Assessing urban methane emissions using column-observing portable Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometers and a novel Bayesian inversion framework

• Published in: Atmospheric chemistry and physics 2021-09, Vol.21 (17), p.13131-13147
• Main Authors: Jones, Taylor S, Franklin, Jonathan E, Chen, Jia, Dietrich, Florian, Hajny, Kristian D, Paetzold, Johannes C, Wenzel, Adrian, Gately, Conor, Gottlieb, Elaine, Parker, Harrison, Dubey, Manvendra, Hase, Frank, Shepson, Paul B, Mielke, Levi H, Wofsy, Steven C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air; Air pollution; Aircraft; Aircraft observations; Bayesian analysis; Carbon; Cities; Emissions; Estimates; Fourier transforms; Greenhouse effect; Greenhouse gases; Industrial plant emissions; Infrared spectrometers; Infrared spectroscopy; Infrared tracking; Infrastructure; Instruments; Inventories; Inversion; Landfill; Leaks; Measurement; Methane; Methane emissions; Methods; Natural gas; Physical instruments; Pipelines; Probability theory; Satellites; Sensors; Spectrometer; Spectrometers; Surface fluxes; Urban areas
• ISSN: 1680-7324; 1680-7316; 1680-7324
• DOI: 10.5194/acp-21-13131-2021

Cities represent a large and concentrated portion of global greenhouse gas emissions, including methane. Quantifying methane emissions from urban areas is difficult, and inventories made using bottom-up accounting methods often differ greatly from top-down estimates generated from atmospheric observations. Emissions from leaks in natural gas infrastructure are difficult to predict and are therefore poorly constrained in bottom-up inventories. Natural gas infrastructure leaks and emissions from end uses can be spread throughout the city, and this diffuse source can represent a significant fraction of a city's total emissions.