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Monthly trends of methane emissions in Los Angeles from 2011 to 2015 inferred...

Wong, C. K., T. Pongetti, T. Oda, P. Rao, K. Gurney, S. Newman, R. Duren, C. E. Miller, Y. L. Yung, and S. P. Sander (2016), Monthly trends of methane emissions in Los Angeles from 2011 to 2015 inferred by CLARS-FTS observations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 13121-13130, doi:10.5194/acp-16-13121-2016.
Abstract: 

This paper presents an analysis of methane emissions from the Los Angeles Basin at monthly timescales across a 4-year time period – from September 2011 to August 2015. Using observations acquired by a ground-based nearinfrared remote sensing instrument on Mount Wilson, California, combined with atmospheric CH4 –CO2 tracer–tracer correlations, we observed −18 to +22 % monthly variability in CH4 : CO2 from the annual mean in the Los Angeles Basin. Top-down estimates of methane emissions for the basin also exhibit significant monthly variability (−19 to +31 % from annual mean and a maximum month-to-month change of 47 %). During this period, methane emissions consistently peaked in the late summer/early fall and winter. The estimated annual methane emissions did not show a statistically significant trend over the 2011 to 2015 time period.

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Research Program: 
Atmospheric Composition
Tropospheric Composition Program (TCP)
Upper Atmosphere Research Program (UARP)