Limitations of the radon tracer method (RTM) to estimate regional greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – a case study for methane in Heidelberg

Levin, Ingeborg; Karstens, Ute; Hammer, Samuel; DellaColetta, Julian; Maier, Fabian; Gachkivskyi, Maksym

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17907-2021

Articles | Volume 21, issue 23

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17907-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17907-2021

© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 21, issue 23

Research article

|

07 Dec 2021

Research article |

| 07 Dec 2021

Limitations of the radon tracer method (RTM) to estimate regional greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – a case study for methane in Heidelberg

Ingeborg Levin, Ute Karstens, Samuel Hammer, Julian DellaColetta, Fabian Maier, and Maksym Gachkivskyi

Data sets

Supplementary data to Levin et al. (2021), Limitations of the Radon Tracer Method (RTM) to estimate regional Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions - a case study for methane in Heidelberg I. Levin and S. Hammer https://doi.org/10.18160/WGS0-F7DY

Short summary

The radon tracer method is applied to atmospheric methane and radon observations from the upper Rhine valley to independently estimate methane emissions from the region. Comparison of our top-down results with bottom-up inventory data requires high-resolution footprint modelling and representative radon flux data. In agreement with inventories, observed emissions decreased, but only until 2005. A limitation of this method is that point-source emissions are not captured or not fully captured.