Articles | Volume 17, issue 20
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6107-2024
© Author(s) 2024. 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-17-6107-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Using open-path dual-comb spectroscopy to monitor methane emissions from simulated grazing cattle
Chinthaka Weerasekara
Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, United States
Lindsay C. Morris
Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, United States
Nathan A. Malarich
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Communications Technology Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, United States
Fabrizio R. Giorgetta
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Communications Technology Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, United States
Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, United States
Daniel I. Herman
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Communications Technology Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, United States
Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, United States
Kevin C. Cossel
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Communications Technology Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, United States
Nathan R. Newbury
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Communications Technology Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, United States
Clenton E. Owensby
Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, United States
Stephen M. Welch
Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, United States
Cosmin Blaga
Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, United States
Brett D. DePaola
Department of Physics, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, United States
Ian Coddington
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Communications Technology Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, United States
Brian R. Washburn
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
National Institute of Standards and Technology, Communications Technology Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, United States
Eduardo A. Santos
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Agronomy, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, United States
Related authors
No articles found.
Kevin C. Cossel, Eleanor M. Waxman, Eli Hoenig, Daniel Hesselius, Christopher Chaote, Ian Coddington, and Nathan R. Newbury
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5697–5707, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5697-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5697-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Measurements of the emission rate of a gas or gases from point and area sources are important in a range of monitoring applications. We demonstrate a method for rapid quantification of the emission rate of multiple gases using a spatially scannable open-path sensor. The open-path spectrometer measures the total column density of gases between the spectrometer and a retroreflector mounted on an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV). By scanning the UAV altitude, we can determine the total gas emissions.
Daniel I. Herman, Griffin Mead, Fabrizio R. Giorgetta, Esther Baumann, Nathan A. Malarich, Brian R. Washburn, Nathan R. Newbury, Ian Coddington, and Kevin C. Cossel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4053–4066, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4053-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4053-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Measurements of the isotope ratio of water vapor provide information about the sources and history of water vapor at a given location, which can be used to understand the impacts of climate change on global water use. Here, we demonstrate a new method for measuring isotope ratios over long open-air paths, which can reduce sampling bias and provide more spatial averaging than standard point sensor methods. We show that this new technique has high sensitivity and accuracy.
Cited articles
Alden, C. B., Coburn, S. C., Wright, R. J., Baumann, E., Cossel, K., Perez, E., Hoenig, E., Prasad, K., Coddington, I., and Rieker, G. B.: Single-Blind Quantification of Natural Gas Leaks from 1 km Distance Using Frequency Combs, Environ. Sci. Technol., 53, 2908–2917, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.8b06259, 2019.
Alemu, A. W., Janzen, H., Little, S., Hao, X., Thompson, D. J., Baron, V., Iwaasa, A., Beauchemin, K. A., and Kröbel, R.: Assessment of grazing management on farm greenhouse gas intensity of beef production systems in the Canadian Prairies using life cycle assessment, Agr. Syst., 158, 1–13, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2017.08.003, 2017.
Bai, M., Loh, Z., Griffith, D. W. T., Turner, D., Eckard, R., Edis, R., Denmead, O. T., Bryant, G. W., Paton-Walsh, C., Tonini, M., McGinn, S. M., and Chen, D.: Performance of open-path lasers and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic systems in agriculture emissions research, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3593–3610, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3593-2022, 2022.
Coates, T. W., Flesch, T. K., McGinn, S. M., Charmley, E., and Chen, D.: Evaluating an eddy covariance technique to estimate point-source emissions and its potential application to grazing cattle, Agr. Forest Meteorol., 234, 164–171, 2017.
Coburn, S., Alden, C. B., Wright, R., Cossel, K., Baumann, E., Truong, G.-W., Giorgetta, F., Sweeney, C., Newbury, N. R., Prasad, K., Coddington, I., and Rieker, G. B.: Regional trace-gas source attribution using a field-deployed dual frequency comb spectrometer, Optica, 5, 320–327, https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.5.000320, 2018.
Coddington, I., Newbury, N., and Swann, W.: Dual-comb spectroscopy, Optica, 3, 414–426, https://doi.org/10.1364/OPTICA.3.000414, 2016.
Cole, R. K., Makowiecki, A. S., Hoghooghi, N., and Rieker, G. B.: Baseline-free quantitative absorption spectroscopy based on cepstral analysis, Opt. Express, 27, 37920, https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.27.037920, 2019.
Crenna, B.: An introduction to WindTrax, University of Alberta, http://thunderbeachscientific.com/downloads/introduction.pdf (last access: 7 October 2024), 2006.
Danielsson, R., Ramin, M., Bertilsson, J., Lund, P., and Huhtanen, P.: Evaluation of a gas in vitro system for predicting methane production in vivo, J. Dairy Sci., 100, 8881–8894, 2017.
Dengel, S., Levy, P. E., Grace, J., Jones, S. K., and Skiba, U. M.: Methane emissions from sheep pasture, measured with an open-path eddy covariance system, Global Change Biol., 17, 3524–3533, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2486.2011.02466.x, 2011.
Eggleston, S., Buendia, L., Miwa, K., Mgara, T., and Tanabe, K.: Emissions from Livestock and Manure Management, in: 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, Vol. 4, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, 87 pp., https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/pdf/4_Volume4/V4_10_Ch10_Livestock.pdf (last access: 7 October 2024), 2006.
EPA: Inventory of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and sinks: 1990–2021, 881 pp., https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/inventory-us-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-sinks-1990-2021 (last access: 7 October 2024), 2023.
Felber, R., Münger, A., Neftel, A., and Ammann, C.: Eddy covariance methane flux measurements over a grazed pasture: effect of cows as moving point sources, Biogeosciences, 12, 3925–3940, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-3925-2015, 2015.
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. Meteorol. Climatol., 34, 1320–1332, 1995.
Flesch, T. K., Wilson, J. D., Harper, L. A., Crenna, B. P., and Sharpe, R. R.: Deducing Ground-to-Air Emissions from Observed Trace Gas Concentrations: A Field Trial with Wind Disturbance, J. Appl. Meteorol., 43, 475–484, https://doi.org/10.1175/jam2214.1, 2004.
Flesch, T. K., Basarab, J. A., Baron, V. S., Wilson, J. D., Hu, N., Tomkins, N. W., and Ohama, A. J.: Methane emissions from cattle grazing under diverse conditions: An examination of field configurations appropriate for line-averaging sensors, Agr. Forest Meteorol., 258, 8–17, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2017.10.012, 2018.
Gordon, I. E., Rothman, L. S., Hill, C., Kochanov, R. V., Tan, Y., Bernath, P. F., Birk, M., Boudon, V., Campargue, A., Chance, K. V., Drouin, B. J., Flaud, J.-M., Gamache, R. R., Hodges, J. T., Jacquemart, D., Perevalov, V. I., Perrin, A., Shine, K. P., Smith, M.-A. H., Tennyson, J., Toon, G. C., Tran, H., Tyuterev, V. G., Barbe, A., Császár, A. G., Devi, V. M., Furtenbacher, T., Harrison, J. J., Hartmann, J.-M., Jolly, A., Johnson, T. J., Karman, T., Kleiner, I., Kyuberis, A. A., Loos, J., Lyulin, O. M., Massie, S. T., Mikhailenko, S. N., Moazzen-Ahmadi, N., Müller, H. S. P., Naumenko, O. V., Nikitin, A. V., Polyansky, O. L., Rey, M., Rotger, M., Sharpe, S. W., Sung, K., Starikova, E., Tashkun, S. A., Auwera, J. V., Wagner, G., Wilzewski, J., Wcisło, P., Yu, S., and Zak, E. J.: The HITRAN2016 molecular spectroscopic database, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Ra., 203, 3–69, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2017.06.038, 2017.
Grainger, C., Clarke, T., McGinn, S. M., Auldist, M. J., Beauchemin, K. A., Hannah, M. C., Waghorn, G. C., Clark, H., and Eckard, R. J.: Methane emissions from dairy cows measured using the sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer and chamber techniques, J. Dairy Sci., 90, 2755–2766, https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2006-697, 2007.
Griffiths, P. and de Haseth, J.: Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 375–393, https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470106310.ch18, 2006.
Harper, L. A., Flesch, T. K., Weaver, K. H., and Wilson, J. D.: The Effect of Biofuel Production on Swine Farm Methane and Ammonia Emissions, J. Environ. Qual., 39, 1984–1992, https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2010.0172, 2010.
Herman, D. I., Weerasekara, C., Hutcherson, L. C., Giorgetta, F. R., Cossel, K. C., Waxman, E. M., Colacion, G. M., Newbury, N. R., Welch, S. M., DePaola, B. D., Coddington, I., Santos, E. A., and Washburn, B. R.: Precise multispecies agricultural gas flux determined using broadband open-path dual-comb spectroscopy, Sci Adv, 7, eabe9765, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abe9765, 2021.
Hill, J., McSweeney, C., Wright, A.-D. G., Bishop-Hurley, G., and Kalantar-zadeh, K.: Measuring methane production from ruminants, Trend. Biotechnol., 34, 26–35, 2016.
Hristov, A. N., Oh, J., Giallongo, F., Frederick, T., Weeks, H., Zimmerman, P. R., Harper, M. T., Hristova, R. A., Zimmerman, R. S., and Branco, A. F.: The Use of an Automated System (GreenFeed) to Monitor Enteric Methane and Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Ruminant Animals, J. Vis. Exp., 103, 52904, https://doi.org/10.3791/52904, 2015.
Johnson, K., Huyler, M., Westberg, H., Lamb, B., and Zimmerman, P.: Measurement of methane emissions from ruminant livestock using a sulfur hexafluoride tracer technique, Environ. Sci. Technol., 28, 359–362, 1994.
Kochanov, R. V., Gordon, I. E., Rothman, L. S., Wcisło, P., Hill, C., and Wilzewski, J. S.: HITRAN Application Programming Interface (HAPI): A comprehensive approach to working with spectroscopic data, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Ra., 177, 15–30, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2016.03.005, 2016.
Laubach, J. and Kelliher, F. M.: Methane emissions from dairy cows: Comparing open-path laser measurements to profile-based techniques, Agr. Forest Meteorol., 135, 340–345, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2005.11.014, 2005.
Laubach, J., Barthel, M., Fraser, A., Hunt, J. E., and Griffith, D. W. T.: Combining two complementary micrometeorological methods to measure CH4 and N2O fluxes over pasture, Biogeosciences, 13, 1309–1327, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-1309-2016, 2016.
Laubach, J., Flesch, T. K., Ammann, C., Bai, M., Gao, Z., Merbold, L., Campbell, D. I., Goodrich, J. P., Graham, S. L., Hunt, J. E., Wall, A. M., and Schipper, L. A.: Methane emissions from animal agriculture: Micrometeorological solutions for challenging measurement situations, Agr. Forest Meteorol., 350, 109971, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2024.109971, 2024.
Lockyer, D. and Jarvis, S.: The measurement of methane losses from grazing animals, Environ. Pollut., 90, 383–390, 1995.
Malarich, N. A., Cossel, K. C., Deschenes, J.-D., Giorgetta, F. R., Washburn, B. R., Newbury, N. R., Genest, J., and Coddington, I.: Removing biases in dual frequency comb spectroscopy due to digitizer nonlinearity, Opt. Express, 31, 29074, https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.497497, 2023.
McGinn, S. and Flesch, T.: A Technique for Estimating Greenhouse Gas Exchange Adjacent Cattle Feedlots, Atmosphere, 9, 139, https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos9040139, 2018a.
McGinn, S. M.: Developments in micrometeorological methods for methane measurements, Animal, 7, 386–393, https://doi.org/10.1017/S1751731113000657, 2013.
McGinn, S. M. and Flesch, T. K.: Ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions at beef cattle feedlots in Alberta Canada, Agr. Forest Meteorol., 258, 43–49, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2018.01.024, 2018b.
McGinn, S. M., Turner, D., Tomkins, N., Charmley, E., Bishop-Hurley, G., and Chen, D.: Methane Emissions from Grazing Cattle Using Point-Source Dispersion, J. Environ. Qual., 40, 22–27, https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2010.0239, 2011.
Newville, M., Stensitzki, T., Allen, D., and Ingargiola, A.: LMFIT: Non-Linear Least-Square Minimization and Curve-Fitting for Python, Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11813, 2014.
Phillips, F., Leuning, R., Baigent, R., Kelly, K., and Denmead, O.: Nitrous oxide flux measurements from an intensively managed irrigated pasture using micrometeorological techniques, Agr. Forest Meteorol., 143, 92–105, 2007.
Pinares-Patiño, C., Lassey, K., Martin, R., Molano, G., Fernandez, M., MacLean, S., Sandoval, E., Luo, D., and Clark, H.: Assessment of the sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer technique using respiration chambers for estimation of methane emissions from sheep, Anim. Feed Sci. Tech., 166, 201–209, 2011.
Place, S. E., Pan, Y., Zhao, Y., and Mitloehner, F. M.: Construction and operation of a ventilated hood system for measuring greenhouse gas and volatile organic compound emissions from cattle, Animals, 1, 433–446, 2011.
Prajapati, P. and Santos, E. A.: Comparing methane emissions estimated using a backward-Lagrangian stochastic model and the eddy covariance technique in a beef cattle feedlot, Agr. Forest Meteorol., 256–257, 482–491, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2018.04.003, 2018a.
Prajapati, P. and Santos, E. A.: Estimating methane emissions from beef cattle in a feedlot using the eddy covariance technique and footprint analysis, Agr. Forest Meteorol., 258, 18–28, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2017.08.004, 2018b.
Ramin, M. and Huhtanen, P.: Development of equations for predicting methane emissions from ruminants, J. Dairy Sci., 96, 2476–2493, 2013.
Rothman, L. S., Gordon, I. E., Barbe, A., Benner, D. C., Bernath, P. E., Birk, M., Boudon, V., Brown, L. R., Campargue, A., Champion, J. P., Chance, K., Coudert, L. H., Dana, V., Devi, V. M., Fally, S., Flaud, J. M., Gamache, R. R., Goldman, A., Jacquemart, D., Kleiner, I., Lacome, N., Lafferty, W. J., Mandin, J. Y., Massie, S. T., Mikhailenko, S. N., Miller, C. E., Moazzen-Ahmadi, N., Naumenko, O. V., Nikitin, A. V., Orphal, J., Perevalov, V. I., Perrin, A., Predoi-Cross, A., Rinsland, C. P., Rotger, M., Simeckova, M., Smith, M. A. H., Sung, K., Tashkun, S. A., Tennyson, J., Toth, R. A., Vandaele, A. C., and Vander Auwera, J.: The HITRAN 2008 molecular spectroscopic database, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Ra., 110, 533–572, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2009.02.013, 2009.
Rothman, L. S., Gordon, I. E., Babikov, Y., Barbe, A., Chris Benner, D., Bernath, P. F., Birk, M., Bizzocchi, L., Boudon, V., Brown, L. R., Campargue, A., Chance, K., Cohen, E. A., Coudert, L. H., Devi, V. M., Drouin, B. J., Fayt, A., Flaud, J.-M., Gamache, R. R., Harrison, J. J., Hartmann, J.-M., Hill, C., Hodges, J. T., Jacquemart, D., Jolly, A., Lamouroux, J., Le Roy, R. J., Li, G., Long, D. A., Lyulin, O. M., Mackie, C. J., Massie, S. T., Mikhailenko, S., Müller, H. S. P., Naumenko, O. V., Nikitin, A. V., Orphal, J., Perevalov, V., Perrin, A., Polovtseva, E. R., Richard, C., Smith, M. A. H., Starikova, E., Sung, K., Tashkun, S., Tennyson, J., Toon, G. C., Tyuterev, V. G., and Wagner, G.: The HITRAN 2012 molecular spectroscopic database, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Ra., 130, 4–50, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2013.07.002, 2013.
Rotz, C. A., Asem-Hiablie, S., Dillon, J., and Bonifacio, H.: Cradle-to-farm gate environmental footprints of beef cattle production in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas, J. Anim. Sci., 93, 2509–2519, https://doi.org/10.2527/jas.2014-8809, 2015.
Sinclair, L. C., Deschênes, J.-D., Sonderhouse, L., Swann, W. C., Khader, I. H., Baumann, E., Newbury, N. R., and Coddington, I.: Invited Article: A compact optically coherent fiber frequency comb, Rev. Sci. Instrum., 86, 081301, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4928163, 2015.
Smith, E. F. and Owensby, C. E.: Intensive-Early Stocking and Season-Long Stocking of Kansas Flint Hills Range, J. Range Manage., 31, 14, https://doi.org/10.2307/3897624, 1978.
Storm, I. M. L. D., Hellwing, A. L. F., Nielsen, N. I., and Madsen, J.: Methods for measuring and estimating methane emission from ruminants, Animals, 2, 160–183, https://doi.org/10.3390/ani2020160, 2012.
Stoy, P. C., Cook, A. A., Dore, J. E., Kljun, N., Kleindl, W., Brookshire, E. N. J., and Gerken, T.: Methane efflux from an American bison herd, Biogeosciences, 18, 961–975, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-961-2021, 2021.
Sun, K., Tao, L., Miller, D. J., Zondlo, M. A., Shonkwiler, K. B., Nash, C., and Ham, J. M.: Open-path eddy covariance measurements of ammonia fluxes from a beef cattle feedlot, Agr. Forest Meteorol., 213, 193–202, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2015.06.007, 2015.
Thompson, L. R. and Rowntree, J. E.: Invited Review: Methane sources, quantification, and mitigation in grazing beef systems, Appl. Animal Sci., 36, 556–573, https://doi.org/10.15232/aas.2019-01951, 2020.
Todd, R. W., Altman, M. B., Cole, N. A., and Waldrip, H. M.: Methane Emissions from a Beef Cattle Feedyard during Winter and Summer on the Southern High Plains of Texas, J. Environ. Qual., 43, 1125–1130, https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2013.09.0386, 2014.
Truong, G.-W., Waxman, E. M., Cossel, K. C., Baumann, E., Klose, A., Giorgetta, F. R., Swann, W. C., Newbury, N. R., and Coddington, I.: Accurate frequency referencing for fieldable dual-comb spectroscopy, Opt. Express, 24, 30495–30504, https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.24.030495, 2016.
Washburn, B.: Using Open-Path Dual-Comb Spectroscopy to Monitor Methane Emissions from Simulated Grazing Cattle, National Institute of Standards and Technology [data set], https://doi.org/10.18434/mds2-3139, 2024.
Werle, P.: Accuracy and precision of laser spectrometers for trace gas sensing in the presence of optical fringes and atmospheric turbulence, Appl. Phys. B, 102, 313–329, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-010-4165-9, 2011.
Short summary
Most methane emissions during the life cycle of beef cattle occur during the grazing phase. Measuring methane in grazing systems is difficult due to the high mobility and low density of animals. This work investigates if dual-comb spectroscopy can measure methane emissions from small cattle herds. An enhancement of 10 nmol mol-1 methane above the atmospheric background was measured, equivalent to 20 head located 60 m away. The calculated methane flux was within 5 % of the actual release rate.
Most methane emissions during the life cycle of beef cattle occur during the grazing phase....