Mobile Laboratory Observations of Methane Emissions in the Barnett Shale Region.

Results of mobile ground-based atmospheric measurements conducted during the Barnett Shale Coordinated Campaign in spring and fall of 2013 are presented. Methane and ethane are continuously measured downwind of facilities such as natural gas processing plants, compressor stations, and production well pads. Gaussian dispersion simulations of these methane plumes, using an iterative forward plume dispersion algorithm, are used to estimate both the source location and the emission magnitude. The distribution of emitters is peaked in the 0-5 kg/h range, with a significant tail. The ethane/methane molar enhancement ratio for this same distribution is investigated, showing a peak at ∼1.5% and a broad distribution between ∼4% and ∼17%. The regional distributions of source emissions and ethane/methane enhancement ratios are examined: the largest methane emissions appear between Fort Worth and Dallas, while the highest ethane/methane enhancement ratios occur for plumes observed in the northwestern potion of the region. Individual facilities, focusing on large emitters, are further analyzed by constraining the source location.

Demonstration of an ethane spectrometer for methane source identification.

Methane is an important greenhouse gas and tropospheric ozone precursor. Simultaneous observation of ethane with methane can help identify specific methane source types. Aerodyne Ethane-Mini spectrometers, employing recently available mid-infrared distributed feedback tunable diode lasers (DFB-TDL), provide 1 s ethane measurements with sub-ppb precision. In this work, an Ethane-Mini spectrometer has been integrated into two mobile sampling platforms, a ground vehicle and a small airplane, and used to measure ethane/methane enhancement ratios downwind of methane sources. Methane emissions with precisely known sources are shown to have ethane/methane enhancement ratios that differ greatly depending on the source type. Large differences between biogenic and thermogenic sources are observed. Variation within thermogenic sources are detected and tabulated. Methane emitters are classified by their expected ethane content. Categories include the following: biogenic (<0.2%), dry gas (1-6%), wet gas (>6%), pipeline grade natural gas (<15%), and processed natural gas liquids (>30%). Regional scale observations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas show two distinct ethane/methane enhancement ratios bridged by a transitional region. These results demonstrate the usefulness of continuous and fast ethane measurements in experimental studies of methane emissions, particularly in the oil and natural gas sector.

Enhanced North American carbon uptake associated with El Niño.

Long-term atmospheric CO2 mole fraction and δ13CO2 observations over North America document persistent responses to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. We estimate these responses corresponded to 0.61 (0.45 to 0.79) PgC year-1 more North American carbon uptake during El Niño than during La Niña between 2007 and 2015, partially offsetting increases of net tropical biosphere-to-atmosphere carbon flux around El Niño. Anomalies in derived North American net ecosystem exchange (NEE) display strong but opposite correlations with surface air temperature between seasons, while their correlation with water availability was more constant throughout the year, such that water availability is the dominant control on annual NEE variability over North America. These results suggest that increased water availability and favorable temperature conditions (warmer spring and cooler summer) caused enhanced carbon uptake over North America near and during El Niño.