Source Attribution of Methane Enhancements at the Southern Great Plains Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Site Field Campaign Report
- Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States)
Tower data from 2017 to 2020 revealed that the U.S. Department of Energy’s Southern Great Plains (SGP) Atmospheric Radiation Measurements (ARM) observatory in Oklahoma exhibited significant CH4 enhancements compared to other U.S. tower sites. On average, near-surface CH4 at the ARM site was higher, had larger diurnal and seasonal variations, and had sharper near-surface increases at night compared to other tower sites in the U.S. A field campaign was conducted in June 2024 to identify and quantify the surrounding CH4 emission sources by two researchers from the University of Oklahoma. During the campaign, a mobile measurement was conducted using a LI-COR 7810 tracer gas analyzer mounted on a vehicle during June 23-26, 2024 near the SGP site (within 7 km distance). We sampled CH4 along predefined routes surrounding a suspected source, i.e., a large animal feeding operation (AFO) farm 5.8 km northwest of the SGP ARM site. Measurements were collected between 04:30 and 09:00 local time when the planetary boundary layer (PBL) was shallow, increasing sensitivity to surface emissions. Driving speed was kept below 5 mph to minimize pressure-related artifacts. CH4 concentrations downwind of the AFO exceeded 6000 ppb on the early morning of June 26, corresponding to an emission rate of ~95 kg⋅hr-1 estimated using the mass balance method. Additional sources identified during the campaign include nearby open-range cattle and leaks from a nearby natural gas pipeline.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Data Center
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- Contributing Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 3004172
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/SC-ARM--25-027
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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