Articles | Volume 16, issue 22
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-14091-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-14091-2016
Research article
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15 Nov 2016
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 15 Nov 2016

Quantifying the loss of processed natural gas within California's South Coast Air Basin using long-term measurements of ethane and methane

Debra Wunch, Geoffrey C. Toon, Jacob K. Hedelius, Nicholas Vizenor, Coleen M. Roehl, Katherine M. Saad, Jean-François L. Blavier, Donald R. Blake, and Paul O. Wennberg

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Cited articles

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This paper investigates the cause of the known underestimate of bottom-up inventories of methane in California's South Coast Air Basin (SoCAB). We use total column measurements of methane, ethane, carbon monoxide, and other trace gases beginning in the late 1980s to calculate emissions and attribute sources of excess methane to the atmosphere. We conclude that more than half of the excess methane to the SoCAB atmosphere is attributable to processed natural gas.
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