Articles | Volume 18, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-7361-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-7361-2018
Research article
 | 
28 May 2018
Research article |  | 28 May 2018

Quantification of methane sources in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region of Alberta by aircraft mass balance

Sabour Baray, Andrea Darlington, Mark Gordon, Katherine L. Hayden, Amy Leithead, Shao-Meng Li, Peter S. K. Liu, Richard L. Mittermeier, Samar G. Moussa, Jason O'Brien, Ralph Staebler, Mengistu Wolde, Doug Worthy, and Robert McLaren

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Cited articles

Allen, D., Pickering, K., and Fox-Rabinovitz, M.: Evaluation of pollutant outflow and CO sources during TRACE-P using model-calculated, aircraft-based, and Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT)-derived CO concentrations, J. Geophys. Res.- Atmos., 109, D15S03, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JD004250, 2004. 
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Cambaliza, M. O. L., Shepson, P. B., Caulton, D. R., Stirm, B., Samarov, D., Gurney, K. R., Turnbull, J., Davis, K. J., Possolo, A., Karion, A., Sweeney, C., Moser, B., Hendricks, A., Lauvaux, T., Mays, K., Whetstone, J., Huang, J., Razlivanov, I., Miles, N. L., and Richardson, S. J.: Assessment of uncertainties of an aircraft-based mass balance approach for quantifying urban greenhouse gas emissions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 9029–9050, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-9029-2014, 2014. 
Cheng, Y., Li, S.-M., Gordon, M., and Liu, P.: Size distribution and coating thickness of black carbon from the Canadian oil sands operations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 2653–2667, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-2653-2018, 2018. 
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Short summary
Methane emissions from major oil sands facilities in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) of Alberta were measured in the summer of 2013 using two related aircraft mass-balance approaches. Tailings ponds and fugitive emissions of methane from open pit mines were found to be the major sources of methane in the region. Total methane emissions in the AOSR were measured to be ~ 20 tonnes of CH4 per hour, which is 48 % higher than the Canadian Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program Emissions Inventory.
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