chen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3469–3479, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3469-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3469-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The development and validation of management practices to mitigate methane (CH4) emissions from livestock require accurate emission measurements. We compared the inverse dispersion modelling (IDM) and tracer-ratio techniques to measure CH4 emissions from cattle. Both measurements agreed well but were higher than IPCC estimates. We suggest that the IDM approach can provide an accurate method of estimating cattle emissions, and IPCC estimates may have larger uncertainties.
Yuan You, Ralf M. Staebler, Samar G. Moussa, James Beck, and Richard L. Mittermeier
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1879–1892, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1879-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1879-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Tailings ponds in the Alberta oil sands can be significant sources of methane, an important greenhouse gas. This paper describes a 1-month study conducted in 2017 to measure methane emissions from a pond using a variety of micrometeorological flux methods and demonstrates some advantages of these methods over flux chambers.
Christoph Häni, Marcel Bühler, Albrecht Neftel, Christof Ammann, and Thomas Kupper
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1733–1741, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1733-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1733-2021, 2021
Seth Kutikoff, Xiaomao Lin, Steven R. Evett, Prasanna Gowda, David Brauer, Jerry Moorhead, Gary Marek, Paul Colaizzi, Robert Aiken, Liukang Xu, and Clenton Owensby
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1253–1266, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1253-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1253-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Fast-response infrared gas sensors have been used over 3 decades for long-term monitoring of water vapor fluxes. As optically improved infrared gas sensors are newly employed, we evaluated the performance of water vapor density and water vapor flux from three generations of infrared gas sensors in Bushland, Texas, USA. From our experiments, fluxes from the old sensors were best representative of evapotranspiration based on a world-class lysimeter reference measurement.
Yuan You, Samar G. Moussa, Lucas Zhang, Long Fu, James Beck, and Ralf M. Staebler
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 945–959, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-945-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-945-2021, 2021
Short summary
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.
Cited articles
Allen, D. T., Torres, V. M., Thomas, J., Sullivan, D. W., Harrison, M.,
Hendler, A., Herndon, S. C., Kolb, C. E., Fraser, M. P., Hill, A. D., Lamb,
B. K., Miskimins, J., Sawyer, R. F., and Seinfeld, J. H.: Measurements of
methane emissions at natural gas production sites in the United States,
P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 110, 17768–17773,
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1304880110, 2013.
Aneja, V. P., Blunden, J., Claiborn, C. S., and Rogers, H. H.: Dynamic Chamber System to Measure Gaseous Compounds Emissions and Atmospheric-Biospheric Interactions, in: Environmental Simulation Chambers: Application to Atmospheric Chemical Processes, vol. 62, edited by: Barnes, I. and Rudzinski, K. J., Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 97–109, https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4232-9_7, 2006.
Baillie, J., Risk, D., Atherton, E., O'Connell, E., Fougère, C.,
Bourlon, E., and MacKay, K.: Methane emissions from conventional and
unconventional oil and gas production sites in southeastern Saskatchewan,
Canada, Environ. Res. Commun., 1, 011003,
https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ab01f2, 2019.
Bell, C. S., Vaughn, T. L., Zimmerle, D., Herndon, S. C., Yacovitch, T. I.,
Heath, G. A., Pétron, G., Edie, R., Field, R. A., Murphy, S. M.,
Robertson, A. M., and Soltis, J.: Comparison of methane emission estimates
from multiple measurement techniques at natural gas production pads, Elem.
Sci. Anth., 5, 79, https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.266, 2017.
Bonifacio, H. F., Maghirang, R. G., Razote, E. B., Trabue, S. L., and
Prueger, J. H.: Comparison of AERMOD and WindTrax dispersion models in
determining PM 10 emission rates from a beef cattle feedlot, J. Air Waste Manage., 63, 545–556, https://doi.org/10.1080/10962247.2013.768311, 2013.
Boothroyd, I. M., Almond, S., Qassim, S. M., Worrall, F., and Davies, R. J.:
Fugitive emissions of methane from abandoned, decommissioned oil and gas
wells, Sci. Total Environ., 547, 461–469,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.12.096, 2016.
Brantley, H. L., Thoma, E. D., and Eisele, A. P.: Assessment of volatile
organic compound and hazardous air pollutant emissions from oil and natural
gas well pads using mobile remote and on-site direct measurements, J. Air Waste Manage., 65, 1072–1082,
https://doi.org/10.1080/10962247.2015.1056888, 2015.
Busse, A. D. and Zimmerman, J. R.: User’s Guide for the Climatological Dispersion Model, National Environmental Research Center, Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 144 pp., EPA-R4-73-024, 1973.
Caulton, D. R., Shepson, P. B., Santoro, R. L., Sparks, J. P., Howarth, R.
W., Ingraffea, A. R., Cambaliza, M. O. L., Sweeney, C., Karion, A., Davis,
K. J., Stirm, B. H., Montzka, S. A., and Miller, B. R.: Toward a better
understanding and quantification of methane emissions from shale gas
development, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 111,
6237–6242, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1316546111, 2014.
Caulton, D. R., Li, Q., Bou-Zeid, E., Fitts, J. P., Golston, L. M., Pan, D., Lu, J., Lane, H. M., Buchholz, B., Guo, X., McSpiritt, J., Wendt, L., and Zondlo, M. A.: Quantifying uncertainties from mobile-laboratory-derived emissions of well pads using inverse Gaussian methods, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 15145–15168, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15145-2018, 2018.
Caulton, D. R., Lu, J. M., Lane, H. M., Buchholz, B., Fitts, J. P., Golston,
L. M., Guo, X., Li, Q., McSpiritt, J., Pan, D., Wendt, L., Bou-Zeid, E., and
Zondlo, M. A.: Importance of Superemitter Natural Gas Well Pads in the
Marcellus Shale, Environ. Sci. Technol., 53, 4747–4754,
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b06965, 2019.
Collier, S. M., Ruark, M. D., Oates, L. G., Jokela, W. E., and Dell, C. J.:
Measurement of Greenhouse Gas Flux from Agricultural Soils Using Static
Chambers, J. Vis. Exp., 90, 52110, https://doi.org/10.3791/52110, 2014.
Connolly, J. I., Robinson, R. A., and Gardiner, T. D.: Assessment of the
Bacharach Hi Flow® Sampler characteristics and potential failure modes when measuring methane emissions, Measurement, 145, 226–233, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2019.05.055, 2019.
Cooper, J., Dubey, L., and Hawkes, A.: Methane detection and quantification
in the upstream oil and gas sector: the role of satellites in emissions
detection, reconciling and reporting, Environ. Sci. Atmos., 2, 9–23,
https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EA00046B, 2022.
Delre, A., Hensen, A., Velzeboer, I., van den Bulk, P., Edjabou, M. E., and
Scheutz, C.: Methane and ethane emission quantifications from onshore oil
and gas sites in Romania, using a tracer gas dispersion method,
Elem. Sci. Anth., 10, 000111, https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2021.000111, 2022.
Denmead, O. T.: Approaches to measuring fluxes of methane and nitrous oxide
between landscapes and the atmosphere, Plant Soil, 309, 5–24,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-008-9599-z, 2008.
Duren, R. M., Thorpe, A. K., Foster, K. T., Rafiq, T., Hopkins, F. M.,
Yadav, V., Bue, B. D., Thompson, D. R., Conley, S., Colombi, N. K.,
Frankenberg, C., McCubbin, I. B., Eastwood, M. L., Falk, M., Herner, J. D.,
Croes, B. E., Green, R. O., and Miller, C. E.: California's methane
super-emitters, Nature, 575, 180–184, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1720-3, 2019.
Edie, R., Robertson, A. M., Field, R. A., Soltis, J., Snare, D. A., Zimmerle, D., Bell, C. S., Vaughn, T. L., and Murphy, S. M.: Constraining the accuracy of flux estimates using OTM 33A, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 341–353, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-341-2020, 2020.
El Hachem, K. and Kang, M.: Methane and hydrogen sulfide emissions from
abandoned, active, and marginally producing oil and gas wells in Ontario,
Canada, Sci. Total Environ., 823, 153491,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153491, 2022.
Flesch, T., Wilson, J., Harper, L., and Crenna, B.: Estimating gas emissions
from a farm with an inverse-dispersion technique, Atmos. Environ.,
39, 4863–4874, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2005.04.032, 2005.
Flesch, T. K., Wilson, J. D., and Yee, E.: Backward-Time Lagrangian
Stochastic Dispersion Models and Their Application to Estimate Gaseous
Emissions, J. Appl. Meteor., 34, 1320–1332,
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0450(1995)034<1320:BTLSDM>2.0.CO;2, 1995.
Flesch, T. K., Harper, L. A., Powell, J. M., and Wilson, J. D.:
Inverse-Dispersion Calculation of Ammonia Emissions from Wisconsin Dairy
Farms, T. ASABE, 52, 253–265,
https://doi.org/10.13031/2013.25946, 2009.
IPCC: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability.
Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, edited by: Pörtner, H.-O., Roberts, D. C., Tignor, M., Poloczanska, E. S., Mintenbeck, K., Alegría, A., Craig, M., Langsdorf, S., Löschke, S., Möller, V., Okem, A., Rama, B., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, 3056 pp., https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/, last access: 1 November 2022.
Kang, M., Kanno, C. M., Reid, M. C., Zhang, X., Mauzerall, D. L., Celia, M.
A., Chen, Y., and Onstott, T. C.: Direct measurements of methane emissions
from abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 111, 18173–18177, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1408315111, 2014.
Kang, M., Christian, S., Celia, M. A., Mauzerall, D. L., Bill, M., Miller,
A. R., Chen, Y., Conrad, M. E., Darrah, T. H., and Jackson, R. B.:
Identification and characterization of high methane-emitting abandoned oil
and gas wells, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 113,
13636–13641, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1605913113, 2016.
Kang, R., Liatsis, P., and Kyritsis, D. C.: Emission Quantification via
Passive Infrared Optical Gas Imaging: A Review, Energies, 15, 3304,
https://doi.org/10.3390/en15093304, 2022.
Laubach, J., Kelliher, F. M., Knight, T. W., Clark, H., Molano, G., and
Cavanagh, A.: Methane emissions from beef cattle – a comparison of paddock-
and animal-scale measurements, Aust. J. Exp. Agric., 48, 132,
https://doi.org/10.1071/EA07256, 2008.
Livingston, G. P. and Hutchinson, G. L.: Enclosure-based measurement of
trace gas exchange: applications and sources of error., in: Biogenic trace gases: measuring emissions from soil and water, edited by: Matson, P. A.
and Harris, R. C., Blackwell Science Ltd., Oxford, UK, 14–51, 1995.
Nisbet, E. G., Fisher, R. E., Lowry, D., France, J. L., Allen, G.,
Bakkaloglu, S., Broderick, T. J., Cain, M., Coleman, M., Fernandez, J.,
Forster, G., Griffiths, P. T., Iverach, C. P., Kelly, B. F. J., Manning, M.
R., Nisbet-Jones, P. B. R., Pyle, J. A., Townsend-Small, A., al-Shalaan, A.,
Warwick, N., and Zazzeri, G.: Methane Mitigation: Methods to Reduce
Emissions, on the Path to the Paris Agreement, Rev. Geophys., 58, e2019RG000675, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019RG000675, 2020.
Pasquill, F.: Atmospheric diffusion. By F. Pasquill. London (Van Nostrand Co.), 1962. Pp. xii, 297; 60s, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 88, 202–203, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.49708837622, 1962.
Pasquill, F. and Smith, F. B.: Atmospheric Diffusion, 3rd edn., Ellis Horwood, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, ISBN 1039267617, 1983.
Pekney, N. J., Diehl, J. R., Ruehl, D., Sams, J., Veloski, G., Patel, A.,
Schmidt, C., and Card, T.: Measurement of methane emissions from abandoned
oil and gas wells in Hillman State Park, Pennsylvania, Carbon Manag., 9,
165–175, https://doi.org/10.1080/17583004.2018.1443642, 2018.
Pihlatie, M. K., Christiansen, J. R., Aaltonen, H., Korhonen, J. F. J.,
Nordbo, A., Rasilo, T., Benanti, G., Giebels, M., Helmy, M., Sheehy, J.,
Jones, S., Juszczak, R., Klefoth, R., Lobo-do-Vale, R., Rosa, A. P.,
Schreiber, P., Serça, D., Vicca, S., Wolf, B., and Pumpanen, J.:
Comparison of static chambers to measure CH4 emissions from soils,
Agr. Forest Meteorol., 171–172, 124–136,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2012.11.008, 2013.
Ravikumar, A. P., Wang, J., McGuire, M., Bell, C. S., Zimmerle, D., and
Brandt, A. R.: “Good versus Good Enough?” Empirical Tests of Methane Leak
Detection Sensitivity of a Commercial Infrared Camera, Environ. Sci.
Technol., 52, 2368–2374, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b04945, 2018.
Riddick, S. N., Dragosits, U., Blackall, T. D., Daunt, F., Wanless, S., and
Sutton, M. A.: The global distribution of ammonia emissions from seabird
colonies, Atmos. Environ., 55, 319–327,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.02.052, 2012.
Riddick, S. N., Blackall, T. D., Dragosits, U., Daunt, F., Newell, M., Braban, C. F., Tang, Y. S., Schmale, J., Hill, P. W., Wanless, S., Trathan, P., and Sutton, M. A.: Measurement of ammonia emissions from temperate and sub-polar seabird colonies, Atmos. Environ., 134, 40–50, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2016.03.016, 2016.
Riddick, S. N., Connors, S., Robinson, A. D., Manning, A. J., Jones, P. S. D., Lowry, D., Nisbet, E., Skelton, R. L., Allen, G., Pitt, J., and Harris, N. R. P.: Estimating the size of a methane emission point source at different scales: from local to landscape, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 7839–7851, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7839-2017, 2017.
Riddick, S. N., Mauzerall, D. L., Celia, M. A., Kang, M., Bressler, K., Chu,
C., and Gum, C. D.: Measuring methane emissions from abandoned and active
oil and gas wells in West Virginia, Sci. Total Environ., 651,
1849–1856, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.082, 2019a.
Riddick, S. N., Mauzerall, D. L., Celia, M., Harris, N. R. P., Allen, G., Pitt, J., Staunton-Sykes, J., Forster, G. L., Kang, M., Lowry, D., Nisbet, E. G., and Manning, A. J.: Methane emissions from oil and gas platforms in the North Sea, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 9787–9796, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-9787-2019, 2019b.
Riddick, S. N., Mauzerall, D. L., Celia, M., Allen, G., Pitt, J., Kang, M.,
and Riddick, J. C.: The calibration and deployment of a low-cost methane
sensor, Atmos. Environ., 230, 117440,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2020.117440, 2020a.
Riddick, S. N., Mauzerall, D. L., Celia, M. A., Kang, M., and Bandilla, K.:
Variability observed over time in methane emissions from abandoned oil and
gas wells, Int. J. Greenh. Gas Con., 100, 103116,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2020.103116, 2020b.
Riddick, S. N., Ancona, R., Cheptonui, F., Bell, C. S., Duggan, A., Bennett,
K. E., and Zimmerle, D. J.: A cautionary report of calculating methane
emissions using low-cost fence-line sensors, Elem. Sci. Anth., 10, 00021, https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2022.00021, 2022.
Ro, K. S., Johnson, M. H., Hunt, P. G., and Flesch, T. K.: Measuring Trace
Gas Emission from Multi-Distributed Sources Using Vertical Radial Plume
Mapping (VRPM) and Backward Lagrangian Stochastic (bLS) Techniques,
Atmosphere, 2, 553–566, https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos2030553, 2011.
Saint-Vincent, P. M. B., Reeder, M. D., Sams, J. I., and Pekney, N. J.: An
Analysis of Abandoned Oil Well Characteristics Affecting Methane Emissions
Estimates in the Cherokee Platform in Eastern Oklahoma, Geophys. Res. Lett.,
47, e2020GL089663, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL089663, 2020.
Seinfeld, J. H. and Pandis, S. N.: Atmospheric chemistry and physics: from
air pollution to climate change, Third edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc,
Hoboken, New Jersey, 1120 pp., ISBN 1118947401, 2016.
Sommer, S. G., McGinn, S. M., and Flesch, T. K.: Simple use of the backwards
Lagrangian stochastic dispersion technique for measuring ammonia emission
from small field-plots, Eur. J. Agron., 23, 1–7,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2004.09.001, 2005.
Stovern, M., Murray, J., Schwartz, C., Beeler, C., and Thoma, E. D.:
Understanding oil and gas pneumatic controllers in the Denver–Julesburg
basin using optical gas imaging, J. Air Waste Manage., 70, 468–480, https://doi.org/10.1080/10962247.2020.1735576, 2020.
Townsend-Small, A. and Hoschouer, J.: Direct measurements from shut-in and
other abandoned wells in the Permian Basin of Texas indicate some wells are
a major source of methane emissions and produced water, Environ. Res. Lett.,
16, 054081, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abf06f, 2021.
Townsend-Small, A., Ferrara, T. W., Lyon, D. R., Fries, A. E., and Lamb, B.
K.: Emissions of coalbed and natural gas methane from abandoned oil and gas
wells in the united states: methane emissions from abandoned wells,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, 2283–2290, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL067623, 2016.
US EPA: Industrial Source Complex (ISC3) Dispersion Model, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, User’s Guide, EPA 454/B 95 003a (vol. I) and EPA 454/B 95 003b (vol. II), 1995.
US EPA: Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks 1990–2020:
Updates Under Consideration for Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells, https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-09/2022-ghgi-update-abandoned-wells_sept-2021.pdf, last access: 26 October 2022.
Vaughn, T. L., Ross, C., Zimmerle, D. J., Bennett, K. E., Harrison, M.,
Wilson, A., and Johnson, C.: Open-Source High Flow Sampler for Natural Gas
Leak Quantification, California Air Resources Board, https://energy.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2022/08/FACF_High_Flow_Final_Report_ada.pdf, last access: 26 October 2022.
Zimmerle, D., Vaughn, T., Bell, C., Bennett, K., Deshmukh, P., and Thoma,
E.: Detection Limits of Optical Gas Imaging for Natural Gas Leak Detection
in Realistic Controlled Conditions, Environ. Sci. Technol., 54,
11506–11514, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c01285, 2020.
Short summary
This describes controlled release experiments at the METEC facility in Fort Collins, USA, that investigates the accuracy and precision of five methods commonly used to measure methane emissions. Methods include static/dynamic chambers, hi flow sampling, a backward Lagrangian stochastic method, and a Gaussian plume method. This is the first time that methods for measuring CH4 emissions from point sources less than 200 g CH4 h−1 have been quantitively assessed against references and each other.
This describes controlled release experiments at the METEC facility in Fort Collins, USA, that...
