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
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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

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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.
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