The recent increase of atmospheric methane from 10 years of
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TitleThe recent increase of atmospheric methane from 10 years of ground-based NDACC FTIR observations since 2005AbstractChanges of atmospheric methane total columns (CH4) since 2005 have been evaluated using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) solar observations carried out at 10 ground-based sites, affiliated to the Network for Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC). From this, we find an increase of atmospheric methane total columns of 0.31±0.03%year−1 (2σ level of uncertainty) for the 2005–2014 period. Comparisons with in situ methane measurements at both local and global scales show good agreement. We used the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model tagged simulation, which accounts for the contribution of each emission source and one sink in the total methane, simulated over 2005–2012. After regridding according to NDACC vertical layering using a conservative regridding scheme and smoothing by convolving with respective FTIR seasonal averaging kernels, the GEOS-Chem simulation shows an increase of atmospheric methane total columns of 0.35±0.03%year−1 between 2005 and 2012, which is in agreement with NDACC measurements over the same time period (0.30±0.04%year−1, averaged over 10 stations). Analysis of the GEOS-Chem-tagged simulation allows us to quantify the contribution of each tracer to the global methane change since 2005. We find that natural sources such as wetlands and biomass burning contribute to the interannual variability of methane. However, anthropogenic emissions, such as coal mining, and gas and oil transport and exploration, which are mainly emitted in the Northern Hemisphere and act as secondary contributors to the global budget of methane, have played a major role in the increase of atmospheric methane observed since 2005. Based on the GEOS-Chem-tagged simulation, we discuss possible cause(s) for the increase of methane since 2005, which is still unexplained. Copyright Author(s) 2017.AcknowledgementsW. Bader has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 704951, and from the University of Toronto through a Faculty of Arts and Science Postdoctoral Fellowship Award. The University of LiègeÅ› involvement has primarily been supported by the PRODEX and SSD programmes funded by the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (Belspo), Brussels. The Swiss GAW-CH programme is further acknowledged. E. Mahieu is a Research Associate with the F.R.S.--FNRS. The F.R.S.--FNRS further supported this work under Grant no. J.0093.15 and the Fédération Wallonie Bruxelles contributed to supporting observational activities. We thank O. Flock for his constant support during this research. We thank the International Foundation High Altitude Research Stations Jungfraujoch and Gornergrat (HFSJG, Bern) for supporting the facilities needed to perform the observations. The Eureka measurements were made at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) by the Canadian Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Change (CANDAC), led by James R. Drummond and in part by the Canadian Arctic ACE/OSIRIS Validation Campaigns, led by Kaley A. Walker. They were supported by the AIF/NSRIT, CFI, CFCAS, CSA, EC, GOC-IPY, NSERC, NSTP, OIT, PCSP, and ORF. Logistical and operational support at Eureka is provided by PEARL Site Manager Pierre Fogal, CANDAC operators, and the EC Weather Station. The Toronto measurements were made at the University of Toronto Atmospheric Observatory (TAO), which has been supported by CFCAS, ABB Bomem, CFI, CSA, EC, NSERC, ORDCF, PREA, and the University of Toronto. We also thank the CANDAC operators, and the many students, postdocs, and interns who have contributed to data acquisition at Eureka and Toronto. Analysis of the Eureka and Toronto NDACC data was supported by the CAFTON project, funded by the Canadian Space AgencyÅ› FAST Program. KIT, IMK-ASF would like to thank Uwe Raffalski and Peter Voelgel from the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) for their continuing support of the NDACC-FTIR site Kiruna. KIT, IMK-ASF would also like to thank E. Sepúlveda for the support in carrying out the FTIR measurements at Izaña. Garmisch work has been performed as part of the ESA GHG-cci project, and KIT, IMK-IFU acknowledge funding by the EC within the INGOS project. The Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of Wollongong involvement in this work is funded by Australian Research Council projects DP1601021598 and LE0668470. Measurements and analysis conducted at Lauder, New Zealand and Arrival Heights, Antarctica are supported by NIWA as part of its government-funded, core research. We thank Antarctica New Zealand for logistical support for the measurements taken at Arrival Heights. A. J. Turner was supported by a Department of Energy (DOE) Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (CSGF). The ACE mission is supported primarily by the Canadian Space Agency. AGAGE is supported principally by NASA (USA) grants to MIT and SIO, and also by DECC (UK) and NOAA (USA) grants to Bristol University and by CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia). We further thank NOAA for providing in situ data for Alert, Izaña and Halley.
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1st AuthorBader, W.AuthorBader, W.Bovy, B.Conway, S.Strong, K.Smale, D.Turner, A.Blumenstock, T.Boone, C.Collaud Coen, M.Coulon, A.Garcia, O.Griffith, D.Hase, F.Hausmann, P.Jones, N.Krummel, P.Murata, I.Morino, I.Nakajima, H.O'Doherty, S.Paton-Walsh, C.Robinson, J.Sandrin, R.Schneider, M.Servais, C.Sussmann, R.Mahieu, E.Year2017JournalAtmospheric Chemistry and PhysicsVolume17Number3Pages2255-2277DOI10.5194/acp-17-2255-2017URLhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/recor.....ed72029a34d16cde064a4f1f3Keywordsrank5ProgrammeK085 - Remote sensing and sampling of atmospheric trace gases and greenhouse gases
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TypeArticleCitationBader, W., Bovy, B., Conway, S., Strong, K., Smale, D., Turner, A., Blumenstock, T., Boone, C., Collaud Coen, M., Coulon, A., Garcia, O., Griffith, D., Hase, F., Hausmann, P., Jones, N., Krummel, P., Murata, I., Morino, I., Nakajima, H., O'Doherty, S., Paton-Walsh, C., Robinson, J., Sandrin, R., Schneider, M., Servais, C., Sussmann, R. and Mahieu, E. (2017). The recent increase of atmospheric methane from 10 years of ground-based NDACC FTIR observations since 2005. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 17(3): 2255-2277 IdentifierBader2017Relevancerank5Antarctica NZ supported?YesNZARI?No
Mahieu, E., The recent increase of atmospheric methane from 10 years of , [Bader2017]. Antarctica NZ, accessed 16/04/2026, https://adam.antarcticanz.govt.nz/nodes/view/63378, 10.5194/acp-17-2255-2017