Estimating regional-scale methane flux and budgets using CARVE aircraft measurements over Alaska
Sean Hartery1,Róisín Commane2,Jakob Lindaas2,Colm Sweeney3,4,John Henderson5,Marikate Mountain5,Nicholas Steiner6,Kyle McDonald6,Steven J. Dinardo7,Charles E. Miller7,Steven C. Wofsy2,and Rachel Y.-W. Chang1,2Sean Hartery et al. Sean Hartery1,Róisín Commane2,Jakob Lindaas2,Colm Sweeney3,4,John Henderson5,Marikate Mountain5,Nicholas Steiner6,Kyle McDonald6,Steven J. Dinardo7,Charles E. Miller7,Steven C. Wofsy2,and Rachel Y.-W. Chang1,2
1Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax NS, USA
2School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA
3Global Monitoring Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder CO, USA
4Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder CO, USA
5Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc., Lexington MA, USA
6Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science, City College University of New York, New York NY, USA
7Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena CA, USA
1Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax NS, USA
2School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA
3Global Monitoring Division, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder CO, USA
4Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder CO, USA
5Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc., Lexington MA, USA
6Department of Earth and Atmospheric Science, City College University of New York, New York NY, USA
7Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena CA, USA
Received: 26 Jan 2017 – Discussion started: 21 Feb 2017 – Revised: 04 Jul 2017 – Accepted: 15 Sep 2017 – Published: 08 Jan 2018
Abstract. Methane (CH4) is the second most important greenhouse gas but its emissions from northern regions are still poorly constrained. In this study, we analyze a subset of in situ CH4 aircraft observations made over Alaska during the growing seasons of 2012–2014 as part of the Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE). Net surface CH4 fluxes are estimated using a Lagrangian particle dispersion model which quantitatively links surface emissions from Alaska and the western Yukon with observations of enhanced CH4 in the mixed layer. We estimate that between May and September, net CH4 emissions from the region of interest were 2.2 ± 0.5 Tg, 1.9 ± 0.4 Tg, and 2.3 ± 0.6 Tg of CH4 for 2012, 2013, and 2014, respectively. If emissions are only attributed to two biogenic eco-regions within our domain, then tundra regions were the predominant source, accounting for over half of the overall budget despite only representing 18 % of the total surface area. Boreal regions, which cover a large part of the study region, accounted for the remainder of the emissions. Simple multiple linear regression analysis revealed that, overall, CH4 fluxes were largely driven by soil temperature and elevation. In regions specifically dominated by wetlands, soil temperature and moisture at 10 cm depth were important explanatory variables while in regions that were not wetlands, soil temperature and moisture at 40 cm depth were more important, suggesting deeper methanogenesis in drier soils. Although similar environmental drivers have been found in the past to control CH4 emissions at local scales, this study shows that they can be used to generate a statistical model to estimate the regional-scale net CH4 budget.
Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas but its emissions from northern regions are still poorly constrained. This study uses aircraft measurements of methane from Alaska to estimate surface emissions. We found that methane emission rates depend on the soil temperature at depths where its production was taking place, and that total emissions were similar between tundra and boreal regions. These results provide a simple way to predict methane emissions in this region.
Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas but its emissions from northern regions are...
