Articles | Volume 24, issue 18
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10639-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10639-2024
Research article
 | 
24 Sep 2024
Research article |  | 24 Sep 2024

Quantifying large methane emissions from the Nord Stream pipeline gas leak of September 2022 using IASI satellite observations and inverse modelling

Chris Wilson, Brian J. Kerridge, Richard Siddans, David P. Moore, Lucy J. Ventress, Emily Dowd, Wuhu Feng, Martyn P. Chipperfield, and John J. Remedios

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Cited articles

Bloom, A. A., Bowman, K. W., Lee, M., Turner, A. J., Schroeder, R., Worden, J. R., Weidner, R., McDonald, K. C., and Jacob, D. J.: A global wetland methane emissions and uncertainty dataset for atmospheric chemical transport models (WetCHARTs version 1.0), Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 2141–2156, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-2141-2017, 2017. 
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Buchwitz, M., Schneising, O., Vanselow, S., Houweling, S., van Peet, J., Siddans, R., Kerridge, B., Ventress, L., Knappett, D., Crevoisier, C., Meilhac, N., Borsdorf, T., Lorente, A., and Aben, I.: Methane+ Study Final Report, ESA Contract No. 4000129987/20/I-DT, European Space Agenecy (ESA), https://methaneplus.eu (last access: 17 September 2024), 2023. 
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Short summary
The leaks from the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022 released a large amount of methane (CH4) into the atmosphere. We provide observational data from a satellite instrument that shows a large CH4 plume over the North Sea off the coast of Scandinavia. We use this together with atmospheric models to quantify the CH4 leaked into the atmosphere from the pipelines. We find that 219–427 Gg CH4 was emitted, making this the largest individual fossil-fuel-related CH4 leak on record.
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