Articles | Volume 19, issue 23
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-14721-2019
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-14721-2019
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
11 Dec 2019
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 11 Dec 2019

An increase in methane emissions from tropical Africa between 2010 and 2016 inferred from satellite data

Mark F. Lunt, Paul I. Palmer, Liang Feng, Christopher M. Taylor, Hartmut Boesch, and Robert J. Parker

Related authors

Evaluating urban methane emissions and their attributes in a megacity, Osaka, Japan, via mobile and eddy covariance measurements
Masahito Ueyama, Taku Umezawa, Yukio Terao, Mark Lunt, and James Lawrence France
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3926,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3926, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Greenhouse gas column observations from a portable spectrometer in Uganda
Neil Humpage, Hartmut Boesch, William Okello, Jia Chen, Florian Dietrich, Mark F. Lunt, Liang Feng, Paul I. Palmer, and Frank Hase
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5679–5707, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5679-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5679-2024, 2024
Short summary
Verifying national inventory-based combustion emissions of CO2 across the UK and mainland Europe using satellite observations of atmospheric CO and CO2
Tia R. Scarpelli, Paul I. Palmer, Mark Lunt, Ingrid Super, and Arjan Droste
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10773–10791, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10773-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10773-2024, 2024
Short summary
Methane emissions are predominantly responsible for record-breaking atmospheric methane growth rates in 2020 and 2021
Liang Feng, Paul I. Palmer, Robert J. Parker, Mark F. Lunt, and Hartmut Bösch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 4863–4880, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4863-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4863-2023, 2023
Short summary
Evaluation of wetland CH4 in the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES) land surface model using satellite observations
Robert J. Parker, Chris Wilson, Edward Comyn-Platt, Garry Hayman, Toby R. Marthews, A. Anthony Bloom, Mark F. Lunt, Nicola Gedney, Simon J. Dadson, Joe McNorton, Neil Humpage, Hartmut Boesch, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Paul I. Palmer, and Dai Yamazaki
Biogeosciences, 19, 5779–5805, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5779-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5779-2022, 2022
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Gases | Research Activity: Atmospheric Modelling and Data Analysis | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Chemistry (chemical composition and reactions)
Enhanced understanding of atmospheric blocking modulation on ozone dynamics within a high-resolution Earth system model
Wenbin Kou, Yang Gao, Dan Tong, Xiaojie Guo, Xiadong An, Wenyu Liu, Mengshi Cui, Xiuwen Guo, Shaoqing Zhang, Huiwang Gao, and Lixin Wu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3029–3048, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3029-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3029-2025, 2025
Short summary
Natural emissions of VOC and NOx over Africa constrained by TROPOMI HCHO and NO2 data using the MAGRITTEv1.1 model
Beata Opacka, Trissevgeni Stavrakou, Jean-François Müller, Isabelle De Smedt, Jos van Geffen, Eloise A. Marais, Rebekah P. Horner, Dylan B. Millet, Kelly C. Wells, and Alex B. Guenther
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2863–2894, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2863-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2863-2025, 2025
Short summary
Anthropogenic emission controls reduce summertime ozone–temperature sensitivity in the United States
Shuai Li, Haolin Wang, and Xiao Lu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2725–2743, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2725-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2725-2025, 2025
Short summary
Investigating the response of China's surface ozone concentration to the future changes of multiple factors
Jinya Yang, Yutong Wang, Lei Zhang, and Yu Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2649–2666, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2649-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2649-2025, 2025
Short summary
Assessing the relative impacts of satellite ozone and its precursor observations to improve global tropospheric ozone analysis using multiple chemical reanalysis systems
Takashi Sekiya, Emanuele Emili, Kazuyuki Miyazaki, Antje Inness, Zhen Qu, R. Bradley Pierce, Dylan Jones, Helen Worden, William Y. Y. Cheng, Vincent Huijnen, and Gerbrand Koren
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2243–2268, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2243-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2243-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Assouma, M., Lecomte, P., Hiernaux, P., Ickowicz, A., Corniaux, C., Decruyenaere, V., Diarra, A., and Vayssières, J.: How to better account for livestock diversity and fodder seasonality in assessing the fodder intake of livestock grazing semi-arid sub-Saharan Africa rangelands, Livest. Sci., 216, 16–23, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.livsci.2018.07.002, 2018. a
Awange, J., Saleem, A., Sukhadiya, R., Ouma, Y., and Kexiang, H.: Physical dynamics of Lake Victoria over the past 34 years (1984–2018): Is the lake dying?, Sci. Total Environ., 658, 199–218, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.12.051, 2019. a
Ayantunde, A., Fernández-Rivera, S., and McCrabb, G., eds.: Coping with feed scarcity in smallholder livestock systems in developing countries, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), 2005. a
Bergamaschi, P., Frankenberg, C., Meirink, J. F., Krol, M., Dentener, F., Wagner, T., Platt, U., Kaplan, J. O., Körner, S., Heimann, M., Dlugokencky, E. J., and Goede, A.: Satellite chartography of atmospheric methane from SCIAMACHY on board ENVISAT: 2. Evaluation based on inverse model simulations, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D02304, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006jd007268, 2007. a
Bey, I., Jacob, D. J., Yantosca, R. M., Logan, J. A., Field, B. D., Fiore, A. M., Li, Q., Liu, H. Y., Mickley, L. J., and Schultz, M. G.: Global modeling of tropospheric chemistry with assimilated meteorology: Model description and evaluation, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 106, 23073–23095, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001jd000807, 2001. a
Download
Short summary
Using data from the GOSAT satellite between 2010 and 2016 and a Bayesian inversion approach, we estimate monthly emissions of methane from tropical Africa. We find an increase in methane emissions during this period, driven in part by rising emissions from South Sudan. Using ancillary data we attribute this short-term emissions rise to an increase in the extent of the Sudd wetlands driven by increased outflow from the East African lakes.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint