Articles | Volume 26, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-8601-2026
© 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-26-8601-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
19 Jun 2026
Research article |
| 19 Jun 2026
| 19 Jun 2026
Global methane emission estimates from a dual-isotope inversion: new constraints from δD-CH4
Bibhasvata Dasgupta
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute for Marine and Atmospheric research Utrecht (IMAU), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Sudhanshu Pandey
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
Sander Houweling
Department of Earth Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Malika Menoud
Institute for Marine and Atmospheric research Utrecht (IMAU), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Carina van der Veen
Institute for Marine and Atmospheric research Utrecht (IMAU), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
John Miller
Global Monitoring Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO, 80205, USA
Ben Riddell-Young
Global Monitoring Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, CO, 80205, USA
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA
Sylvia Englund Michel
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
Peter Sperlich
New Zealand Institute for Earth Science Ltd., 301 Evans Bay Parade, Wellington 6023, Aotearoa New Zealand
Shinji Morimoto
Center for Atmospheric and Oceanic Studies, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
Ryo Fujita
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
New Zealand Institute for Earth Science Ltd., 301 Evans Bay Parade, Wellington 6023, Aotearoa New Zealand
Stephen Platt
Meteorological Research Institute, Japan Meteorological Agency, Tsukuba, Japan
Christine Groot Zwaaftink
Meteorological Research Institute, Japan Meteorological Agency, Tsukuba, Japan
Ingeborg Levin
Institut für Umweltphysik, Heidelberg University, INF 229, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
deceased
Cordelia Veidt
Institut für Umweltphysik, Heidelberg University, INF 229, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
Cathrine Lund Myhre
NILU, P.O. Box 100, 2027 Kjeller, Norway
Ceres Woolley Maisch
Institute for Marine and Atmospheric research Utrecht (IMAU), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Centre of Climate, Ocean and Atmosphere, Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK
Rebecca Fisher
Centre of Climate, Ocean and Atmosphere, Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK
Euan G. Nisbet
Centre of Climate, Ocean and Atmosphere, Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK
James France
Centre of Climate, Ocean and Atmosphere, Department of Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK
Rowena Moss
New Zealand Institute for Earth Science Ltd., 301 Evans Bay Parade, Wellington 6023, Aotearoa New Zealand
Nicola Warwick
Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1EW, UK
Thomas Röckmann
Institute for Marine and Atmospheric research Utrecht (IMAU), Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
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Audrey McManemin, Catherine Juéry, Vincent Blandin, James L. France, Philippine Burdeau, and Adam R. Brandt
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Paul Waldmann, Max Eckl, Leon Knez, Klaus-Dirk Gottschaldt, Alina Fiehn, Christian Mallaun, Michał Gałkowski, Christoph Kiemle, Ronald Hutjes, Thomas Röckmann, Huilin Chen, and Anke Roiger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 185–210, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-185-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-185-2026, 2026
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Eleftherios Ioannidis, Antoon Meesters, Michael Steiner, Dominik Brunner, Friedemann Reum, Isabelle Pison, Antoine Berchet, Rona Thompson, Espen Sollum, Frank-Thomas Koch, Christoph Gerbig, Fenjuan Wang, Shamil Maksyutov, Aki Tsuruta, Maria Tenkanen, Tuula Aalto, Guillaume Monteil, Hong Lin, Ge Ren, Marko Scholze, and Sander Houweling
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This paper describes a detailed study on CH4 European emissions, using different methodologies (9 total inverse models). The study spans over 15 years and provides detailed information on European CH4 emission trends and seasonality, using in-situ data, including Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS) network. Our results highlight the importance of improving details in the inversion setup, such as the treatment of lateral boundary conditions to narrow the uncertainty ranges further.
Robbert P. J. Moonen, Getachew A. Adnew, Jordi Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, David J. Bonell Fontas, and Thomas Röckmann
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We used high-frequency H₂O and CO₂ isotope measurements at ATTO to separate water vapour and carbon dioxide fluxes into their component processes. During midday, ~95 % of evapotranspiration came from plant transpiration. Isotopes also revealed the balance between photosynthesis and respiration, showing strong sensitivity to leaf CO₂ ratios. These results improve understanding of Amazon ecosystem function.
Taku Umezawa, Yukio Terao, Masahito Ueyama, Satoshi Kameyama, Mark Lunt, and James Lawrence France
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 18015–18029, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-18015-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-18015-2025, 2025
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Effective mitigation actions require accurate understanding of methane emission characteristics in cities. We conducted atmospheric methane and ethane measurements using a vehicle in the world’s largest megacity, Tokyo, to identify locations and types of emissions and to examine preliminary estimates of their magnitudes. Waste sectors and fugitive natural gas emissions were found to be the major urban sources, and our data suggested need of improved accounting of natural gas related emissions.
Sara M. Defratyka, Julianne M. Fernandez, Getachew A. Adnew, Guannan Dong, Peter M. J. Douglas, Daniel L. Eldridge, Giuseppe Etiope, Thomas Giunta, Mojhgan A. Haghnegahdar, Alexander N. Hristov, Nicole Hultquist, Iñaki Vadillo, Josue Jautzy, Ji-Hyun Kim, Jabrane Labidi, Ellen Lalk, Wil Leavitt, Jiawen Li, Li-Hung Lin, Jiarui Liu, Lucía Ojeda, Shuhei Ono, Jeemin H. Rhim, Thomas Röckmann, Barbara Sherwood Lollar, Malavika Sivan, Jiayang Sun, Gregory T. Ventura, David T. Wang, Edward D. Young, Naizhong Zhang, and Tim Arnold
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 6889–6910, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-6889-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-6889-2025, 2025
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Measurement of methane’s doubly substituted isotopologues at natural abundances holds promise for better constraining the Earth’s atmospheric CH4 budget. We compiled 1475 measurements from field samples and laboratory experiments, conducted since 2014, to facilitate the differentiation of CH4 formation pathways and processes, to identify existing gaps limiting application of Δ13CH3D and Δ12CH2D2, and to develop isotope ratio source signature inputs for global CH4 flux modelling.
Thomas C. Moore, James R. Hopkins, Will S. Drysdale, Stuart Young, Sri Hapsari Budisulistiorini, Marvin D. Shaw, James L. France, David Lowry, and James D. Lee
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5348, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5348, 2025
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The Global Methane Pledge has led to increased effort to reduce methane emissions globally. One sector under increased scrutiny is the oil and gas industry, a major source of methane in this industry is from fugitive emissions (gas leaks). Locating these from pipework in cities requires mobile measurements. This work adapts previous methodologies to detect smaller leaks and suggests previous methods may detect 53.5 % less gas leaks.
Bibhasvata Dasgupta, Malika Menoud, Carina van der Veen, Ingeborg Levin, Cordelia Veidt, Heiko Moossen, Sylvia Englund Michel, Peter Sperlich, Shinji Morimoto, Ryo Fujita, Taku Umezawa, Stephen Platt, Christine Groot Zwaaftink, Cathrine Lund Myhre, Rebecca Fisher, David Lowry, Euan G. Nisbet, James France, Ceres Woolley Maisch, Gordon Brailsford, Rowena Moss, Daisuke Goto, Sudhanshu Pandey, Sander Houweling, Nicola Warwick, and Thomas Röckmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 6591–6607, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-6591-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-6591-2025, 2025
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We combined long-term methane mole fraction and isotope measurements from eight laboratories that sample high-latitude stations to compare, offset correct and harmonise the datasets into a hemisphere merged timeseries. Because each laboratory uses slightly different methods, we adjusted the data to make it directly comparable. This allowed us to create a consistent record of atmospheric methane concentration and its isotopes from 1988 to 2023.
Scott D. Chambers, Ute Karstens, Alan D. Griffiths, Stefan Röttger, Arnoud Frumau, Christopher T. Roulston, Peter Sperlich, Felix Vogel, Agnieszka Podstawczyńska, Dafina Kikaj, Maksym Gachkivskyi, Michel Ramonet, Blagoj Mitrevski, Janja Vaupotič, Xuemeng Chen, and Annette Röttger
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5042, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5042, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT).
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The Radon Tracer Method (RTM) is a top-down approach to estimate greenhouse gas emissions. While simple in principle, incorrect use can complicate interpretation of results. Based on observations from a range of contrasting sites, this article reviews the underlying assumptions and key considerations for applying the RTM. It also introduces the concept of coupling RTM analyses with nocturnal stability classification, to reduce uncertainty of fetch estimates and improve interpretation of results.
Liang Feng, Paul I. Palmer, Luke Smallman, Jingfeng Xiao, Paolo Cristofanelli, Ove Hermansen, John Lee, Casper Labuschagne, Simonetta Montaguti, Steffen M. Noe, Stephen M. Platt, Xinrong Ren, Martin Steinbacher, and Irène Xueref-Remy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 13053–13076, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-13053-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-13053-2025, 2025
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The year 2023 saw unexpectedly large global atmospheric CO2 growth. Satellite data reveal a role for increased tropical emissions. Larger emissions over eastern Brazil can be explained by warmer temperatures, which has led to exceptional drought, while hydrological changes play more of a role in emission increases elsewhere in the tropics. Broadly, we find that this situation continues into 2024.
Sophie L. Baartman, Steven M. Driever, Maarten L. J. Wassenaar, Linda M. J. Kooijmans, Nerea Ubierna, Leon Mossink, Maria E. Popa, Ara Cho, Lisa Wingate, Thomas Röckmann, Steven M. A. C. van Heuven, and Maarten C. Krol
Biogeosciences, 22, 5683–5703, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-5683-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-5683-2025, 2025
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Carbonyl sulfide (COS) is a proposed tracer for gross primary production. For the first time, COS and carbon dioxide (CO2) uptake fluxes and isotope discrimination were jointly measured in sunflower and papyrus plants, using a flow-through plant chamber approach and varying light availability. COS isotope discrimination did not differ significantly between the species, nor with changes in light. CO2 fluxes and isotope values provided additional valuable information for data interpretation.
Rona L. Thompson, Nalini Krishnankutty, Ignacio Pisso, Philipp Schneider, Kerstin Stebel, Motoki Sasakawa, Andreas Stohl, and Stephen M. Platt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 12737–12751, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-12737-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-12737-2025, 2025
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Satellite remote sensing of atmospheric mixing ratios of greenhouse gases (GHGs) can provide information on their emissions. This study presents a novel method to use atmospheric mixing ratios observed by satellites with a Lagrangian model of atmospheric transport to estimate GHG emissions. This method can reduce model errors resulting from how an observation is represented by an atmospheric model, thereby helping to reduce the errors in the GHG emissions derived.
Masahito Ueyama, Taku Umezawa, Yukio Terao, Mark Lunt, and James Lawrence France
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 12513–12534, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-12513-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-12513-2025, 2025
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Methane (CH4) emissions were measured in the megacity of Osaka, Japan, using mobile and eddy covariance methods. The CH4 emissions were much higher than those reported in local inventories, with natural gas contributing up to 74 % of the emissions. Several CH4 sources not accounted for in current inventories were identified. These results emphasize the need for more comprehensive emissions tracking in urban areas to enhance climate change mitigation efforts.
Robbert P. J. Moonen, Getachew A. Adnew, Jordi Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, Oscar K. Hartogensis, David J. Bonell Fontas, Shujiro Komiya, Sam P. Jones, and Thomas Röckmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 12197–12212, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-12197-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-12197-2025, 2025
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Understory ejections are distinct turbulent features emerging in prime tall-forest ecosystems. We share a method to isolate understory ejections based on H2O–CO2 anomaly quadrants. From these, we calculate the flux contributions of understory ejections and all flux quadrants. In addition, we show that a distinctly depleted isotopic composition can be found in the ejected water vapour. Finally, we explored the role of clouds as a potential trigger for understory ejections.
Satoshi Sugawara, Shinji Morimoto, Shigeyuki Ishidoya, Taku Umezawa, Shuji Aoki, Takakiyo Nakazawa, Sakae Toyoda, Kentaro Ishijima, Daisuke Goto, and Hideyuki Honda
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 11895–11917, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-11895-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-11895-2025, 2025
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We have collected stratospheric air samples using balloon-borne cryogenic samplers over Japan since 1985 and analyzed them for δ13CO2. δ13CO2 has decreased through time in the mid-stratosphere with an average rate of change of −0.026 ± 0.001 ‰ yr−1. We found that stratospheric δ13CO2 variations are governed by airborne production of 13C-depleted CO2 by CH4 oxidation, gravitational separation, and propagation of the decreasing tropospheric δ13CO2 trend into the stratosphere.
Bianca C. Baier, John B. Miller, Colm Sweeney, Scott J. Lehman, Chad Wolak, Joshua P. DiGangi, Yonghoon Choi, Kenneth Davis, Sha Feng, and Thomas Lauvaux
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 10479–10497, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-10479-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-10479-2025, 2025
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CO2 radiocarbon content (Δ14CO2) is a unique tracer that helps to accurately quantify anthropogenic CO2 emitted into the atmosphere. Δ14CO2 measured in airborne flask samples is used to distinguish fossil versus biogenic CO2 sources. Mid-Atlantic US CO2 variability is found to be driven by the biosphere. Errors in modeled fossil fuel CO2 are evaluated using Δ14CO2 airborne data as an avenue to improving future regional models of atmospheric CO2 transport.
Mark F. Lunt, Stephen J. Harris, Jorg Hacker, Ian Joynes, Tim Robertson, Simon Thompson, and James L. France
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 4413–4431, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-4413-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-4413-2025, 2025
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To ensure robust use of measurement-based approaches to estimate methane emissions from individual sites, it is important to validate the accuracy of the methods used in the field. By using co-emitted carbon dioxide, we evaluate the performance of one such quantification method at liquefied natural gas terminals. We further demonstrate the potential for a more efficient quantification approach via tracer correlation by considering the ratio of methane to carbon dioxide concentrations.
Christian Lewis, Rachel Corran, Sara E. Mikaloff-Fletcher, Erik Behrens, Rowena Moss, Gordon Brailsford, Andrew Lorrey, Margaret Norris, and Jocelyn Turnbull
Biogeosciences, 22, 4187–4201, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-4187-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-4187-2025, 2025
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The Southern Ocean carbon sink is a balance between two opposing forces: CO2 absorption at mid-latitudes and CO2 outgassing at high latitudes. Radiocarbon analysis can be used to constrain the latter, as upwelling waters outgas old CO2, diluting atmospheric radiocarbon content. We present tree-ring radiocarbon measurements from Aotearoa / New Zealand and Chile. We show that low radiocarbon in Aotearoa / New Zealand’s Motu Ihupuku / Campbell Island is linked to outgassing in the critical Antarctic Southern Zone.
Bibhasvata Dasgupta and Prasanta Sanyal
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3687, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3687, 2025
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Mountain forests cover a fifth of Earth’s woodlands but are fragile because of topography and climate sensitivity. To understand how temperature and rainfall affect plant nutrition, we studied 141 plant samples from 14 species along 3 Himalayan elevation gradients. We measured leaf carbon and nitrogen amounts and their natural markers tied to water use and soil. We found nitrogen varies more with heat and moisture than carbon, highlighting areas most at risk from shifting climate.
Judith Tettenborn, Daniel Zavala-Araiza, Daan Stroeken, Hossein Maazallahi, Carina van der Veen, Arjan Hensen, Ilona Velzeboer, Pim van den Bulk, Felix Vogel, Lawson Gillespie, Sebastien Ars, James France, David Lowry, Rebecca Fisher, and Thomas Röckmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 3569–3584, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3569-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3569-2025, 2025
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Measurements of methane with vehicle-based sensors are an effective method to identify and quantify leaks from urban gas distribution systems. We deliberately released methane in different environments and calibrated the response of different methane analysers when they transected the plumes in a vehicle. We derived an improved statistical function for consistent emission estimations using different instruments. Repeated transects reduce the uncertainty in emission rate estimates.
Arseniy Karagodin-Doyennel, Fredrik Jansson, Bart J. H. van Stratum, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Jordi Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, and Sander Houweling
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 4571–4599, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-4571-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-4571-2025, 2025
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We introduce a new simulation platform based on the Dutch Atmospheric Large-Eddy Simulation (DALES) to simulate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and their dispersion in turbulent environments at a hectometer resolution. This model incorporates both anthropogenic emission inventories and online ecosystem fluxes. Simulation results for the main urban area in the Netherlands demonstrate the strong potential of DALES to improve CO2 emission modeling and to support mitigation strategies.
Yosuke Niwa, Yasunori Tohjima, Yukio Terao, Tazu Saeki, Akihiko Ito, Taku Umezawa, Kyohei Yamada, Motoki Sasakawa, Toshinobu Machida, Shin-Ichiro Nakaoka, Hideki Nara, Hiroshi Tanimoto, Hitoshi Mukai, Yukio Yoshida, Shinji Morimoto, Shinya Takatsuji, Kazuhiro Tsuboi, Yousuke Sawa, Hidekazu Matsueda, Kentaro Ishijima, Ryo Fujita, Daisuke Goto, Xin Lan, Kenneth Schuldt, Michal Heliasz, Tobias Biermann, Lukasz Chmura, Jarsolaw Necki, Irène Xueref-Remy, and Damiano Sferlazzo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6757–6785, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6757-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6757-2025, 2025
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This study estimated regional and sectoral emission contributions to the unprecedented surge of atmospheric methane for 2020–2022. The methane is the second most important greenhouse gas, and its emissions reduction is urgently required to mitigate global warming. Numerical modeling-based estimates with three different sets of atmospheric observations consistently suggested large contributions of biogenic emissions from South Asia and Southeast Asia to the surge of atmospheric methane.
Beata Bukosa, Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher, Gordon Brailsford, Dan Smale, Elizabeth D. Keller, W. Troy Baisden, Miko U. F. Kirschbaum, Donna L. Giltrap, Lìyǐn Liáng, Stuart Moore, Rowena Moss, Sylvia Nichol, Jocelyn Turnbull, Alex Geddes, Daemon Kennett, Dóra Hidy, Zoltán Barcza, Louis A. Schipper, Aaron M. Wall, Shin-Ichiro Nakaoka, Hitoshi Mukai, and Andrea Brandon
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6445–6473, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6445-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6445-2025, 2025
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We used atmospheric measurements and inverse modelling to estimate New Zealand's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and removals from 2011 to 2020. Our study reveals that New Zealand's land absorbs more CO2 than previously estimated, particularly in areas dominated by indigenous forests. Our results highlight gaps in current national CO2 estimates and methods, suggesting a need for further research to improve emissions reports and refine approaches to track progress toward climate mitigation goals.
Getachew Agmuas Adnew, Gerbrand Koren, Neha Mehendale, Sergey Gromov, Maarten Krol, and Thomas Röckmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 2701–2719, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2701-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2701-2025, 2025
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This study presents high-precision measurements of ∆′17O(CO2). Key findings include the extension of the N2O–∆′17O correlation to the upper troposphere and the identification of significant differences in the N2O–∆′17O slope in StratoClim samples. Additionally, the ∆′17O measurements are used to estimate global stratospheric production and surface removal of ∆′17O, providing an independent estimate of global vegetation CO2 exchange.
Santiago Botía, Saqr Munassar, Thomas Koch, Danilo Custodio, Luana S. Basso, Shujiro Komiya, Jost V. Lavric, David Walter, Manuel Gloor, Giordane Martins, Stijn Naus, Gerbrand Koren, Ingrid T. Luijkx, Stijn Hantson, John B. Miller, Wouter Peters, Christian Rödenbeck, and Christoph Gerbig
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6219–6255, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6219-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6219-2025, 2025
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This study uses dry CO2 mole fractions from the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory together with airborne profiles to estimate net carbon exchange in tropical South America. We found that the biogeographic Amazon is a net carbon sink, while the Cerrado and Caatinga biomes are net carbon sources, resulting in an overall neutral balance. Finally, to further reduce the uncertainty in our estimates we call for an expansion of the monitoring capacity, especially in the Amazon–Andes foothills.
Gerrit Kuhlmann, Foteini Stavropoulou, Stefan Schwietzke, Daniel Zavala-Araiza, Andrew Thorpe, Andreas Hueni, Lukas Emmenegger, Andreea Calcan, Thomas Röckmann, and Dominik Brunner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5371–5385, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5371-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5371-2025, 2025
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A measurement campaign in 2019 found that methane emissions from oil and gas in Romania were significantly higher than reported. In 2021, our follow-up campaign using airborne remote sensing showed a marked decreases in emissions by 20 %–60 % due to improved infrastructure. The study highlights the importance of measurement-based emission monitoring and illustrates the value of a multi-scale assessment integrating ground-based observations with large-scale airborne remote sensing campaigns.
Tanja J. Schuck, Johannes Degen, Timo Keber, Katharina Meixner, Thomas Wagenhäuser, Mélanie Ghysels, Georges Durry, Nadir Amarouche, Alessandro Zanchetta, Steven van Heuven, Huilin Chen, Johannes C. Laube, Sophie L. Baartman, Carina van der Veen, Maria Elena Popa, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4333–4348, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4333-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4333-2025, 2025
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A balloon was launched in 2021 in the Arctic to carry instruments for trace gas measurements up to 32 km. One purpose was to compare measurement techniques. We focus on the major greenhouse gases. To measure these, air was sampled with the AirCore technique and with flask sampling, and samples were analysed after the flight. In flight, observations were done with an optical method. In a companion paper, we report on observations of chlorine and bromine containing trace gases.
Archana Dayalu, Marikate Mountain, Bharat Rastogi, John B. Miller, and Luciana Gatti
Biogeosciences, 22, 1509–1528, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1509-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-1509-2025, 2025
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The Amazon is facing unprecedented disturbance. Determining trends in Amazonia's carbon balance and its sensitivity to disturbance requires reliable vegetation models that adequately capture how its ecosystems exchange carbon with the atmosphere. Using ground- and satellite-based ecosystem products, we present an improved model of land–atmosphere vegetation carbon exchange across the Amazon. Our model agrees with independent aircraft observations from different locations.
Hossein Maazallahi, Foteini Stavropoulou, Samuel Jonson Sutanto, Michael Steiner, Dominik Brunner, Mariano Mertens, Patrick Jöckel, Antoon Visschedijk, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Stijn Dellaert, Nataly Velandia Salinas, Stefan Schwietzke, Daniel Zavala-Araiza, Sorin Ghemulet, Alexandru Pana, Magdalena Ardelean, Marius Corbu, Andreea Calcan, Stephen A. Conley, Mackenzie L. Smith, and Thomas Röckmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1497–1511, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1497-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1497-2025, 2025
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This article presents insights from airborne in situ measurements collected during the ROmanian Methane Emissions from Oil and gas (ROMEO) campaign supported by two models. Results reveal Romania's oil and gas methane emissions were significantly under-reported to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2019. A large underestimation was also found in the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) v7.0 for the study domain in the same year.
Pieter Rijsdijk, Henk Eskes, Arlene Dingemans, K. Folkert Boersma, Takashi Sekiya, Kazuyuki Miyazaki, and Sander Houweling
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 483–509, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-483-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-483-2025, 2025
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Clustering high-resolution satellite observations into superobservations improves model validation and data assimilation applications. In our paper, we derive quantitative uncertainties for satellite NO2 column observations based on knowledge of the retrievals, including a detailed analysis of spatial error correlations and representativity errors. The superobservations and uncertainty estimates are tested in a global chemical data assimilation system and are found to improve the forecasts.
Lucie Bakels, Daria Tatsii, Anne Tipka, Rona Thompson, Marina Dütsch, Michael Blaschek, Petra Seibert, Katharina Baier, Silvia Bucci, Massimo Cassiani, Sabine Eckhardt, Christine Groot Zwaaftink, Stephan Henne, Pirmin Kaufmann, Vincent Lechner, Christian Maurer, Marie D. Mulder, Ignacio Pisso, Andreas Plach, Rakesh Subramanian, Martin Vojta, and Andreas Stohl
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 7595–7627, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7595-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7595-2024, 2024
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Computer models are essential for improving our understanding of how gases and particles move in the atmosphere. We present an update of the atmospheric transport model FLEXPART. FLEXPART 11 is more accurate due to a reduced number of interpolations and a new scheme for wet deposition. It can simulate non-spherical aerosols and includes linear chemical reactions. It is parallelised using OpenMP and includes new user options. A new user manual details how to use FLEXPART 11.
Ana Maria Roxana Petrescu, Glen P. Peters, Richard Engelen, Sander Houweling, Dominik Brunner, Aki Tsuruta, Bradley Matthews, Prabir K. Patra, Dmitry Belikov, Rona L. Thompson, Lena Höglund-Isaksson, Wenxin Zhang, Arjo J. Segers, Giuseppe Etiope, Giancarlo Ciotoli, Philippe Peylin, Frédéric Chevallier, Tuula Aalto, Robbie M. Andrew, David Bastviken, Antoine Berchet, Grégoire Broquet, Giulia Conchedda, Stijn N. C. Dellaert, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Johannes Gütschow, Jean-Matthieu Haussaire, Ronny Lauerwald, Tiina Markkanen, Jacob C. A. van Peet, Isabelle Pison, Pierre Regnier, Espen Solum, Marko Scholze, Maria Tenkanen, Francesco N. Tubiello, Guido R. van der Werf, and John R. Worden
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 4325–4350, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4325-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-4325-2024, 2024
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This study provides an overview of data availability from observation- and inventory-based CH4 emission estimates. It systematically compares them and provides recommendations for robust comparisons, aiming to steadily engage more parties in using observational methods to complement their UNFCCC submissions. Anticipating improvements in atmospheric modelling and observations, future developments need to resolve knowledge gaps in both approaches and to better quantify remaining uncertainty.
Hella van Asperen, Thorsten Warneke, Alessandro Carioca de Araújo, Bruce Forsberg, Sávio José Filgueiras Ferreira, Thomas Röckmann, Carina van der Veen, Sipko Bulthuis, Leonardo Ramos de Oliveira, Thiago de Lima Xavier, Jailson da Mata, Marta de Oliveira Sá, Paulo Ricardo Teixeira, Julie Andrews de França e Silva, Susan Trumbore, and Justus Notholt
Biogeosciences, 21, 3183–3199, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3183-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-3183-2024, 2024
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Carbon monoxide (CO) is regarded as an important indirect greenhouse gas. Soils can emit and take up CO, but, until now, uncertainty remains as to which process dominates in tropical rainforests. We present the first soil CO flux measurements from a tropical rainforest. Based on our observations, we report that tropical rainforest soils are a net source of CO. In addition, we show that valley streams and inundated areas are likely additional hot spots of CO in the ecosystem.
Jin Ma, Linda M. J. Kooijmans, Norbert Glatthor, Stephen A. Montzka, Marc von Hobe, Thomas Röckmann, and Maarten C. Krol
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6047–6070, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6047-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6047-2024, 2024
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The global budget of atmospheric COS can be optimised by inverse modelling using TM5-4DVAR, with the co-constraints of NOAA surface observations and MIPAS satellite data. We found reduced COS biosphere uptake from inversions and improved land and ocean separation using MIPAS satellite data assimilation. Further improvements are expected from better quantification of COS ocean and biosphere fluxes.
Katrine A. Gorham, Sam Abernethy, Tyler R. Jones, Peter Hess, Natalie M. Mahowald, Daphne Meidan, Matthew S. Johnson, Maarten M. J. W. van Herpen, Yangyang Xu, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Thomas Röckmann, Chloe A. Brashear, Erika Reinhardt, and David Mann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5659–5670, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5659-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5659-2024, 2024
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Rapid reduction in atmospheric methane is needed to slow the rate of global warming. Reducing anthropogenic methane emissions is a top priority. However, atmospheric methane is also impacted by rising natural emissions and changing sinks. Studies of possible atmospheric methane removal approaches, such as iron salt aerosols to increase the chlorine radical sink, benefit from a roadmapped approach to understand if there may be viable and socially acceptable ways to decrease future risk.
Andreas Petzold, Ulrich Bundke, Anca Hienola, Paolo Laj, Cathrine Lund Myhre, Alex Vermeulen, Angeliki Adamaki, Werner Kutsch, Valerie Thouret, Damien Boulanger, Markus Fiebig, Markus Stocker, Zhiming Zhao, and Ari Asmi
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5369–5388, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5369-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5369-2024, 2024
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Easy and fast access to long-term and high-quality observational data is recognised as fundamental to environmental research and the development of climate forecasting and assessment services. We discuss the potential new directions in atmospheric sciences offered by the atmosphere-centric European research infrastructures ACTRIS, IAGOS, and ICOS, building on their capabilities for standardised provision of data through open access combined with tools and methods of data-intensive science.
Malavika Sivan, Thomas Röckmann, Carina van der Veen, and Maria Elena Popa
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2687–2705, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2687-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2687-2024, 2024
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We have set up a measurement system for methane-clumped isotopologues. We have built an extraction and purification system to extract pure methane for these measurements, for samples of various origins, including atmospheric air, for which we need to process about 1000 L of air for one measurement. We report here the technical setup for extraction and measurements, as well as the calibration, and we give an overview of the samples measured so far.
Joshua L. Laughner, Geoffrey C. Toon, Joseph Mendonca, Christof Petri, Sébastien Roche, Debra Wunch, Jean-Francois Blavier, David W. T. Griffith, Pauli Heikkinen, Ralph F. Keeling, Matthäus Kiel, Rigel Kivi, Coleen M. Roehl, Britton B. Stephens, Bianca C. Baier, Huilin Chen, Yonghoon Choi, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Joshua P. DiGangi, Jochen Gross, Benedikt Herkommer, Pascal Jeseck, Thomas Laemmel, Xin Lan, Erin McGee, Kathryn McKain, John Miller, Isamu Morino, Justus Notholt, Hirofumi Ohyama, David F. Pollard, Markus Rettinger, Haris Riris, Constantina Rousogenous, Mahesh Kumar Sha, Kei Shiomi, Kimberly Strong, Ralf Sussmann, Yao Té, Voltaire A. Velazco, Steven C. Wofsy, Minqiang Zhou, and Paul O. Wennberg
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 2197–2260, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2197-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2197-2024, 2024
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This paper describes a new version, called GGG2020, of a data set containing column-integrated observations of greenhouse and related gases (including CO2, CH4, CO, and N2O) made by ground stations located around the world. Compared to the previous version (GGG2014), improvements have been made toward site-to-site consistency. This data set plays a key role in validating space-based greenhouse gas observations and in understanding the carbon cycle.
Emily Dowd, Alistair J. Manning, Bryn Orth-Lashley, Marianne Girard, James France, Rebecca E. Fisher, Dave Lowry, Mathias Lanoisellé, Joseph R. Pitt, Kieran M. Stanley, Simon O'Doherty, Dickon Young, Glen Thistlethwaite, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Emanuel Gloor, and Chris Wilson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1599–1615, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1599-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1599-2024, 2024
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We provide the first validation of the satellite-derived emission estimates using surface-based mobile greenhouse gas surveys of an active gas leak detected near Cheltenham, UK. GHGSat’s emission estimates broadly agree with the surface-based mobile survey and steps were taken to fix the leak, highlighting the importance of satellite data in identifying emissions and helping to reduce our human impact on climate change.
Karl Espen Yttri, Are Bäcklund, Franz Conen, Sabine Eckhardt, Nikolaos Evangeliou, Markus Fiebig, Anne Kasper-Giebl, Avram Gold, Hans Gundersen, Cathrine Lund Myhre, Stephen Matthew Platt, David Simpson, Jason D. Surratt, Sönke Szidat, Martin Rauber, Kjetil Tørseth, Martin Album Ytre-Eide, Zhenfa Zhang, and Wenche Aas
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2731–2758, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2731-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2731-2024, 2024
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We discuss carbonaceous aerosol (CA) observed at the high Arctic Zeppelin Observatory (2017 to 2020). We find that organic aerosol is a significant fraction of the Arctic aerosol, though less than sea salt aerosol and mineral dust, as well as non-sea-salt sulfate, originating mainly from anthropogenic sources in winter and from natural sources in summer, emphasizing the importance of wildfires for biogenic secondary organic aerosol and primary biological aerosol particles observed in the Arctic.
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
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1005–1024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1005-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1005-2024, 2024
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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.
Alina Fiehn, Maximilian Eckl, Julian Kostinek, Michał Gałkowski, Christoph Gerbig, Michael Rothe, Thomas Röckmann, Malika Menoud, Hossein Maazallahi, Martina Schmidt, Piotr Korbeń, Jarosław Neçki, Mila Stanisavljević, Justyna Swolkień, Andreas Fix, and Anke Roiger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15749–15765, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15749-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15749-2023, 2023
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During the CoMet mission in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB) ground-based and airborne air samples were taken and analyzed for the isotopic composition of CH4 to derive the mean signature of the USCB and source signatures of individual coal mines. Using δ2H signatures, the biogenic emissions from the USCB account for 15 %–50 % of total emissions, which is underestimated in common emission inventories. This demonstrates the importance of δ2H-CH4 observations for methane source apportionment.
Douglas E. J. Worthy, Michele K. Rauh, Lin Huang, Felix R. Vogel, Alina Chivulescu, Kenneth A. Masarie, Ray L. Langenfelds, Paul B. Krummel, Colin E. Allison, Andrew M. Crotwell, Monica Madronich, Gabrielle Pétron, Ingeborg Levin, Samuel Hammer, Sylvia Michel, Michel Ramonet, Martina Schmidt, Armin Jordan, Heiko Moossen, Michael Rothe, Ralph Keeling, and Eric J. Morgan
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5909–5935, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5909-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5909-2023, 2023
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Network compatibility is important for inferring greenhouse gas fluxes at global or regional scales. This study is the first assessment of the measurement agreement among seven individual programs within the World Meteorological Organization community. It compares co-located flask air measurements at the Alert Observatory in Canada over a 17-year period. The results provide stronger confidence in the uncertainty estimation while using those datasets in various data interpretation applications.
Robbert P. J. Moonen, Getachew A. Adnew, Oscar K. Hartogensis, Jordi Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, David J. Bonell Fontas, and Thomas Röckmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5787–5810, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5787-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5787-2023, 2023
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Isotope fluxes allow for net ecosystem gas exchange fluxes to be partitioned into sub-components like plant assimilation, respiration and transpiration, which can help us better understand the environmental drivers of each partial flux. We share the results of a field campaign isotope fluxes were derived using a combination of laser spectroscopy and eddy covariance. We found lag times and high frequency signal loss in the isotope fluxes we derived and present methods to correct for both.
Jinsol Kim, John B. Miller, Charles E. Miller, Scott J. Lehman, Sylvia E. Michel, Vineet Yadav, Nick E. Rollins, and William M. Berelson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14425–14436, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14425-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14425-2023, 2023
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In this study, we present the partitioning of CO2 signals from biogenic, petroleum and natural gas sources by combining CO, 13CO2 and 14CO2 measurements. Using measurements from flask air samples at three sites in the greater Los Angeles region, we find larger and positive contributions of biogenic signals in winter and smaller and negative contributions in summer. The largest contribution of natural gas combustion generally occurs in summer.
Leonard Kirago, Örjan Gustafsson, Samuel Mwaniki Gaita, Sophie L. Haslett, Michael J. Gatari, Maria Elena Popa, Thomas Röckmann, Christoph Zellweger, Martin Steinbacher, Jörg Klausen, Christian Félix, David Njiru, and August Andersson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14349–14357, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14349-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14349-2023, 2023
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This study provides ground-observational evidence that supports earlier suggestions that savanna fires are the main emitters and modulators of carbon monoxide gas in Africa. Using isotope-based techniques, the study has shown that about two-thirds of this gas is emitted from savanna fires, while for urban areas, in this case Nairobi, primary sources approach 100 %. The latter has implications for air quality policy, suggesting primary emissions such as traffic should be targeted.
Hossein Maazallahi, Antonio Delre, Charlotte Scheutz, Anders M. Fredenslund, Stefan Schwietzke, Hugo Denier van der Gon, and Thomas Röckmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5051–5073, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5051-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5051-2023, 2023
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Measurement methods are increasingly deployed to verify reported methane emissions of gas leaks. This study describes unique advantages and limitations of three methods. Two methods are rapidly deployed, but uncertainties and biases exist for some leak locations. In contrast, the suction method could accurately determine leak rates in principle. However, this method, which provides data for the German emission inventory, creates an overall low bias in our study due to non-random site selection.
Nicola J. Warwick, Alex T. Archibald, Paul T. Griffiths, James Keeble, Fiona M. O'Connor, John A. Pyle, and Keith P. Shine
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13451–13467, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13451-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13451-2023, 2023
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A chemistry–climate model has been used to explore the atmospheric response to changes in emissions of hydrogen and other species associated with a shift from fossil fuel to hydrogen use. Leakage of hydrogen results in indirect global warming, offsetting greenhouse gas emission reductions from reduced fossil fuel use. To maximise the benefit of hydrogen as an energy source, hydrogen leakage and emissions of methane, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides should be minimised.
Tim René de Groot, Anne Margriet Mol, Katherine Mesdag, Pierre Ramond, Rachel Ndhlovu, Julia Catherine Engelmann, Thomas Röckmann, and Helge Niemann
Biogeosciences, 20, 3857–3872, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3857-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-3857-2023, 2023
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This study investigates methane dynamics in the Wadden Sea. Our measurements revealed distinct variations triggered by seasonality and tidal forcing. The methane budget was higher in warmer seasons but surprisingly high in colder seasons. Methane dynamics were amplified during low tides, flushing the majority of methane into the North Sea or releasing it to the atmosphere. Methanotrophic activity was also elevated during low tide but mitigated only a small fraction of the methane efflux.
Foteini Stavropoulou, Katarina Vinković, Bert Kers, Marcel de Vries, Steven van Heuven, Piotr Korbeń, Martina Schmidt, Julia Wietzel, Pawel Jagoda, Jaroslav M. Necki, Jakub Bartyzel, Hossein Maazallahi, Malika Menoud, Carina van der Veen, Sylvia Walter, Béla Tuzson, Jonas Ravelid, Randulph Paulo Morales, Lukas Emmenegger, Dominik Brunner, Michael Steiner, Arjan Hensen, Ilona Velzeboer, Pim van den Bulk, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Antonio Delre, Maklawe Essonanawe Edjabou, Charlotte Scheutz, Marius Corbu, Sebastian Iancu, Denisa Moaca, Alin Scarlat, Alexandru Tudor, Ioana Vizireanu, Andreea Calcan, Magdalena Ardelean, Sorin Ghemulet, Alexandru Pana, Aurel Constantinescu, Lucian Cusa, Alexandru Nica, Calin Baciu, Cristian Pop, Andrei Radovici, Alexandru Mereuta, Horatiu Stefanie, Alexandru Dandocsi, Bas Hermans, Stefan Schwietzke, Daniel Zavala-Araiza, Huilin Chen, and Thomas Röckmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10399–10412, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10399-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10399-2023, 2023
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In this study, we quantify CH4 emissions from onshore oil production sites in Romania at source and facility level using a combination of ground- and drone-based measurement techniques. We show that the total CH4 emissions in our studied areas are much higher than the emissions reported to UNFCCC, and up to three-quarters of the detected emissions are related to operational venting. Our results suggest that oil and gas production infrastructure in Romania holds a massive mitigation potential.
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
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9071–9098, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9071-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9071-2023, 2023
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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.
Luana S. Basso, Chris Wilson, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Graciela Tejada, Henrique L. G. Cassol, Egídio Arai, Mathew Williams, T. Luke Smallman, Wouter Peters, Stijn Naus, John B. Miller, and Manuel Gloor
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9685–9723, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9685-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9685-2023, 2023
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The Amazon’s carbon balance may have changed due to forest degradation, deforestation and warmer climate. We used an atmospheric model and atmospheric CO2 observations to quantify Amazonian carbon emissions (2010–2018). The region was a small carbon source to the atmosphere, mostly due to fire emissions. Forest uptake compensated for ~ 50 % of the fire emissions, meaning that the remaining forest is still a small carbon sink. We found no clear evidence of weakening carbon uptake over the period.
Sara M. Defratyka, James L. France, Rebecca E. Fisher, Dave Lowry, Julianne M. Fernandez, Semra Bakkaloglu, Camille Yver-Kwok, Jean-Daniel Paris, Philippe Bousquet, Tim Arnold, Chris Rennick, Jon Helmore, Nigel Yarrow, and Euan G. Nisbet
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1490, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1490, 2023
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We are focused on verification of δ13CH4 measurements in near-source conditions and we have provided an insight into the impact of chosen calculation methods for determined isotopic signatures. Our study offers a step forward for establishing an unified, robust, and reliable analytical technique to determine δ13CH4 of methane sources. Our recommended analytical approach reduces biases and uncertainties coming from measurement conditions, data clustering and various available fitting methods.
Alice Drinkwater, Paul I. Palmer, Liang Feng, Tim Arnold, Xin Lan, Sylvia E. Michel, Robert Parker, and Hartmut Boesch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8429–8452, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8429-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8429-2023, 2023
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Changes in atmospheric methane over the last few decades are largely unexplained. Previous studies have proposed different hypotheses to explain short-term changes in atmospheric methane. We interpret observed changes in atmospheric methane and stable isotope source signatures (2004–2020). We argue that changes over this period are part of a large-scale shift from high-northern-latitude thermogenic energy emissions to tropical biogenic emissions, particularly from North Africa and South America.
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.
Andreas Forstmaier, Jia Chen, Florian Dietrich, Juan Bettinelli, Hossein Maazallahi, Carsten Schneider, Dominik Winkler, Xinxu Zhao, Taylor Jones, Carina van der Veen, Norman Wildmann, Moritz Makowski, Aydin Uzun, Friedrich Klappenbach, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Stefan Schwietzke, and Thomas Röckmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 6897–6922, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6897-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6897-2023, 2023
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Large cities emit greenhouse gases which contribute to global warming. In this study, we measured the release of one important green house gas, methane, in Hamburg. Multiple sources that contribute to methane emissions were located and quantified. Methane sources were found to be mainly caused by human activity (e.g., by release from oil and gas refineries). Moreover, potential natural sources have been located, such as the Elbe River and lakes.
Truls Andersen, Zhao Zhao, Marcel de Vries, Jaroslaw Necki, Justyna Swolkien, Malika Menoud, Thomas Röckmann, Anke Roiger, Andreas Fix, Wouter Peters, and Huilin Chen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5191–5216, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5191-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5191-2023, 2023
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The Upper Silesian Coal Basin, Poland, is one of the hot spots of methane emissions in Europe. Using an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV), we performed atmospheric measurements of methane concentrations downwind of five ventilation shafts in this region and determined the emission rates from the individual shafts. We found a strong correlation between quantified shaft-averaged emission rates and hourly inventory data, which also allows us to estimate the methane emissions from the entire region.
Ana Maria Roxana Petrescu, Chunjing Qiu, Matthew J. McGrath, Philippe Peylin, Glen P. Peters, Philippe Ciais, Rona L. Thompson, Aki Tsuruta, Dominik Brunner, Matthias Kuhnert, Bradley Matthews, Paul I. Palmer, Oksana Tarasova, Pierre Regnier, Ronny Lauerwald, David Bastviken, Lena Höglund-Isaksson, Wilfried Winiwarter, Giuseppe Etiope, Tuula Aalto, Gianpaolo Balsamo, Vladislav Bastrikov, Antoine Berchet, Patrick Brockmann, Giancarlo Ciotoli, Giulia Conchedda, Monica Crippa, Frank Dentener, Christine D. Groot Zwaaftink, Diego Guizzardi, Dirk Günther, Jean-Matthieu Haussaire, Sander Houweling, Greet Janssens-Maenhout, Massaer Kouyate, Adrian Leip, Antti Leppänen, Emanuele Lugato, Manon Maisonnier, Alistair J. Manning, Tiina Markkanen, Joe McNorton, Marilena Muntean, Gabriel D. Oreggioni, Prabir K. Patra, Lucia Perugini, Isabelle Pison, Maarit T. Raivonen, Marielle Saunois, Arjo J. Segers, Pete Smith, Efisio Solazzo, Hanqin Tian, Francesco N. Tubiello, Timo Vesala, Guido R. van der Werf, Chris Wilson, and Sönke Zaehle
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 1197–1268, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1197-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1197-2023, 2023
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This study updates the state-of-the-art scientific overview of CH4 and N2O emissions in the EU27 and UK in Petrescu et al. (2021a). Yearly updates are needed to improve the different respective approaches and to inform on the development of formal verification systems. It integrates the most recent emission inventories, process-based model and regional/global inversions, comparing them with UNFCCC national GHG inventories, in support to policy to facilitate real-time verification procedures.
Brendan Byrne, David F. Baker, Sourish Basu, Michael Bertolacci, Kevin W. Bowman, Dustin Carroll, Abhishek Chatterjee, Frédéric Chevallier, Philippe Ciais, Noel Cressie, David Crisp, Sean Crowell, Feng Deng, Zhu Deng, Nicholas M. Deutscher, Manvendra K. Dubey, Sha Feng, Omaira E. García, David W. T. Griffith, Benedikt Herkommer, Lei Hu, Andrew R. Jacobson, Rajesh Janardanan, Sujong Jeong, Matthew S. Johnson, Dylan B. A. Jones, Rigel Kivi, Junjie Liu, Zhiqiang Liu, Shamil Maksyutov, John B. Miller, Scot M. Miller, Isamu Morino, Justus Notholt, Tomohiro Oda, Christopher W. O'Dell, Young-Suk Oh, Hirofumi Ohyama, Prabir K. Patra, Hélène Peiro, Christof Petri, Sajeev Philip, David F. Pollard, Benjamin Poulter, Marine Remaud, Andrew Schuh, Mahesh K. Sha, Kei Shiomi, Kimberly Strong, Colm Sweeney, Yao Té, Hanqin Tian, Voltaire A. Velazco, Mihalis Vrekoussis, Thorsten Warneke, John R. Worden, Debra Wunch, Yuanzhi Yao, Jeongmin Yun, Andrew Zammit-Mangion, and Ning Zeng
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 963–1004, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-963-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-963-2023, 2023
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Changes in the carbon stocks of terrestrial ecosystems result in emissions and removals of CO2. These can be driven by anthropogenic activities (e.g., deforestation), natural processes (e.g., fires) or in response to rising CO2 (e.g., CO2 fertilization). This paper describes a dataset of CO2 emissions and removals derived from atmospheric CO2 observations. This pilot dataset informs current capabilities and future developments towards top-down monitoring and verification systems.
Srijana Lama, Sander Houweling, K. Folkert Boersma, Ilse Aben, Hugo A. C. Denier van der Gon, and Maarten C. Krol
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 16053–16071, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-16053-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-16053-2022, 2022
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Hydroxyl radical (OH) is the important chemical species that determines the lifetime of some greenhouse gases and trace gases. OH plays a vital role in air pollution chemistry. OH has a short lifetime and is extremely difficult to measure directly. OH concentrations derived from the chemistry transport model (CTM) have uncertainties of >50 %. Therefore, in this study, OH is derived indirectly using satellite date in urban plumes.
Bryce F. J. Kelly, Xinyi Lu, Stephen J. Harris, Bruno G. Neininger, Jorg M. Hacker, Stefan Schwietzke, Rebecca E. Fisher, James L. France, Euan G. Nisbet, David Lowry, Carina van der Veen, Malika Menoud, and Thomas Röckmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15527–15558, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15527-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15527-2022, 2022
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This study explores using the composition of methane of in-flight atmospheric air samples for greenhouse gas inventory verification. The air samples were collected above one of the largest coal seam gas production regions in the world. Adjacent to these gas fields are coal mines, Australia's largest cattle feedlot, and over 1 million grazing cattle. The results are also used to identify methane mitigation opportunities.
Sourish Basu, Xin Lan, Edward Dlugokencky, Sylvia Michel, Stefan Schwietzke, John B. Miller, Lori Bruhwiler, Youmi Oh, Pieter P. Tans, Francesco Apadula, Luciana V. Gatti, Armin Jordan, Jaroslaw Necki, Motoki Sasakawa, Shinji Morimoto, Tatiana Di Iorio, Haeyoung Lee, Jgor Arduini, and Giovanni Manca
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15351–15377, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15351-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15351-2022, 2022
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Atmospheric methane (CH4) has been growing steadily since 2007 for reasons that are not well understood. Here we determine sources of methane using a technique informed by atmospheric measurements of CH4 and its isotopologue 13CH4. Measurements of 13CH4 provide for better separation of microbial, fossil, and fire sources of methane than CH4 measurements alone. Compared to previous assessments such as the Global Carbon Project, we find a larger microbial contribution to the post-2007 increase.
Stijn Naus, Lucas G. Domingues, Maarten Krol, Ingrid T. Luijkx, Luciana V. Gatti, John B. Miller, Emanuel Gloor, Sourish Basu, Caio Correia, Gerbrand Koren, Helen M. Worden, Johannes Flemming, Gabrielle Pétron, and Wouter Peters
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 14735–14750, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14735-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14735-2022, 2022
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We assimilate MOPITT CO satellite data in the TM5-4D-Var inverse modelling framework to estimate Amazon fire CO emissions for 2003–2018. We show that fire emissions have decreased over the analysis period, coincident with a decrease in deforestation rates. However, interannual variations in fire emissions are large, and they correlate strongly with soil moisture. Our results reveal an important role for robust, top-down fire CO emissions in quantifying and attributing Amazon fire intensity.
Malika Menoud, Carina van der Veen, Dave Lowry, Julianne M. Fernandez, Semra Bakkaloglu, James L. France, Rebecca E. Fisher, Hossein Maazallahi, Mila Stanisavljević, Jarosław Nęcki, Katarina Vinkovic, Patryk Łakomiec, Janne Rinne, Piotr Korbeń, Martina Schmidt, Sara Defratyka, Camille Yver-Kwok, Truls Andersen, Huilin Chen, and Thomas Röckmann
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 4365–4386, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4365-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4365-2022, 2022
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Emission sources of methane (CH4) can be distinguished with measurements of CH4 stable isotopes. We present new measurements of isotope signatures of various CH4 sources in Europe, mainly anthropogenic, sampled from 2017 to 2020. The present database also contains the most recent update of the global signature dataset from the literature. The dataset improves CH4 source attribution and the understanding of the global CH4 budget.
Lauren M. Zamora, Ralph A. Kahn, Nikolaos Evangeliou, Christine D. Groot Zwaaftink, and Klaus B. Huebert
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12269–12285, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12269-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12269-2022, 2022
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Arctic dust, smoke, and pollution particles can affect clouds and Arctic warming. The distributions of these particles were estimated in three different satellite, reanalysis, and model products. These products showed good agreement overall but indicate that it is important to include local dust in models. We hypothesize that mineral dust effects on ice processes in the Arctic atmosphere might be highest over Siberia, where it is cold, moist, and subject to relatively high dust levels.
Joël Thanwerdas, Marielle Saunois, Antoine Berchet, Isabelle Pison, Bruce H. Vaughn, Sylvia Englund Michel, and Philippe Bousquet
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 4831–4851, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-4831-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-4831-2022, 2022
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Estimating CH4 sources by exploiting observations within an inverse modeling framework is a powerful approach. Here, a new system designed to assimilate δ13C(CH4) observations together with CH4 observations is presented. By optimizing both the emissions and associated source signatures of multiple emission categories, this new system can efficiently differentiate the co-located emission categories and provide estimates of CH4 sources that are consistent with isotopic data.
Sudhanshu Pandey, Sander Houweling, and Arjo Segers
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 4555–4567, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-4555-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-4555-2022, 2022
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Inversions are used to calculate methane emissions using atmospheric mole-fraction measurements. Multidecadal inversions are needed to extract information from the long measurement records of methane. However, multidecadal inversion computations can take months to finish. Here, we demonstrate an order of magnitude improvement in wall clock time for an iterative multidecadal inversion by physical parallelization of chemical transport model.
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.
Amy Foulds, Grant Allen, Jacob T. Shaw, Prudence Bateson, Patrick A. Barker, Langwen Huang, Joseph R. Pitt, James D. Lee, Shona E. Wilde, Pamela Dominutti, Ruth M. Purvis, David Lowry, James L. France, Rebecca E. Fisher, Alina Fiehn, Magdalena Pühl, Stéphane J. B. Bauguitte, Stephen A. Conley, Mackenzie L. Smith, Tom Lachlan-Cope, Ignacio Pisso, and Stefan Schwietzke
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4303–4322, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4303-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4303-2022, 2022
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We measured CH4 emissions from 21 offshore oil and gas facilities in the Norwegian Sea in 2019. Measurements compared well with operator-reported emissions but were greatly underestimated when compared with a 2016 global fossil fuel inventory. This study demonstrates the need for up-to-date and accurate inventories for use in research and policy and the important benefits of best-practice reporting methods by operators. Airborne measurements are an effective tool to validate such inventories.
Alice E. Ramsden, Anita L. Ganesan, Luke M. Western, Matthew Rigby, Alistair J. Manning, Amy Foulds, James L. France, Patrick Barker, Peter Levy, Daniel Say, Adam Wisher, Tim Arnold, Chris Rennick, Kieran M. Stanley, Dickon Young, and Simon O'Doherty
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3911–3929, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3911-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3911-2022, 2022
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Quantifying methane emissions from different sources is a key focus of current research. We present a method for estimating sectoral methane emissions that uses ethane as a tracer for fossil fuel methane. By incorporating variable ethane : methane emission ratios into this model, we produce emissions estimates with improved uncertainty characterisation. This method will be particularly useful for studying methane emissions in areas with complex distributions of sources.
Christine D. Groot Zwaaftink, Wenche Aas, Sabine Eckhardt, Nikolaos Evangeliou, Paul Hamer, Mona Johnsrud, Arve Kylling, Stephen M. Platt, Kerstin Stebel, Hilde Uggerud, and Karl Espen Yttri
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3789–3810, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3789-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3789-2022, 2022
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We investigate causes of a poor-air-quality episode in northern Europe in October 2020 during which EU health limits for air quality were vastly exceeded. Such episodes may trigger measures to improve air quality. Analysis based on satellite observations, transport simulations, and surface observations revealed two sources of pollution. Emissions of mineral dust in Central Asia and biomass burning in Ukraine arrived almost simultaneously in Norway, and transport continued into the Arctic.
Peter Sperlich, Gordon W. Brailsford, Rowena C. Moss, John McGregor, Ross J. Martin, Sylvia Nichol, Sara Mikaloff-Fletcher, Beata Bukosa, Magda Mandic, C. Ian Schipper, Paul Krummel, and Alan D. Griffiths
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1631–1656, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1631-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1631-2022, 2022
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We tested an in situ analyser for carbon and oxygen isotopes in atmospheric CO2 at Baring Head, New Zealand’s observatory for Southern Ocean baseline air. The analyser was able to resolve regional signals of the terrestrial carbon cycle, although the analysis of small events was limited by analytical uncertainty. Further improvement of the instrument performance would be desirable for the robust analysis of distant signals and to resolve the small variability in Southern Ocean baseline air.
Eric Saboya, Giulia Zazzeri, Heather Graven, Alistair J. Manning, and Sylvia Englund Michel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3595–3613, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3595-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3595-2022, 2022
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Continuous measurements of atmospheric methane concentrations and its carbon-13 isotope have been made in central London since early 2018. These measurements were used to evaluate methane emissions reported in global and UK-specific emission inventories for the London area. Compared to atmospheric methane measurements from March 2018 to October 2020, both inventories are under-reporting natural gas leakage for the London area.
Stephen M. Platt, Øystein Hov, Torunn Berg, Knut Breivik, Sabine Eckhardt, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Nikolaos Evangeliou, Markus Fiebig, Rebecca Fisher, Georg Hansen, Hans-Christen Hansson, Jost Heintzenberg, Ove Hermansen, Dominic Heslin-Rees, Kim Holmén, Stephen Hudson, Roland Kallenborn, Radovan Krejci, Terje Krognes, Steinar Larssen, David Lowry, Cathrine Lund Myhre, Chris Lunder, Euan Nisbet, Pernilla B. Nizzetto, Ki-Tae Park, Christina A. Pedersen, Katrine Aspmo Pfaffhuber, Thomas Röckmann, Norbert Schmidbauer, Sverre Solberg, Andreas Stohl, Johan Ström, Tove Svendby, Peter Tunved, Kjersti Tørnkvist, Carina van der Veen, Stergios Vratolis, Young Jun Yoon, Karl Espen Yttri, Paul Zieger, Wenche Aas, and Kjetil Tørseth
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3321–3369, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3321-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3321-2022, 2022
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Here we detail the history of the Zeppelin Observatory, a unique global background site and one of only a few in the high Arctic. We present long-term time series of up to 30 years of atmospheric components and atmospheric transport phenomena. Many of these time series are important to our understanding of Arctic and global atmospheric composition change. Finally, we discuss the future of the Zeppelin Observatory and emerging areas of future research on the Arctic atmosphere.
Roland Vernooij, Ulrike Dusek, Maria Elena Popa, Peng Yao, Anupam Shaikat, Chenxi Qiu, Patrik Winiger, Carina van der Veen, Thomas Callum Eames, Natasha Ribeiro, and Guido R. van der Werf
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 2871–2890, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2871-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2871-2022, 2022
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Landscape fires are a major source of greenhouse gases and aerosols, particularly in sub-tropical savannas. Stable carbon isotopes in emissions can be used to trace the contribution of C3 plants (e.g. trees or shrubs) and C4 plants (e.g. savanna grasses) to greenhouse gases and aerosols if the process is well understood. This helps us to link individual vegetation types to emissions, identify biomass burning emissions in the atmosphere, and improve the reconstruction of historic fire regimes.
Yousef Albuhaisi, Ype van der Velde, and Sander Houweling
Biogeosciences Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2022-55, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2022-55, 2022
Manuscript not accepted for further review
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An important uncertainty in the modelling of methane emissions from natural wetlands is the wetland area. It is important to get the spatiotemporal covariance between the variables that drive methane emissions right for accurate quantification. Using high-resolution wetland and soil carbon maps, in combination with a simplified methane emission model that is coarsened in six steps from 0.005° to 1°, we find a strong relation between wetland emissions and the model resolution.
Juhi Nagori, Narcisa Nechita-Bândă, Sebastian Oscar Danielache, Masumi Shinkai, Thomas Röckmann, and Maarten Krol
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-68, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-68, 2022
Publication in ACP not foreseen
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The sulfur isotopes (32S and 34S) were studied to understand the sources, sinks and processes of carbonyl sulphide (COS) in the atmosphere. COS is an important source of sulfur aerosol in the stratosphere (SSA). Few measurements of COS and SSA exist, but with our 1D model, we were able to match them and show the importance of COS to sulfate formation. Moreover, we are able to highlight some important processes for the COS budget and where measurements may fill a gap in current knowledge.
Linda M. J. Kooijmans, Ara Cho, Jin Ma, Aleya Kaushik, Katherine D. Haynes, Ian Baker, Ingrid T. Luijkx, Mathijs Groenink, Wouter Peters, John B. Miller, Joseph A. Berry, Jerome Ogée, Laura K. Meredith, Wu Sun, Kukka-Maaria Kohonen, Timo Vesala, Ivan Mammarella, Huilin Chen, Felix M. Spielmann, Georg Wohlfahrt, Max Berkelhammer, Mary E. Whelan, Kadmiel Maseyk, Ulli Seibt, Roisin Commane, Richard Wehr, and Maarten Krol
Biogeosciences, 18, 6547–6565, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-6547-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-6547-2021, 2021
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The gas carbonyl sulfide (COS) can be used to estimate photosynthesis. To adopt this approach on regional and global scales, we need biosphere models that can simulate COS exchange. So far, such models have not been evaluated against observations. We evaluate the COS biosphere exchange of the SiB4 model against COS flux observations. We find that the model is capable of simulating key processes in COS biosphere exchange. Still, we give recommendations for further improvement of the model.
Clémence Rose, Martine Collaud Coen, Elisabeth Andrews, Yong Lin, Isaline Bossert, Cathrine Lund Myhre, Thomas Tuch, Alfred Wiedensohler, Markus Fiebig, Pasi Aalto, Andrés Alastuey, Elisabeth Alonso-Blanco, Marcos Andrade, Begoña Artíñano, Todor Arsov, Urs Baltensperger, Susanne Bastian, Olaf Bath, Johan Paul Beukes, Benjamin T. Brem, Nicolas Bukowiecki, Juan Andrés Casquero-Vera, Sébastien Conil, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Olivier Favez, Harald Flentje, Maria I. Gini, Francisco Javier Gómez-Moreno, Martin Gysel-Beer, Anna Gannet Hallar, Ivo Kalapov, Nikos Kalivitis, Anne Kasper-Giebl, Melita Keywood, Jeong Eun Kim, Sang-Woo Kim, Adam Kristensson, Markku Kulmala, Heikki Lihavainen, Neng-Huei Lin, Hassan Lyamani, Angela Marinoni, Sebastiao Martins Dos Santos, Olga L. Mayol-Bracero, Frank Meinhardt, Maik Merkel, Jean-Marc Metzger, Nikolaos Mihalopoulos, Jakub Ondracek, Marco Pandolfi, Noemi Pérez, Tuukka Petäjä, Jean-Eudes Petit, David Picard, Jean-Marc Pichon, Veronique Pont, Jean-Philippe Putaud, Fabienne Reisen, Karine Sellegri, Sangeeta Sharma, Gerhard Schauer, Patrick Sheridan, James Patrick Sherman, Andreas Schwerin, Ralf Sohmer, Mar Sorribas, Junying Sun, Pierre Tulet, Ville Vakkari, Pieter Gideon van Zyl, Fernando Velarde, Paolo Villani, Stergios Vratolis, Zdenek Wagner, Sheng-Hsiang Wang, Kay Weinhold, Rolf Weller, Margarita Yela, Vladimir Zdimal, and Paolo Laj
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 17185–17223, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17185-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17185-2021, 2021
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Aerosol particles are a complex component of the atmospheric system the effects of which are among the most uncertain in climate change projections. Using data collected at 62 stations, this study provides the most up-to-date picture of the spatial distribution of particle number concentration and size distribution worldwide, with the aim of contributing to better representation of aerosols and their interactions with clouds in models and, therefore, better evaluation of their impact on climate.
Vilma Kangasaho, Aki Tsuruta, Leif Backman, Pyry Mäkinen, Sander Houweling, Arjo Segers, Maarten Krol, Ed Dlugokencky, Sylvia Michel, James White, and Tuula Aalto
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2021-843, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2021-843, 2021
Revised manuscript not accepted
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Understanding the composition of carbon isotopes can help to better understand the changes in methane budgets. This study investigates how methane sources affect the seasonal cycle of the methane carbon-13 isotope during 2000–2012 using an atmospheric transport model. We found that emissions from both anthropogenic and natural sources contribute. The findings raise a need to revise the magnitudes, proportion, and seasonal cycles of anthropogenic sources and northern wetland emissions.
Bharat Rastogi, John B. Miller, Micheal Trudeau, Arlyn E. Andrews, Lei Hu, Marikate Mountain, Thomas Nehrkorn, Bianca Baier, Kathryn McKain, John Mund, Kaiyu Guan, and Caroline B. Alden
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 14385–14401, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14385-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14385-2021, 2021
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Predicting Earth's climate is difficult, partly due to uncertainty in forecasting how much CO2 can be removed by oceans and plants, because we cannot measure these exchanges directly on large scales. Satellites such as NASA's OCO-2 can provide part of the needed information, but data need to be highly precise and accurate. We evaluate these data and find small biases in certain months that are similar to the signals of interest. We argue that continued improvement of these data is necessary.
Nobuyuki Aoki, Shigeyuki Ishidoya, Yasunori Tohjima, Shinji Morimoto, Ralph F. Keeling, Adam Cox, Shuichiro Takebayashi, and Shohei Murayama
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6181–6193, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6181-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6181-2021, 2021
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Observing the minimal long-term change in atmospheric O2 molar fraction combined with CO2 observation enables us to estimate terrestrial biospheric and oceanic CO2 uptakes separately. In this study, we firstly identified the span offset between the laboratory O2 scales using our developed high-precision standard mixtures, suggesting that the result may allow us to estimate terrestrial biospheric and oceanic CO2 uptakes precisely.
Malika Menoud, Carina van der Veen, Jaroslaw Necki, Jakub Bartyzel, Barbara Szénási, Mila Stanisavljević, Isabelle Pison, Philippe Bousquet, and Thomas Röckmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13167–13185, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13167-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13167-2021, 2021
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Using measurements of methane isotopes in ambient air and a 3D atmospheric transport model, in Krakow, Poland, we mainly detected fossil-fuel-related sources, coming from coal mining in Silesia and from the use of natural gas in the city. Emission inventories report large emissions from coal mine activity in Silesia, which is in agreement with our measurements. However, methane sources in the urban area of Krakow related to the use of fossil fuels might be underestimated in the inventories.
Antoine Berchet, Espen Sollum, Rona L. Thompson, Isabelle Pison, Joël Thanwerdas, Grégoire Broquet, Frédéric Chevallier, Tuula Aalto, Adrien Berchet, Peter Bergamaschi, Dominik Brunner, Richard Engelen, Audrey Fortems-Cheiney, Christoph Gerbig, Christine D. Groot Zwaaftink, Jean-Matthieu Haussaire, Stephan Henne, Sander Houweling, Ute Karstens, Werner L. Kutsch, Ingrid T. Luijkx, Guillaume Monteil, Paul I. Palmer, Jacob C. A. van Peet, Wouter Peters, Philippe Peylin, Elise Potier, Christian Rödenbeck, Marielle Saunois, Marko Scholze, Aki Tsuruta, and Yuanhong Zhao
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 5331–5354, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-5331-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-5331-2021, 2021
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We present here the Community Inversion Framework (CIF) to help rationalize development efforts and leverage the strengths of individual inversion systems into a comprehensive framework. The CIF is a programming protocol to allow various inversion bricks to be exchanged among researchers.
The ensemble of bricks makes a flexible, transparent and open-source Python-based tool. We describe the main structure and functionalities and demonstrate it in a simple academic case.
Sara M. Defratyka, Jean-Daniel Paris, Camille Yver-Kwok, Daniel Loeb, James France, Jon Helmore, Nigel Yarrow, Valérie Gros, and Philippe Bousquet
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5049–5069, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5049-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5049-2021, 2021
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We consider the possibility of using the CRDS Picarro G2201-i instrument, originally designed for isotopic CH4 and CO2, for measurements of ethane : methane in near-source conditions. The work involved laboratory tests, a controlled release experiment and mobile measurements. We show the potential of determining ethane : methane with 50 ppb ethane uncertainty. The instrument can correctly estimate the ratio in CH4 enhancements of 1 ppm and more, as can be found at strongly emitting sites.
Xinyi Lu, Stephen J. Harris, Rebecca E. Fisher, James L. France, Euan G. Nisbet, David Lowry, Thomas Röckmann, Carina van der Veen, Malika Menoud, Stefan Schwietzke, and Bryce F. J. Kelly
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 10527–10555, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10527-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10527-2021, 2021
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Many coal seam gas (CSG) facilities in the Surat Basin, Australia, are adjacent to other sources of methane, including agricultural, urban, and natural seeps. This makes it challenging to estimate the amount of methane being emitted into the atmosphere from CSG facilities. This research demonstrates that measurements of the carbon and hydrogen stable isotopic composition of methane can distinguish between and apportion methane emissions from CSG facilities, cattle, and many other sources.
Chris Wilson, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Manuel Gloor, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, Joey McNorton, Luciana V. Gatti, John B. Miller, Luana S. Basso, and Sarah A. Monks
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 10643–10669, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10643-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10643-2021, 2021
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Methane (CH4) is an important greenhouse gas emitted from wetlands like those found in the basin of the Amazon River. Using an atmospheric model and observations from GOSAT, we quantified CH4 emissions from Amazonia during the previous decade. We found that the largest emissions came from a region in the eastern basin and that emissions there were rising faster than in other areas of South America. This finding was supported by CH4 observations made on aircraft within the basin.
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Short summary
Methane is a strong greenhouse gas, and its rise since the mid-2000s is debated in terms of sources and sinks. Using top-down and bottom-up data, along with inversion models and methane isotopes (δ13C-CH4 and δD-CH4), we find that wetlands are the primary driver of post-2006 increases, followed by agriculture and fossil fuels. Methane's lifetime has decreased by about 0.1 years. We also assess how isotope signatures and sink processes influence uncertainties.
Methane is a strong greenhouse gas, and its rise since the mid-2000s is debated in terms of...
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