Source Partitioning of Methane Emissions and its Seasonality in the U.S. Midwest

Chen, Zichong; Griffis, Timothy J.; Baker, John M.; Millet, Dylan B.; Wood, Jeffrey D.; Dlugokencky, Edward J.; Andrews, Arlyn E.; Sweeney, Colm; Hu, Cheng; Kolka, Randall K.

doi:10.1002/2017JG004356

Title: Source Partitioning of Methane Emissions and its Seasonality in the U.S. Midwest

Journal Article · 28 February 2018 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JG004356 · OSTI ID:1423153

^[1];

^[2];

^[1];

^[3];

^[4];

^[5];

^[1]; Kolka, Randall K. ^[6]

Department of Soil, Water, and Climate University of Minnesota St. Paul MN USA
Department of Soil, Water, and Climate University of Minnesota St. Paul MN USA, Agriculture Research Service United States Department of Agriculture St. Paul MN USA
School of Natural Resources University of Missouri Columbia MO USA
Global Monitoring Division NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Boulder CO USA
Global Monitoring Division NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Boulder CO USA, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences University of Colorado Boulder Boulder CO USA
United States Department of Agriculture‐Forest Service Northern Research Station‐Grand Rapids Grand Rapids MN USA

Abstract The methane (CH ₄ ) budget and its source partitioning are poorly constrained in the Midwestern United States. We used tall tower (185 m) aerodynamic flux measurements and atmospheric scale factor Bayesian inversions to constrain the monthly budget and to partition the total budget into natural (e.g., wetlands) and anthropogenic (e.g., livestock, waste, and natural gas) sources for the period June 2016 to September 2017. Aerodynamic flux observations indicated that the landscape was a CH ₄ source with a mean annual CH ₄ flux of +13.7 ± 0.34 nmol m ⁻² s ⁻¹ and was rarely a net sink. The scale factor Bayesian inversion analyses revealed a mean annual source of +12.3 ± 2.1 nmol m ⁻² s ⁻¹ . Flux partitioning revealed that the anthropogenic source (7.8 ± 1.6 Tg CH ₄ yr ⁻¹ ) was 1.5 times greater than the bottom‐up gridded United States Environmental Protection Agency inventory, in which livestock and oil/gas sources were underestimated by 1.8‐fold and 1.3‐fold, respectively. Wetland emissions (4.0 ± 1.2 Tg CH ₄ yr ⁻¹ ) were the second largest source, accounting for 34% of the total budget. The temporal variability of total CH ₄ emissions was dominated by wetlands with peak emissions occurring in August. In contrast, emissions from oil/gas and other anthropogenic sources showed relatively weak seasonality.

View Accepted Manuscript (Publisher)

Cite

Export

Save

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1423153

Journal Information:: Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research. Biogeosciences Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 123; ISSN 2169-8953

Publisher:: American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (40)

Observational constraints on the distribution, seasonality, and environmental predictors of North American boreal methane emissions Miller, Scot M.; Worthy, Doug E. J.; Michalak, Anna M. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 28, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1002/2013GB004580	journal	February 2014
Four corners: The largest US methane anomaly viewed from space: Four Corners: largest US methane anomaly Kort, Eric A.; Frankenberg, Christian; Costigan, Keeley R. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 41, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL061503	journal	October 2014
Mapping of North American methane emissions with high spatial resolution by inversion of SCIAMACHY satellite data: NORTH AMERICA METHANE EMISSION INVERSION Wecht, Kevin J.; Jacob, Daniel J.; Frankenberg, Christian Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 119, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JD021551	journal	June 2014
Partitioning N ₂ O emissions within the U.S. Corn Belt using an inverse modeling approach : Partitioning N Chen, Zichong; Griffis, Timothy J.; Millet, Dylan B. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 30, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GB005313	journal	August 2016
Multiscale analyses of solar-induced florescence and gross primary production: Multiscale GPP-SIF RELATIONS Wood, Jeffrey D.; Griffis, Timothy J.; Baker, John M. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 44, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL070775	journal	January 2017
U.S. CH ₄ emissions from oil and gas production: Have recent large increases been detected? : U.S. Emissions From Oil and Gas Production Bruhwiler, L. M.; Basu, S.; Bergamaschi, P. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 122, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JD026157	journal	April 2017
Reconciling the differences between top-down and bottom-up estimates of nitrous oxide emissions for the U.S. Corn Belt: N Griffis, T. J.; Lee, X.; Baker, J. M. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, Vol. 27, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/gbc.20066	journal	August 2013
Interannual, seasonal, and retrospective analysis of the methane and carbon dioxide budgets of a temperate peatland: METHANE AND CARBON DIOXIDE BUDGETS Olson, D. M.; Griffis, T. J.; Noormets, A. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, Vol. 118, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrg.20031	journal	February 2013
The influence of plants on atmospheric methane in an agriculture-dominated landscape Zhang, Xin; Lee, Xuhui; Griffis, Timothy J. International Journal of Biometeorology, Vol. 58, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-013-0662-y	journal	April 2013
Coupled weather research and forecasting–stochastic time-inverted lagrangian transport (WRF–STILT) model Nehrkorn, Thomas; Eluszkiewicz, Janusz; Wofsy, Steven C. Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics, Vol. 107, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00703-010-0068-x	journal	May 2010
Impact of reduced tillage and cover cropping on the greenhouse gas budget of a maize/soybean rotation ecosystem Bavin, T. K.; Griffis, T. J.; Baker, J. M. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Vol. 134, Issue 3-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2009.07.005	journal	December 2009
Livestock methane emission: From the individual grazing animal through national inventories to the global methane cycle Lassey, Keith R. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Vol. 142, Issue 2-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2006.03.028	journal	February 2007
Biases in discrete CH4 and N2O sampling protocols associated with temporal variation of gas fluxes from manure storage systems Wood, Jeffrey D.; Gordon, Robert J.; Wagner-Riddle, Claudia Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Vol. 171-172 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2012.12.014	journal	April 2013
Measuring methane emissions from two dairy farms: Seasonal and manure-management effects VanderZaag, A. C.; Flesch, T. K.; Desjardins, R. L. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Vol. 194 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2014.02.003	journal	August 2014
Methane and carbon dioxide emissions from manure storage facilities at two free-stall dairies Grant, Richard H.; Boehm, Matthew T.; Bogan, Bill W. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Vol. 213 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2015.06.008	journal	November 2015
Gridded National Inventory of U.S. Methane Emissions Maasakkers, Joannes D.; Jacob, Daniel J.; Sulprizio, Melissa P. Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 50, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b02878	journal	November 2016
The Validity of Similarity Theory in the Roughness Sublayer Above Forests Simpson, I. J.; Thurtell, G. W.; Neumann, H. H. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Vol. 87, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1000809902980	journal	April 1998
Algorithms for calculating methane and nitrous oxide emissions from manure management Sommer, S. G.; Petersen, S. O.; Møller, H. B. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems, Vol. 69, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1023/B:FRES.0000029678.25083.fa	journal	June 2004
Wetlands at the Last Glacial Maximum: Distribution and methane emissions: WETLANDS AT THE LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM Kaplan, Jed O. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 29, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1029/2001GL013366	journal	March 2002
Toward constraining regional-scale fluxes of CO ₂ with atmospheric observations over a continent: 1. Observed spatial variability from airborne platforms : TOWARD REGIONAL-SCALE FLUXES OF CO Gerbig, C.; Lin, J. C.; Wofsy, S. C. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Vol. 108, Issue D24 https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD003018	journal	December 2003
A near-field tool for simulating the upstream influence of atmospheric observations: The Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport (STILT) model Lin, J. C. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 108, Issue D16 https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD003161	journal	January 2003
Measuring fluxes of trace gases at regional scales by Lagrangian observations: Application to the CO ₂ Budget and Rectification Airborne (COBRA) study Lin, J. C. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 109, Issue D15 https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD004754	journal	January 2004
Observational constraints on recent increases in the atmospheric CH ₄ burden Dlugokencky, E. J.; Bruhwiler, L.; White, J. W. C. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 36, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL039780	journal	January 2009
Anthropogenic emissions of methane in the United States Miller, S. M.; Wofsy, S. C.; Michalak, A. M. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 110, Issue 50 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1314392110	journal	November 2013
Do geographically isolated wetlands influence landscape functions? Cohen, Matthew J.; Creed, Irena F.; Alexander, Laurie Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 113, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1512650113	journal	February 2016
Nitrous oxide emissions are enhanced in a warmer and wetter world Griffis, Timothy J.; Chen, Zichong; Baker, John M. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 114, Issue 45 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1704552114	journal	October 2017
Global atmospheric methane: budget, changes and dangers Dlugokencky, Edward J.; Nisbet, Euan G.; Fisher, Rebecca Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 369, Issue 1943 https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2010.0341	journal	May 2011
Methane on the Rise--Again Nisbet, E. G.; Dlugokencky, E. J.; Bousquet, P. Science, Vol. 343, Issue 6170 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1247828	journal	January 2014
Inverse Methods for Atmospheric Sounding: Theory and Practice Rodgers, Clive D. Series on Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, Vol. 2 https://doi.org/10.1142/3171	book	July 2000
A Revised Approach to Ice Microphysical Processes for the Bulk Parameterization of Clouds and Precipitation Hong, Song-You; Dudhia, Jimy; Chen, Shu-Hua Monthly Weather Review, Vol. 132, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(2004)132<0103:ARATIM>2.0.CO;2	journal	January 2004
North American Regional Reanalysis Mesinger, Fedor; DiMego, Geoff; Kalnay, Eugenia Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 87, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-87-3-343	journal	March 2006
Development and Evaluation of a Multi-Year Fractional Surface Water Data Set Derived from Active/Passive Microwave Remote Sensing Data Schroeder, Ronny; McDonald, Kyle; Chapman, Bruce Remote Sensing, Vol. 7, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.3390/rs71215843	journal	December 2015
Estimating regional greenhouse gas fluxes: an uncertainty analysis of planetary boundary layer techniques and bottom-up inventories Zhang, X.; Lee, X.; Griffis, T. J. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 14, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-10705-2014	journal	January 2014
Balancing aggregation and smoothing errors in inverse models Turner, A. J.; Jacob, D. J. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 15, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-7039-2015	journal	January 2015
Estimating global and North American methane emissions with high spatial resolution using GOSAT satellite data Turner, A. J.; Jacob, D. J.; Wecht, K. J. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 15, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-7049-2015	journal	January 2015
Satellite observations of atmospheric methane and their value for quantifying methane emissions Jacob, Daniel J.; Turner, Alexander J.; Maasakkers, Joannes D. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 16, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-14371-2016	journal	January 2016
Diagnostic methods for atmospheric inversions of long-lived greenhouse gases Michalak, Anna M.; Randazzo, Nina A.; Chevallier, Frédéric Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 17, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7405-2017	journal	January 2017
A global wetland methane emissions and uncertainty dataset for atmospheric chemical transport models (WetCHARTs version 1.0) Bloom, A. Anthony; Bowman, Kevin W.; Lee, Meemong Geoscientific Model Development, Vol. 10, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-2141-2017	journal	January 2017
The North American Carbon Program Multi-Scale Synthesis and Terrestrial Model Intercomparison Project – Part 1: Overview and experimental design Huntzinger, D. N.; Schwalm, C.; Michalak, A. M. Geoscientific Model Development, Vol. 6, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-6-2121-2013	journal	January 2013
The North American Carbon Program Multi-scale Synthesis and Terrestrial Model Intercomparison Project – Part 2: Environmental driver data Wei, Y.; Liu, S.; Huntzinger, D. N. Geoscientific Model Development, Vol. 7, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-2875-2014	journal	January 2014

Similar Records

Global Methane Budget 2000–2020

Journal Article · 2025 · Earth System Science Data (Online) · OSTI ID:2565107

Saunois, Marielle; Martinez, Adrien; Poulter, Benjamin; +66 more

Global wetland contribution to 2000–2012 atmospheric methane growth rate dynamics

Journal Article · 2017 · Environmental Research Letters · OSTI ID:1408475

Poulter, Benjamin; Bousquet, Philippe; Canadell, Josep G.; +30 more

Biogeochemistry of light hydrocarbons in south Florida wetlands

Thesis/Dissertation · 1992 · OSTI ID:5581977

Barber, T R

Title: Source Partitioning of Methane Emissions and its Seasonality in the U.S. Midwest

Citation Formats

References (40)

Similar Records

Related Subjects