Aircraft-based mass balance estimate of  methane emissions from offshore gas  facilities in the southern North Sea

Pühl, Magdalena; Roiger, Anke; Fiehn, Alina; Gorchov Negron, Alan M.; Kort, Eric A.; Schwietzke, Stefan; Pisso, Ignacio; Foulds, Amy; Lee, James; France, James L.; Jones, Anna E.; Lowry, Dave; Fisher, Rebecca E.; Huang, Langwen; Shaw, Jacob; Bateson, Prudence; Andrews, Stephen; Young, Stuart; Dominutti, Pamela; Lachlan-Cope, Tom; Weiss, Alexandra; Allen, Grant

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1005-2024

Articles | Volume 24, issue 2

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Articles | Volume 24, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1005-2024

Articles | Volume 24, issue 2

Article
Peer review
Metrics
Related articles

Research article

24 Jan 2024

Research article |

| 24 Jan 2024

Aircraft-based mass balance estimate of methane emissions from offshore gas facilities in the southern North Sea

Magdalena Pühl, Anke Roiger, Alina Fiehn, Alan M. Gorchov Negron, Eric A. Kort, Stefan Schwietzke, Ignacio Pisso, Amy Foulds, James Lee, James L. France, Anna E. Jones, Dave Lowry, Rebecca E. Fisher, Langwen Huang, Jacob Shaw, Prudence Bateson, Stephen Andrews, Stuart Young, Pamela Dominutti, Tom Lachlan-Cope, Alexandra Weiss, and Grant Allen

Magdalena Pühl

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR

magdalena.puehl@dlr.de

https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2110-5173

Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany

Anke Roiger

Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany

Alina Fiehn

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3376-4405

Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany

Alan M. Gorchov Negron

Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Eric A. Kort

Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Stefan Schwietzke

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1836-8968

Environmental Defense Fund, Berlin, Germany

Ignacio Pisso

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0056-7897

Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU), Kjeller, Norway

Amy Foulds

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9398-3154

Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

James Lee

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5397-2872

National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of York, York, YO10 5DQ, UK

James L. France

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8785-1240

Environmental Defense Fund, Berlin, Germany

British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK

Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, TW20 0EX, UK

Anna E. Jones

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2040-4841

British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK

Dave Lowry

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8535-0346

Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, TW20 0EX, UK

Rebecca E. Fisher

Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, TW20 0EX, UK

Langwen Huang

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9204-0346

Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

Jacob Shaw

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3558-3894

Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

now at: National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Hampton Road, Teddington, TW11 0LW, UK

Prudence Bateson

Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

Stephen Andrews

National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of York, York, YO10 5DQ, UK

Stuart Young

National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of York, York, YO10 5DQ, UK

Pamela Dominutti

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9876-6383

Université Grenoble Alpes, UMR 5001, CNRS, IRD, Grenoble, 38000, France

Tom Lachlan-Cope

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0657-3235

British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK

Alexandra Weiss

British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK

Grant Allen

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7070-3620

Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

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May 2024	48	23	5	76
Jun 2024	76	15	2	93
Jul 2024	84	20	3	107
Aug 2024	54	22	4	80
Sep 2024	70	8	1	79
Oct 2024	74	8	1	83
Nov 2024	60	19	2	81
Dec 2024	41	32	0	73
Jan 2025	48	39	1	88
Feb 2025	25	43	0	68
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Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Jan 2024	220	41	4	265
Feb 2024	136	22	5	163
Mar 2024	62	27	2	91
Apr 2024	82	34	3	119
May 2024	48	23	5	76
Jun 2024	76	15	2	93
Jul 2024	84	20	3	107
Aug 2024	54	22	4	80
Sep 2024	70	8	1	79
Oct 2024	74	8	1	83
Nov 2024	60	19	2	81
Dec 2024	41	32	0	73
Jan 2025	48	39	1	88
Feb 2025	25	43	0	68
Mar 2025	26	38	0	64

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Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Jan 2024	220	41	4	265
Feb 2024	136	22	5	163
Mar 2024	62	27	2	91
Apr 2024	82	34	3	119
May 2024	48	23	5	76
Jun 2024	76	15	2	93
Jul 2024	84	20	3	107
Aug 2024	54	22	4	80
Sep 2024	70	8	1	79
Oct 2024	74	8	1	83
Nov 2024	60	19	2	81
Dec 2024	41	32	0	73
Jan 2025	48	39	1	88
Feb 2025	25	43	0	68
Mar 2025	26	38	0	64

Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 19 Jan 2023)

Month	HTML	PDF	XML	Total
Jan 2024	220	41	4	265
Feb 2024	136	22	5	163
Mar 2024	62	27	2	91
Apr 2024	82	34	3	119
May 2024	48	23	5	76
Jun 2024	76	15	2	93
Jul 2024	84	20	3	107
Aug 2024	54	22	4	80
Sep 2024	70	8	1	79
Oct 2024	74	8	1	83
Nov 2024	60	19	2	81
Dec 2024	41	32	0	73
Jan 2025	48	39	1	88
Feb 2025	25	43	0	68
Mar 2025	26	38	0	64

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China	2	399	24
Germany	3	153	9
United Kingdom	4	120	7
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Cited

Show all Final revised paper only Preprint only

5 citations as recorded by crossref.

Airborne observations reveal the fate of the methane from the Nord Stream pipelines F. Reum et al. 10.1038/s41467-024-53780-7
Insights into Elevated Methane Emissions from an Australian Open-Cut Coal Mine Using Two Independent Airborne Techniques J. Borchardt et al. 10.1021/acs.estlett.4c01063
Aircraft-Based AirCore Sampling for Estimates of N2O and CH4 Emissions X. Tong et al. 10.1021/acs.est.3c04932
Measurement-based carbon intensity of US offshore oil and gas production A. Gorchov Negron et al. 10.1088/1748-9326/ad489d
Flaring efficiencies and NOx emission ratios measured for offshore oil and gas facilities in the North Sea J. Shaw et al. 10.5194/acp-23-1491-2023

2 citations as recorded by crossref.

Airborne observations reveal the fate of the methane from the Nord Stream pipelines F. Reum et al. 10.1038/s41467-024-53780-7
Insights into Elevated Methane Emissions from an Australian Open-Cut Coal Mine Using Two Independent Airborne Techniques J. Borchardt et al. 10.1021/acs.estlett.4c01063

3 citations as recorded by crossref.

Aircraft-Based AirCore Sampling for Estimates of N2O and CH4 Emissions X. Tong et al. 10.1021/acs.est.3c04932
Measurement-based carbon intensity of US offshore oil and gas production A. Gorchov Negron et al. 10.1088/1748-9326/ad489d
Flaring efficiencies and NOx emission ratios measured for offshore oil and gas facilities in the North Sea J. Shaw et al. 10.5194/acp-23-1491-2023

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Short summary

In April–May 2019 we carried out an airborne field campaign in the southern North Sea with the aim of studying methane emissions of offshore gas installations. We determined methane emissions from elevated methane measured downstream of the sampled installations. We compare our measured methane emissions with estimated methane emissions from national and global annual inventories. As a result, we find inconsistencies of inventories and large discrepancies between measurements and inventories.

In April–May 2019 we carried out an airborne field campaign in the southern North Sea with the...

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