scholarly journals Methane emissions from an oil sands tailings pond: A quantitative comparison of fluxes derived by different methods

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan You ◽  
Ralf M. Staebler ◽  
Samar G. Moussa ◽  
James Beck ◽  
Richard L. Mittermeier
Keyword(s):  
Eddy Covariance ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Dispersion Model ◽  
Regulatory Compliance ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Inverse Dispersion ◽  
Eddy Diffusivities ◽  
Flux Measurements ◽  
Flux Chambers ◽  
A Minor

Abstract. Tailings ponds in the Alberta Oil Sands Region are significant sources of fugitive emissions of methane to the atmosphere, but detailed knowledge on spatial and temporal variabilities is lacking due to limitations of the methods deployed under current regulatory compliance monitoring programs. To develop more robust and representative methods for quantifying these emissions, three micrometeorological flux methods were applied along with traditional flux chambers to determine fluxes over a 5-week period. Eddy covariance flux measurements provided the benchmark. A method is presented to directly calculate stability-corrected eddy diffusivities that can be applied to vertical gas profiles for gradient flux estimation. Gradient fluxes were shown to agree with eddy covariance within 7 %, and inverse dispersion model fluxes within 11 %, with an overall uncertainty of 28 % for the calculated mean flux. Fluxes were shown to have only a minor diurnal cycle (18 % variability) and to be mostly independent of wind speed, air and water surface temperatures. Flux chambers underestimated the fluxes by a factor of 2 in this particular campaign. These measurements indicate that the larger footprint of micrometeorological measurements results in more robust emission estimates representing the whole pond.

scholarly journals Methane emissions from an oil sands tailings pond: a quantitative comparison of fluxes derived by different methods

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 1879-1892
Author(s):  
Yuan You ◽  
Ralf M. Staebler ◽  
Samar G. Moussa ◽  
James Beck ◽  
Richard L. Mittermeier
Keyword(s):  
Eddy Covariance ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Dispersion Model ◽  
Flux Measurement ◽  
Regulatory Compliance ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Fugitive Emissions ◽  
Inverse Dispersion ◽  
Flux Chambers

Abstract. Tailings ponds in the Alberta oil sands region are significant sources of fugitive emissions of methane to the atmosphere, but detailed knowledge on spatial and temporal variabilities is lacking due to limitations of the methods deployed under current regulatory compliance monitoring programs. To develop more robust and representative methods for quantifying fugitive emissions, three micrometeorological flux methods (eddy covariance, gradient, and inverse dispersion) were applied along with traditional flux chambers to determine fluxes over a 5-week period. Eddy covariance flux measurements provided the benchmark. A method is presented to directly calculate stability-corrected eddy diffusivities that can be applied to vertical gas profiles for gradient flux estimation. Gradient fluxes were shown to agree with eddy covariance within 18 %, while inverse dispersion model flux estimates were 30 % lower. Fluxes were shown to have only a minor diurnal cycle (15 % variability) and were weakly dependent on wind speed, air, and water surface temperatures. Flux chambers underestimated the fluxes by 64 % in this particular campaign. The results show that the larger footprint together with high temporal resolution of micrometeorological flux measurement methods may result in more robust estimates of the pond greenhouse gas emissions.

scholarly journals Sources of uncertainty in eddy covariance ozone flux measurements made by dry chemiluminescence fast response analysers

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
pp. 2241-2280 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. A. Muller ◽  
C. J. Percival ◽  
M. W. Gallagher ◽  
D. Fowler ◽  
M. Coyle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eddy Covariance ◽  
Fast Response ◽  
Control Procedure ◽  
Detailed Knowledge ◽  
Data Quality Control ◽  
Rigorous Approach ◽  
Ozone Flux ◽  
Calibration Methods ◽  
Flux Measurements ◽  
Ozone Fluxes

Abstract. Eddy covariance ozone flux measurements are the most direct way to estimate ozone removal near the surface. Over vegetated surfaces, high quality ozone fluxes are required to probe the underlying processes for which it is necessary to separate the flux into the components of stomatal and non-stomatal deposition. Detailed knowledge of the processes that control non-stomatal deposition is limited and more accurate ozone flux measurements are needed to quantify this component of the deposited flux. We present a systematic intercomparison study of eddy covariance ozone flux measurements made using two fast response dry chemiluminescence analysers. Ozone deposition was measured over a well characterised managed grassland near Edinburgh, Scotland, during August 2007. A data quality control procedure specific to these analysers is introduced. Absolute ozone fluxes were calculated based on the relative signals of the dry chemiluminescence analysers using three different calibration methods and the results are compared for both analysers. It is shown that the error in the fitted parameters required for the flux calculations provides a substantial source of uncertainty in the fluxes. The choice of the calculation method itself can also constitute an uncertainty in the flux as the calculated fluxes by the three methods do not agree within error at all times. This finding highlights the need for a consistent and rigorous approach for comparable data-sets, such as e.g. in flux networks. Ozone fluxes calculated by one of the methods were then used to compare the two analysers in more detail. This systematic analyser comparison reveals half-hourly flux values differing by up to a factor of two at times with the difference in mean hourly flux ranging from 0 to 23% with an error in the mean daily flux of ±12%. The comparison of analysers shows that the agreement in fluxes is excellent for some days but that there is an underlying uncertainty as a result of variable analyser performance and/or non-linear behaviour of disc sensitivity.

scholarly journals Eddy covariance flux measurements confirm extreme CH<sub>4</sub> emissions from a Swiss hydropower reservoir and resolve their short-term variability

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 2815-2831 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Eugster ◽  
T. DelSontro ◽  
S. Sobek
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Eddy Covariance ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Lake Level ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Flux Measurements ◽  
Floating Chamber ◽  
Hydropower Reservoir

Abstract. Greenhouse gas budgets quantified via land-surface eddy covariance (EC) flux sites differ significantly from those obtained via inverse modeling. A possible reason for the discrepancy between methods may be our gap in quantitative knowledge of methane (CH4) fluxes. In this study we carried out EC flux measurements during two intensive campaigns in summer 2008 to quantify methane flux from a hydropower reservoir and link its temporal variability to environmental driving forces: water temperature and pressure changes (atmospheric and due to changes in lake level). Methane fluxes were extremely high and highly variable, but consistently showed gas efflux from the lake when the wind was approaching the EC sensors across the open water, as confirmed by floating chamber flux measurements. The average flux was 3.8 ± 0.4 μg C m−2 s−1 (mean ± SE) with a median of 1.4 μg C m−2 s−1, which is quite high even compared to tropical reservoirs. Floating chamber fluxes from four selected days confirmed such high fluxes with 7.4 ± 1.3 μg C m−2 s−1. Fluxes increased exponentially with increasing temperatures, but were decreasing exponentially with increasing atmospheric and/or lake level pressure. A multiple regression using lake surface temperatures (0.1 m depth), temperature at depth (10 m deep in front of the dam), atmospheric pressure, and lake level was able to explain 35.4% of the overall variance. This best fit included each variable averaged over a 9-h moving window, plus the respective short-term residuals thereof. We estimate that an annual average of 3% of the particulate organic matter (POM) input via the river is sufficient to sustain these large CH4 fluxes. To compensate the global warming potential associated with the CH4 effluxes from this hydropower reservoir a 1.3 to 3.7 times larger terrestrial area with net carbon dioxide uptake is needed if a European-scale compilation of grasslands, croplands and forests is taken as reference. This indicates the potential relevance of temperate reservoirs and lakes in local and regional greenhouse gas budgets.

Eddy covariance flux measurements of momentum, heat and carbon dioxide in Hudson Bay at the onset of sea ice melt 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Sims ◽  
Brian Butterworth ◽  
Tim Papakyriakou ◽  
Mohamed Ahmed ◽  
Brent Else
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Gas Exchange ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Eddy Covariance ◽  
Open Water ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Gas Transfer ◽  
Hudson Bay ◽  
Flux Measurements ◽  
Ice Fraction

&lt;p&gt;Remoteness and tough conditions have made the Arctic Ocean historically difficult to access; until recently this has resulted in an undersampling of trace gas and gas exchange measurements. The seasonal cycle of sea ice completely transforms the air sea interface and the dynamics of gas exchange. To make estimates of gas exchange in the presence of sea ice, sea ice fraction is frequently used to scale open water gas transfer parametrisations. It remains unclear whether this scaling is appropriate for all sea ice regions. Ship based eddy covariance measurements were made in Hudson Bay during the summer of 2018 from the icebreaker CCGS Amundsen. We will present fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;), heat and momentum and will show how they change around the Hudson Bay polynya under varying sea ice conditions. We will explore how these fluxes change with wind speed and sea ice fraction. As freshwater stratification was encountered during the cruise, we will compare our measurements with other recent eddy covariance flux measurements made from icebreakers and also will compare our turbulent CO&lt;sub&gt;2&amp;#160;&lt;/sub&gt;fluxes with bulk fluxes calculated using underway and surface bottle pCO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;&amp;#160;data.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Options to correct local turbulent flux measurements for large-scale fluxes using a LES-based approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Mauder ◽  
Andreas Ibrom ◽  
Luise Wanner ◽  
Frederik De Roo ◽  
Peter Brugger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eddy Covariance ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Eddy Covariance Method ◽  
Boundary Layer Height ◽  
Secondary Circulations ◽  
Low Pass ◽  
Measurement Height ◽  
Flux Measurements ◽  
Dispersive Fluxes

Abstract. The eddy-covariance method provides the most direct estimates for fluxes between ecosystems and the atmosphere. However, dispersive fluxes can occur in the presence of secondary circulations, which can inherently not be captured by such single-tower measurements. In this study, we present options to correct local flux measurements for such large-scale transport based on a non-local parametric model that has been developed from a set of idealized LES runs for three real-world sites. The test sites DK-Sor, DE-Fen, and DE-Gwg, represent typical conditions in the mid-latitudes with different measurement height, different terrain complexity and different landscape-scale heterogeneity. Different ways to determine the boundary-layer height, which is a necessary input variable for modelling the dispersive fluxes, are applied, either from operational radio-soundings and local in-situ measurements for the flat site or from backscatter-intensity profile obtained from collocated ceilometers for the two sites in complex terrain. The adjusted total fluxes are evaluated by assessing the improvement in energy balance closure and by comparing the resulting latent heat fluxes with evapotranspiration rates from nearby lysimeters. The results show that not only the accuracy of the flux estimates is improved but also the precision, which is indicated by RMSE values that are reduced by approximately 50 %. Nevertheless, it needs to be clear that this method is intended to correct for a bias in eddy-covariance measurements due to the presence of large-scale dispersive fluxes. Other reasons potentially causing a systematic under- or overestimation, such as low-pass filtering effects and missing storage terms, still need to be considered and minimized as much as possible. Moreover, additional transport induced by surface heterogeneities is not considered.

Field Scale N2O Flux Measurements from Grassland Using Eddy Covariance

2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 143-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Di Marco ◽  
U. Skiba ◽  
K. Weston ◽  
K. Hargreaves ◽  
D. Fowler
Keyword(s):  
Eddy Covariance ◽  
Field Scale ◽  
N2o Flux ◽  
Flux Measurements

scholarly journals Eddy-covariance flux measurements with a weight-shift microlight aircraft

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (7) ◽  
pp. 1699-1717 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Metzger ◽  
W. Junkermann ◽  
M. Mauder ◽  
F. Beyrich ◽  
K. Butterbach-Bahl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Eddy Covariance ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Flux Measurement ◽  
Wind Measurement ◽  
Airborne Measurements ◽  
Weight Shift ◽  
Flux Measurements

Abstract. The objective of this study is to assess the feasibility and quality of eddy-covariance flux measurements from a weight-shift microlight aircraft (WSMA). Firstly, we investigate the precision of the wind measurement (σu,v ≤ 0.09 m s−1, σw = 0.04 m s−1), the lynchpin of flux calculations from aircraft. From here, the smallest resolvable changes in friction velocity (0.02 m s−1), and sensible- (5 W m−2) and latent (3 W m−2) heat flux are estimated. Secondly, a seven-day flight campaign was performed near Lindenberg (Germany). Here we compare measurements of wind, temperature, humidity and respective fluxes between a tall tower and the WSMA. The maximum likelihood functional relationship (MLFR) between tower and WSMA measurements considers the random error in the data, and shows very good agreement of the scalar averages. The MLFRs for standard deviations (SDs, 2–34%) and fluxes (17–21%) indicate higher estimates of the airborne measurements compared to the tower. Considering the 99.5% confidence intervals, the observed differences are not significant, with exception of the temperature SD. The comparison with a large-aperture scintillometer reveals lower sensible heat flux estimates at both tower (−40 to −25%) and WSMA (−25–0%). We relate the observed differences to (i) inconsistencies in the temperature and wind measurement at the tower and (ii) the measurement platforms' differing abilities to capture contributions from non-propagating eddies. These findings encourage the use of WSMA as a low cost and highly versatile flux measurement platform.

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