Articles | Volume 26, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1179-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1179-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
26 Jan 2026
Research article |
| 26 Jan 2026
| 26 Jan 2026
Assessment of methane emissions from US onshore oil and gas production using MethaneAIR measurements
Envionmental Defense Fund, New York, NY 10010, USA
MethaneSAT, LLC, Austin, TX 78701, USA
Joshua Benmergui
Envionmental Defense Fund, New York, NY 10010, USA
MethaneSAT, LLC, Austin, TX 78701, USA
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
James P. Williams
Envionmental Defense Fund, New York, NY 10010, USA
MethaneSAT, LLC, Austin, TX 78701, USA
Mark Omara
Envionmental Defense Fund, New York, NY 10010, USA
MethaneSAT, LLC, Austin, TX 78701, USA
Anthony Himmelberger
MethaneSAT, LLC, Austin, TX 78701, USA
Maryann Sargent
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Jack D. Warren
Envionmental Defense Fund, New York, NY 10010, USA
MethaneSAT, LLC, Austin, TX 78701, USA
Christopher C. Miller
Envionmental Defense Fund, New York, NY 10010, USA
MethaneSAT, LLC, Austin, TX 78701, USA
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Sébastien Roche
Envionmental Defense Fund, New York, NY 10010, USA
MethaneSAT, LLC, Austin, TX 78701, USA
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Zhan Zhang
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Jonathan Franklin
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Luis Guanter
Envionmental Defense Fund, New York, NY 10010, USA
MethaneSAT, LLC, Austin, TX 78701, USA
Steven Wofsy
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Ritesh Gautam
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Envionmental Defense Fund, New York, NY 10010, USA
MethaneSAT, LLC, Austin, TX 78701, USA
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Eamon K. Conway, Amir H. Souri, Joshua Benmergui, Kang Sun, Xiong Liu, Carly Staebell, Christopher Chan Miller, Jonathan Franklin, Jenna Samra, Jonas Wilzewski, Sebastien Roche, Bingkun Luo, Apisada Chulakadabba, Maryann Sargent, Jacob Hohl, Bruce Daube, Iouli Gordon, Kelly Chance, and Steven Wofsy
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1347–1362, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1347-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1347-2024, 2024
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Berend J. Schuit, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Pieter Bijl, Gourav Mahapatra, Anne-Wil van den Berg, Sudhanshu Pandey, Alba Lorente, Tobias Borsdorff, Sander Houweling, Daniel J. Varon, Jason McKeever, Dylan Jervis, Marianne Girard, Itziar Irakulis-Loitxate, Javier Gorroño, Luis Guanter, Daniel H. Cusworth, and Ilse Aben
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Using two machine learning models, which were trained on TROPOMI methane satellite data, we detect 2974 methane plumes, so-called super-emitters, in 2021. We detect methane emissions globally related to urban areas or landfills, coal mining, and oil and gas production. Using our monitoring system, we identify 94 regions with frequent emissions. For 12 locations, we target high-resolution satellite instruments to enlarge and identify the exact infrastructure responsible for the emissions.
Mark Omara, Ritesh Gautam, Madeleine A. O'Brien, Anthony Himmelberger, Alex Franco, Kelsey Meisenhelder, Grace Hauser, David R. Lyon, Apisada Chulakadabba, Christopher Chan Miller, Jonathan Franklin, Steven C. Wofsy, and Steven P. Hamburg
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 3761–3790, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3761-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3761-2023, 2023
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We acquire, integrate, and analyze ~ 6 million geospatial oil and gas infrastructure data records based on information available in the public domain and develop an open-access global database including all the major oil and gas facility types that are important sources of methane emissions. This work helps fulfill a crucial geospatial data need, in support of the assessment, attribution, and mitigation of global oil and gas methane emissions at high resolution.
Shoma Yamanouchi, Stephanie Conway, Kimberly Strong, Orfeo Colebatch, Erik Lutsch, Sébastien Roche, Jeffrey Taylor, Cynthia H. Whaley, and Aldona Wiacek
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 3387–3418, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3387-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-3387-2023, 2023
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Nineteen years of atmospheric composition measurements made at the University of Toronto Atmospheric Observatory (TAO; 43.66° N, 79.40° W; 174 m.a.s.l.) are presented. These are retrieved from Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) solar absorption spectra recorded with a spectrometer from May 2002 to December 2020. The retrievals have been optimized for fourteen species: O3, HCl, HF, HNO3, CH4, C2H6, CO, HCN, N2O, C2H2, H2CO, CH3OH, HCOOH, and NH3.
Daniel J. Varon, Daniel J. Jacob, Benjamin Hmiel, Ritesh Gautam, David R. Lyon, Mark Omara, Melissa Sulprizio, Lu Shen, Drew Pendergrass, Hannah Nesser, Zhen Qu, Zachary R. Barkley, Natasha L. Miles, Scott J. Richardson, Kenneth J. Davis, Sudhanshu Pandey, Xiao Lu, Alba Lorente, Tobias Borsdorff, Joannes D. Maasakkers, and Ilse Aben
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7503–7520, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7503-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7503-2023, 2023
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We use TROPOMI satellite observations to quantify weekly methane emissions from the US Permian oil and gas basin from May 2018 to October 2020. We find that Permian emissions are highly variable, with diverse economic and activity drivers. The most important drivers during our study period were new well development and natural gas price. Permian methane intensity averaged 4.6 % and decreased by 1 % per year.
James P. Williams, Khalil El Hachem, and Mary Kang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3421–3435, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3421-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3421-2023, 2023
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Methane is powerful greenhouse gas; thus, to reduce methane emissions, it is important that the methods used to measure methane are tested and validated. The static chamber method is an enclosure-based technique that directly measures methane emissions; however, it has not been thoroughly tested for the new variety of methane sources that it is currently being used for. We find that the static chamber method can accurately measure methane emissions under a wide range of methane emission rates.
Zichong Chen, Daniel J. Jacob, Ritesh Gautam, Mark Omara, Robert N. Stavins, Robert C. Stowe, Hannah Nesser, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Alba Lorente, Daniel J. Varon, Xiao Lu, Lu Shen, Zhen Qu, Drew C. Pendergrass, and Sarah Hancock
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5945–5967, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5945-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5945-2023, 2023
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We quantify methane emissions from individual countries in the Middle East and North Africa by inverse analysis of 2019 TROPOMI satellite observations of atmospheric methane. We show that the ability to simply relate oil/gas emissions to activity metrics is compromised by stochastic nature of local infrastructure and management practices. We find that the industry target for oil/gas methane intensity is achievable through associated gas capture, modern infrastructure, and centralized operations.
Nasrin Mostafavi Pak, Jacob K. Hedelius, Sébastien Roche, Liz Cunningham, Bianca Baier, Colm Sweeney, Coleen Roehl, Joshua Laughner, Geoffrey Toon, Paul Wennberg, Harrison Parker, Colin Arrowsmith, Joseph Mendonca, Pierre Fogal, Tyler Wizenberg, Beatriz Herrera, Kimberly Strong, Kaley A. Walker, Felix Vogel, and Debra Wunch
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1239–1261, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1239-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1239-2023, 2023
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Ground-based remote sensing instruments in the Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) measure greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Consistency between TCCON measurements is crucial to accurately infer changes in atmospheric composition. We use portable remote sensing instruments (EM27/SUN) to evaluate biases between TCCON stations in North America. We also improve the retrievals of EM27/SUN instruments and evaluate the previous (GGG2014) and newest (GGG2020) retrieval algorithms.
Joshua L. Laughner, Sébastien Roche, Matthäus Kiel, Geoffrey C. Toon, Debra Wunch, Bianca C. Baier, Sébastien Biraud, Huilin Chen, Rigel Kivi, Thomas Laemmel, Kathryn McKain, Pierre-Yves Quéhé, Constantina Rousogenous, Britton B. Stephens, Kaley Walker, and Paul O. Wennberg
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1121–1146, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1121-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1121-2023, 2023
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Observations using sunlight to measure surface-to-space total column of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere need an initial guess of the vertical distribution of those gases to start from. We have developed an approach to provide those initial guess profiles that uses readily available meteorological data as input. This lets us make these guesses without simulating them with a global model. The profiles generated this way match independent observations well.
Hao Guo, Clare M. Flynn, Michael J. Prather, Sarah A. Strode, Stephen D. Steenrod, Louisa Emmons, Forrest Lacey, Jean-Francois Lamarque, Arlene M. Fiore, Gus Correa, Lee T. Murray, Glenn M. Wolfe, Jason M. St. Clair, Michelle Kim, John Crounse, Glenn Diskin, Joshua DiGangi, Bruce C. Daube, Roisin Commane, Kathryn McKain, Jeff Peischl, Thomas B. Ryerson, Chelsea Thompson, Thomas F. Hanisco, Donald Blake, Nicola J. Blake, Eric C. Apel, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, James W. Elkins, Eric J. Hintsa, Fred L. Moore, and Steven C. Wofsy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 99–117, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-99-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-99-2023, 2023
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We have prepared a unique and unusual result from the recent ATom aircraft mission: a measurement-based derivation of the production and loss rates of ozone and methane over the ocean basins. These are the key products of chemistry models used in assessments but have thus far lacked observational metrics. It also shows the scales of variability of atmospheric chemical rates and provides a major challenge to the atmospheric models.
Ali Jalali, Kaley A. Walker, Kimberly Strong, Rebecca R. Buchholz, Merritt N. Deeter, Debra Wunch, Sébastien Roche, Tyler Wizenberg, Erik Lutsch, Erin McGee, Helen M. Worden, Pierre Fogal, and James R. Drummond
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6837–6863, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6837-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6837-2022, 2022
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This study validates MOPITT version 8 carbon monoxide measurements over the Canadian high Arctic for the period 2006 to 2019. The MOPITT products from different detector pixels and channels are compared with ground-based measurements from the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) in Eureka, Nunavut, Canada. These results show good consistency between the satellite and ground-based measurements and provide guidance on the usage of these MOPITT data at high latitudes.
Lu Shen, Ritesh Gautam, Mark Omara, Daniel Zavala-Araiza, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Tia R. Scarpelli, Alba Lorente, David Lyon, Jianxiong Sheng, Daniel J. Varon, Hannah Nesser, Zhen Qu, Xiao Lu, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Steven P. Hamburg, and Daniel J. Jacob
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 11203–11215, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11203-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11203-2022, 2022
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We use 22 months of TROPOMI satellite observations to quantity methane emissions from the oil (O) and natural gas (G) sector in the US and Canada at the scale of both individual basins as well as country-wide aggregates. We find that O/G-related methane emissions are underestimated in these inventories by 80 % for the US and 40 % for Canada, and 70 % of the underestimate in the US is from five O/G basins, including Permian, Haynesville, Anadarko, Eagle Ford, and Barnett.
Daniel J. Jacob, Daniel J. Varon, Daniel H. Cusworth, Philip E. Dennison, Christian Frankenberg, Ritesh Gautam, Luis Guanter, John Kelley, Jason McKeever, Lesley E. Ott, Benjamin Poulter, Zhen Qu, Andrew K. Thorpe, John R. Worden, and Riley M. Duren
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9617–9646, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9617-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9617-2022, 2022
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We review the capability of satellite observations of atmospheric methane to quantify methane emissions on all scales. We cover retrieval methods, precision requirements, inverse methods for inferring emissions, source detection thresholds, and observations of system completeness. We show that current instruments already enable quantification of regional and national emissions including contributions from large point sources. Coverage and resolution will increase significantly in coming years.
Kang Sun, Mahdi Yousefi, Christopher Chan Miller, Kelly Chance, Gonzalo González Abad, Iouli E. Gordon, Xiong Liu, Ewan O'Sullivan, Christopher E. Sioris, and Steven C. Wofsy
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3721–3745, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3721-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3721-2022, 2022
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This study of upper atmospheric airglow from oxygen is motivated by the need to measure oxygen simultaneously with methane and CO2 in satellite remote sensing. We provide an accurate understanding of the spatial, temporal, and spectral distribution of airglow emissions, which will help in the satellite remote sensing of greenhouse gases and constraining the chemical and physical processes in the upper atmosphere.
Carlos Alberti, Frank Hase, Matthias Frey, Darko Dubravica, Thomas Blumenstock, Angelika Dehn, Paolo Castracane, Gregor Surawicz, Roland Harig, Bianca C. Baier, Caroline Bès, Jianrong Bi, Hartmut Boesch, André Butz, Zhaonan Cai, Jia Chen, Sean M. Crowell, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Dragos Ene, Jonathan E. Franklin, Omaira García, David Griffith, Bruno Grouiez, Michel Grutter, Abdelhamid Hamdouni, Sander Houweling, Neil Humpage, Nicole Jacobs, Sujong Jeong, Lilian Joly, Nicholas B. Jones, Denis Jouglet, Rigel Kivi, Ralph Kleinschek, Morgan Lopez, Diogo J. Medeiros, Isamu Morino, Nasrin Mostafavipak, Astrid Müller, Hirofumi Ohyama, Paul I. Palmer, Mahesh Pathakoti, David F. Pollard, Uwe Raffalski, Michel Ramonet, Robbie Ramsay, Mahesh Kumar Sha, Kei Shiomi, William Simpson, Wolfgang Stremme, Youwen Sun, Hiroshi Tanimoto, Yao Té, Gizaw Mengistu Tsidu, Voltaire A. Velazco, Felix Vogel, Masataka Watanabe, Chong Wei, Debra Wunch, Marcia Yamasoe, Lu Zhang, and Johannes Orphal
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2433–2463, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2433-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2433-2022, 2022
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Space-borne greenhouse gas missions require ground-based validation networks capable of providing fiducial reference measurements. Here, considerable refinements of the calibration procedures for the COllaborative Carbon Column Observing Network (COCCON) are presented. Laboratory and solar side-by-side procedures for the characterization of the spectrometers have been refined and extended. Revised calibration factors for XCO2, XCO and XCH4 are provided, incorporating 47 new spectrometers.
Lei Hu, Stephen A. Montzka, Fred Moore, Eric Hintsa, Geoff Dutton, M. Carolina Siso, Kirk Thoning, Robert W. Portmann, Kathryn McKain, Colm Sweeney, Isaac Vimont, David Nance, Bradley Hall, and Steven Wofsy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 2891–2907, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2891-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2891-2022, 2022
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The unexpected increase in CFC-11 emissions between 2012 and 2017 resulted in concerns about delaying the stratospheric ozone recovery. Although the subsequent decline of CFC-11 emissions indicated a mitigation in part to this problem, the regions fully responsible for these large emission changes were unclear. Here, our new estimate, based on atmospheric measurements from two global campaigns and from NOAA, suggests Asia primarily contributed to the global CFC-11 emission rise during 2012–2017.
Xiao Lu, Daniel J. Jacob, Haolin Wang, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Yuzhong Zhang, Tia R. Scarpelli, Lu Shen, Zhen Qu, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Hannah Nesser, A. Anthony Bloom, Shuang Ma, John R. Worden, Shaojia Fan, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, Ritesh Gautam, Deborah Gordon, Michael D. Moran, Frances Reuland, Claudia A. Octaviano Villasana, and Arlyn Andrews
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 395–418, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-395-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-395-2022, 2022
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We evaluate methane emissions and trends for 2010–2017 in the gridded national emission inventories for the United States, Canada, and Mexico by inversion of in situ and satellite methane observations. We find that anthropogenic methane emissions for all three countries are underestimated in the national inventories, largely driven by oil emissions. Anthropogenic methane emissions in the US peak in 2014, in contrast to the report of a steadily decreasing trend over 2010–2017 from the US EPA.
Eric J. Hintsa, Fred L. Moore, Dale F. Hurst, Geoff S. Dutton, Bradley D. Hall, J. David Nance, Ben R. Miller, Stephen A. Montzka, Laura P. Wolton, Audra McClure-Begley, James W. Elkins, Emrys G. Hall, Allen F. Jordan, Andrew W. Rollins, Troy D. Thornberry, Laurel A. Watts, Chelsea R. Thompson, Jeff Peischl, Ilann Bourgeois, Thomas B. Ryerson, Bruce C. Daube, Yenny Gonzalez Ramos, Roisin Commane, Gregory W. Santoni, Jasna V. Pittman, Steven C. Wofsy, Eric Kort, Glenn S. Diskin, and T. Paul Bui
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6795–6819, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6795-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6795-2021, 2021
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We built UCATS to study atmospheric chemistry and transport. It has measured trace gases including CFCs, N2O, SF6, CH4, CO, and H2 with gas chromatography, as well as ozone and water vapor. UCATS has been part of missions to study the tropical tropopause; transport of air into the stratosphere; greenhouse gases, transport, and chemistry in the troposphere; and ozone chemistry, on both piloted and unmanned aircraft. Its design, capabilities, and some results are shown and described here.
Charles A. Brock, Karl D. Froyd, Maximilian Dollner, Christina J. Williamson, Gregory Schill, Daniel M. Murphy, Nicholas J. Wagner, Agnieszka Kupc, Jose L. Jimenez, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Benjamin A. Nault, Jason C. Schroder, Douglas A. Day, Derek J. Price, Bernadett Weinzierl, Joshua P. Schwarz, Joseph M. Katich, Siyuan Wang, Linghan Zeng, Rodney Weber, Jack Dibb, Eric Scheuer, Glenn S. Diskin, Joshua P. DiGangi, ThaoPaul Bui, Jonathan M. Dean-Day, Chelsea R. Thompson, Jeff Peischl, Thomas B. Ryerson, Ilann Bourgeois, Bruce C. Daube, Róisín Commane, and Steven C. Wofsy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15023–15063, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15023-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15023-2021, 2021
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The Atmospheric Tomography Mission was an airborne study that mapped the chemical composition of the remote atmosphere. From this, we developed a comprehensive description of aerosol properties that provides a unique, global-scale dataset against which models can be compared. The data show the polluted nature of the remote atmosphere in the Northern Hemisphere and quantify the contributions of sea salt, dust, soot, biomass burning particles, and pollution particles to the haziness of the sky.
Mahesh Kumar Sha, Bavo Langerock, Jean-François L. Blavier, Thomas Blumenstock, Tobias Borsdorff, Matthias Buschmann, Angelika Dehn, Martine De Mazière, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Dietrich G. Feist, Omaira E. García, David W. T. Griffith, Michel Grutter, James W. Hannigan, Frank Hase, Pauli Heikkinen, Christian Hermans, Laura T. Iraci, Pascal Jeseck, Nicholas Jones, Rigel Kivi, Nicolas Kumps, Jochen Landgraf, Alba Lorente, Emmanuel Mahieu, Maria V. Makarova, Johan Mellqvist, Jean-Marc Metzger, Isamu Morino, Tomoo Nagahama, Justus Notholt, Hirofumi Ohyama, Ivan Ortega, Mathias Palm, Christof Petri, David F. Pollard, Markus Rettinger, John Robinson, Sébastien Roche, Coleen M. Roehl, Amelie N. Röhling, Constantina Rousogenous, Matthias Schneider, Kei Shiomi, Dan Smale, Wolfgang Stremme, Kimberly Strong, Ralf Sussmann, Yao Té, Osamu Uchino, Voltaire A. Velazco, Corinne Vigouroux, Mihalis Vrekoussis, Pucai Wang, Thorsten Warneke, Tyler Wizenberg, Debra Wunch, Shoma Yamanouchi, Yang Yang, and Minqiang Zhou
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6249–6304, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6249-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6249-2021, 2021
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This paper presents, for the first time, Sentinel-5 Precursor methane and carbon monoxide validation results covering a period from November 2017 to September 2020. For this study, we used global TCCON and NDACC-IRWG network data covering a wide range of atmospheric and surface conditions across different terrains. We also show the influence of a priori alignment, smoothing uncertainties and the sensitivity of the validation results towards the application of advanced co-location criteria.
Hao Guo, Clare M. Flynn, Michael J. Prather, Sarah A. Strode, Stephen D. Steenrod, Louisa Emmons, Forrest Lacey, Jean-Francois Lamarque, Arlene M. Fiore, Gus Correa, Lee T. Murray, Glenn M. Wolfe, Jason M. St. Clair, Michelle Kim, John Crounse, Glenn Diskin, Joshua DiGangi, Bruce C. Daube, Roisin Commane, Kathryn McKain, Jeff Peischl, Thomas B. Ryerson, Chelsea Thompson, Thomas F. Hanisco, Donald Blake, Nicola J. Blake, Eric C. Apel, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, James W. Elkins, Eric J. Hintsa, Fred L. Moore, and Steven Wofsy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13729–13746, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13729-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13729-2021, 2021
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The NASA Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) mission built a climatology of the chemical composition of tropospheric air parcels throughout the middle of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The level of detail allows us to reconstruct the photochemical budgets of O3 and CH4 over these vast, remote regions. We find that most of the chemical heterogeneity is captured at the resolution used in current global chemistry models and that the majority of reactivity occurs in the
hottest20 % of parcels.
Taylor S. Jones, Jonathan E. Franklin, Jia Chen, Florian Dietrich, Kristian D. Hajny, Johannes C. Paetzold, Adrian Wenzel, Conor Gately, Elaine Gottlieb, Harrison Parker, Manvendra Dubey, Frank Hase, Paul B. Shepson, Levi H. Mielke, and Steven C. Wofsy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13131–13147, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13131-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13131-2021, 2021
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Methane emissions from leaks in natural gas pipes are often a large source in urban areas, but they are difficult to measure on a city-wide scale. Here we use an array of innovative methane sensors distributed around the city of Indianapolis and a new method of combining their data with an atmospheric model to accurately determine the magnitude of these emissions, which are about 70 % larger than predicted. This method can serve as a framework for cities trying to account for their emissions.
Yenny Gonzalez, Róisín Commane, Ethan Manninen, Bruce C. Daube, Luke D. Schiferl, J. Barry McManus, Kathryn McKain, Eric J. Hintsa, James W. Elkins, Stephen A. Montzka, Colm Sweeney, Fred Moore, Jose L. Jimenez, Pedro Campuzano Jost, Thomas B. Ryerson, Ilann Bourgeois, Jeff Peischl, Chelsea R. Thompson, Eric Ray, Paul O. Wennberg, John Crounse, Michelle Kim, Hannah M. Allen, Paul A. Newman, Britton B. Stephens, Eric C. Apel, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, Benjamin A. Nault, Eric Morgan, and Steven C. Wofsy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11113–11132, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11113-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11113-2021, 2021
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Vertical profiles of N2O and a variety of chemical species and aerosols were collected nearly from pole to pole over the oceans during the NASA Atmospheric Tomography mission. We observed that tropospheric N2O variability is strongly driven by the influence of stratospheric air depleted in N2O, especially at middle and high latitudes. We also traced the origins of biomass burning and industrial emissions and investigated their impact on the variability of tropospheric N2O.
Carly Staebell, Kang Sun, Jenna Samra, Jonathan Franklin, Christopher Chan Miller, Xiong Liu, Eamon Conway, Kelly Chance, Scott Milligan, and Steven Wofsy
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3737–3753, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3737-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3737-2021, 2021
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Given the high global warming potential of CH4, the identification and subsequent reduction of anthropogenic CH4 emissions presents a significant opportunity for climate change mitigation. Satellites are an integral piece of this puzzle, providing data to quantify emissions at a variety of spatial scales. This work presents the spectral calibration of MethaneAIR, the airborne instrument used as a test bed for the forthcoming MethaneSAT satellite.
David R. Lyon, Benjamin Hmiel, Ritesh Gautam, Mark Omara, Katherine A. Roberts, Zachary R. Barkley, Kenneth J. Davis, Natasha L. Miles, Vanessa C. Monteiro, Scott J. Richardson, Stephen Conley, Mackenzie L. Smith, Daniel J. Jacob, Lu Shen, Daniel J. Varon, Aijun Deng, Xander Rudelis, Nikhil Sharma, Kyle T. Story, Adam R. Brandt, Mary Kang, Eric A. Kort, Anthony J. Marchese, and Steven P. Hamburg
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6605–6626, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6605-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6605-2021, 2021
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The Permian Basin (USA) is the world’s largest oil field. We use tower- and aircraft-based approaches to measure how methane emissions in the Permian Basin changed throughout 2020. In early 2020, 3.3 % of the region’s gas was emitted; then in spring 2020, the loss rate temporarily dropped to 1.9 % as oil price crashed. We find this short-term reduction to be a result of reduced well development, less gas flaring, and fewer abnormal events despite minimal reductions in oil and gas production.
Sébastien Roche, Kimberly Strong, Debra Wunch, Joseph Mendonca, Colm Sweeney, Bianca Baier, Sébastien C. Biraud, Joshua L. Laughner, Geoffrey C. Toon, and Brian J. Connor
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3087–3118, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3087-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3087-2021, 2021
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We evaluate CO2 profile retrievals from ground-based near-infrared solar absorption spectra after implementing several improvements to the GFIT2 retrieval algorithm. Realistic errors in the a priori temperature profile (~ 2 °C in the lower troposphere) are found to be the leading source of differences between the retrieved and true CO2 profiles, differences that are larger than typical CO2 variability. A temperature retrieval or correction is critical to improve CO2 profile retrieval results.
Cited articles
Alvarez, R. A., Zavala-Araiza, D., Lyon, D. R., Allen, D. T., Barkley, Z. R., Brandt, A. R., Davis, K. J., Herndon, S. C., Jacob, D. J., Karion, A., Kort, E. A., Lamb, B. K., Lauvaux, T., Maasakkers, J. D., Marchese, A. J., Omara, M., Pacala, S. W., Peischl, J., Robinson, A. L., Shepson, P. B., Sweeney, C., Townsend-Small, A., Wofsy, S. C., and Hamburg, S. P.: Assessment of methane emissions from the U.S. oil and gas supply chain, Science, 361, 186–188, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aar7204, 2018.
Barkley, Z., Davis, K., Miles, N., Richardson, S., Deng, A., Hmiel, B., Lyon, D., and Lauvaux, T.: Quantification of oil and gas methane emissions in the Delaware and Marcellus basins using a network of continuous tower-based measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 6127–6144, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6127-2023, 2023.
Barkley, Z. R., Lauvaux, T., Davis, K. J., Deng, A., Miles, N. L., Richardson, S. J., Cao, Y., Sweeney, C., Karion, A., Smith, M., Kort, E. A., Schwietzke, S., Murphy, T., Cervone, G., Martins, D., and Maasakkers, J. D.: Quantifying methane emissions from natural gas production in north-eastern Pennsylvania, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 13941–13966, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-13941-2017, 2017.
Barkley, Z. R., Lauvaux, T., Davis, K. J., Deng, A., Fried, A., Weibring, P., Richter, D., Walega, J. G., DiGangi, J., Ehrman, S. H., Ren, X., and Dickerson, R. R.: Estimating Methane Emissions From Underground Coal and Natural Gas Production in Southwestern Pennsylvania, Geophys. Res. Lett., 46, 4531–4540, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082131, 2019.
Brandt, A. R., Heath, G. A., Kort, E. A., O'Sullivan, F., Pétron, G., Jordaan, S. M., Tans, P., Wilcox, J., Gopstein, A. M., Arent, D., Wofsy, S., Brown, N. J., Bradley, R., Stucky, G. D., Eardley, D., and Harriss, R.: Methane Leaks from North American Natural Gas Systems, Science, 343, 733–735, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1247045, 2014.
Chan Miller, C., Roche, S., Wilzewski, J. S., Liu, X., Chance, K., Souri, A. H., Conway, E., Luo, B., Samra, J., Hawthorne, J., Sun, K., Staebell, C., Chulakadabba, A., Sargent, M., Benmergui, J. S., Franklin, J. E., Daube, B. C., Li, Y., Laughner, J. L., Baier, B. C., Gautam, R., Omara, M., and Wofsy, S. C.: Methane retrieval from MethaneAIR using the CO2 proxy approach: a demonstration for the upcoming MethaneSAT mission, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5429–5454, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5429-2024, 2024.
Chulakadabba, A., Sargent, M., Lauvaux, T., Benmergui, J. S., Franklin, J. E., Chan Miller, C., Wilzewski, J. S., Roche, S., Conway, E., Souri, A. H., Sun, K., Luo, B., Hawthrone, J., Samra, J., Daube, B. C., Liu, X., Chance, K., Li, Y., Gautam, R., Omara, M., Rutherford, J. S., Sherwin, E. D., Brandt, A., and Wofsy, S. C.: Methane point source quantification using MethaneAIR: a new airborne imaging spectrometer, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5771–5785, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5771-2023, 2023.
Conrad, B. M., Tyner, D. R., Li, H. Z., Xie, D., and Johnson, M. R.: A measurement-based upstream oil and gas methane inventory for Alberta, Canada reveals higher emissions and different sources than official estimates, Commun. Earth Environ., 4, 1–10, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-01081-0, 2023a.
Conrad, B. M., Tyner, D. R., and Johnson, M. R.: The Futility of Relative Methane Reduction Targets in the Absence of Measurement-Based Inventories, Environ. Sci. Technol., https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c07722, 2023b.
Conway, E. K., Souri, A. H., Benmergui, J., Sun, K., Liu, X., Staebell, C., Chan Miller, C., Franklin, J., Samra, J., Wilzewski, J., Roche, S., Luo, B., Chulakadabba, A., Sargent, M., Hohl, J., Daube, B., Gordon, I., Chance, K., and Wofsy, S.: Level0 to Level1B processor for MethaneAIR, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1347–1362, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1347-2024, 2024.
Crippa, M., Guizzardi, D., Pagani, F., Schiavina, M., Melchiorri, M., Pisoni, E., Graziosi, F., Muntean, M., Maes, J., Dijkstra, L., Van Damme, M., Clarisse, L., and Coheur, P.: Insights into the spatial distribution of global, national, and subnational greenhouse gas emissions in the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR v8.0), Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 2811–2830, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2811-2024, 2024.
Cusworth, D. H., Thorpe, A. K., Ayasse, A. K., Stepp, D., Heckler, J., Asner, G. P., Miller, C. E., Yadav, V., Chapman, J. W., Eastwood, M. L., Green, R. O., Hmiel, B., Lyon, D. R., and Duren, R. M.: Strong methane point sources contribute a disproportionate fraction of total emissions across multiple basins in the United States, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 119, e2202338119, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2202338119, 2022.
Cusworth, D. H., Duren, R. M., Ayasse, A. K., Jiorle, R., Howell, K., Aubrey, A., Green, R. O., Eastwood, M. L., Chapman, J. W., Thorpe, A. K., Heckler, J., Asner, G. P., Smith, M. L., Thoma, E., Krause, M. J., Heins, D., and Thorneloe, S.: Quantifying methane emissions from United States landfills, Science, 383, 1499–1504, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adi7735, 2024.
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Short summary
Reducing methane emissions from the oil/gas sector can mitigate near-term climate warming and the losses of a valuable energy resource. We analyze data collected using MethaneAIR to assess methane emissions in regions accounting for 70 % of United States onshore oil/gas production in 2023. We estimate total oil/gas methane emissions across all measured regions to be ~8 Tg/yr, equivalent to 1.6 % of produced gas, which is five times higher than reported by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Reducing methane emissions from the oil/gas sector can mitigate near-term climate warming and...
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