Articles | Volume 18, issue 14
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3425-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3425-2025
Research article
 | 
25 Jul 2025
Research article |  | 25 Jul 2025

Accuracy of tracer-based methane flux quantification: underlying impact of calibrating acetylene measurements

Adil Shah, Olivier Laurent, Pramod Kumar, Grégoire Broquet, Loïc Loigerot, Timothé Depelchin, Mathis Lozano, Camille Yver Kwok, Carole Philippon, Clément Romand, Elisa Allegrini, Matthieu Trombetti, and Philippe Ciais

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Cited articles

Albertson, J. D., Harvey, T., Foderaro, G., Zhu, P., Zhou, X., Ferrari, S., Amin, M. S., Modrak, M., Brantley, H., and Thoma, E. D.: A Mobile Sensing Approach for Regional Surveillance of Fugitive Methane Emissions in Oil and Gas Production, Environ. Sci. Technol., 50, 2487–2497, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b05059, 2016. 
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Allen, G., Hollingsworth, P., Kabbabe, K., Pitt, J. R., Mead, M. I., Illingworth, S., Roberts, G., Bourn, M., Shallcross, D. E., and Percival, C. J.: The development and trial of an unmanned aerial system for the measurement of methane flux from landfill and greenhouse gas emission hotspots, Waste Manage., 87, 883–892, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2017.12.024, 2019. 
Arrhenius, S.: XXXI. On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon the Temperature of the Ground, The London, Edinburgh, and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 41, 237–276, https://doi.org/10.1080/14786449608620846, 1896. 
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Short summary
Acetylene mole fraction measurements from the Picarro G2203 were characterised. Abnormal sensor behaviour was observed in wet conditions. A dry linear calibration was derived, although this was invalid below 1.2 ppb due to unstable measurements. The instrument was used to measure acetylene as a methane tracer at a landfill site. Fluxes were derived from 14 downwind transects using both raw and calibrated acetylene mole fraction, with raw measurements resulting in 8 % flux underestimation.
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