Abstract. In the period between July 2013 and August 2015, continuous measurements of turbulent methane exchange between an urbanised area and the atmosphere were carried out in Łódź. Such long, continuous measurement series of turbulent methane exchange between the city and the atmosphere are still a rarity. The measurement station was located in the centre of the city, where fluxes of energy (sensible and latent heat) and fluxes of mass (carbon dioxide) have been continuously measured since 2000 and 2007, respectively. In the immediate vicinity of the measurement station there are potential sources of methane, such as streets with vehicle traffic or dense sewerage and natural gas networks. To determine the fluxes, the eddy covariance technique was used; the measurement station was equipped with instruments for recording fluctuations in the vertical component of the wind speed (an ultrasonic 3D anemometer, RM Young 81000, RM Young, USA) as well as the concentration of methane in the air (an open path Li 7700 CH4 Analyser, Li-cor, USA). The devices were mounted on a mast at a height of 37 metres above ground level and, on average, 20 metres over the roofs of the surrounding buildings. The results were therefore averaged for an area with a diameter of approximately 1 kilometre. Our aim was to investigate the temporal variability of the turbulent exchange of methane in the city-atmosphere system. The results show in the first place that positive methane fluxes (turbulent gas transport from the surface to the atmosphere) definitely dominate compared with negative fluxes. This indicates that the study area of the centre of Łódź is a net source of methane to the troposphere. The measurements also indicated the existence of a clear annual rhythm of the turbulent flux of methane in the centre of Łódź (on average, the values observed in winter amounted to ~40–60 nmol m−2 s−1 and were significantly larger than in summer). The daily variability of the flux of CH4 (FCH4) is faintly visible throughout the year. The studied area of the centre of Łódź is also characterised by a cycle of methane exchange – the values measured on working days were higher by 6.6 % (winter) to 5.6 % (summer) than those observed at weekends. The largest monthly exchange was characteristic of winter months (from 2.0 to 2.7 g m−2 month−1) and the lowest occurred in summer (from 0.8 to 1.0 g m−2 month−1). The mean daily patterns of FCH4 in consecutive months were used to determine the cumulative annual exchange. In 2014, the centre of Łódź emitted a net quantity of almost 18 g m−2. Furthermore, the study analyses the covariability of methane and carbon dioxide fluxes.
Eddy covariance measurements of carbon dioxide, latent and sensible energy fluxes above a meadow on a mountain slope