Methane and other greenhouse gases in the Arctic - measurements, process studies and modelling (MAMM)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Earth Atmospheric and Env Sciences
Abstract
The Arctic is a major source of atmospheric methane and other greenhouse gases, with both natural and anthropogenic emissions. Arctic greenhouse gas sources have the potential to be important globally, changing radiative forcing and atmospheric oxidizing capacity. Moreover, both palaeorecords and present-day studies suggest some sources, such as wetlands and methane hydrates, may show strong positive feedbacks [Nisbet and Chappellaz, 2009], so that the warming feeds the warming. It is urgent that Arctic greenhouse gas sources should be quantified, by strength, geographic location, character (e.g. wetland, gasfield, clathrate), and by temporal variation (summer, winter, day, night), and their vulnerability to change assessed.
We will address these issues by an integrated program of measurement and modelling. Analysis of gas mixing ratios (concentrations), isotopic character, and source fluxes, will be made both from the ground and aircraft. Both past and new measurements will be modelled using a suite of techniques. Fluxes will be implemented into the JULES land surface model. Atmospheric modelling, including trajectory and inverse modelling will improve understanding on the local/regional scale, placing the role of Arctic emissions in large scale global atmospheric change.
We will address these issues by an integrated program of measurement and modelling. Analysis of gas mixing ratios (concentrations), isotopic character, and source fluxes, will be made both from the ground and aircraft. Both past and new measurements will be modelled using a suite of techniques. Fluxes will be implemented into the JULES land surface model. Atmospheric modelling, including trajectory and inverse modelling will improve understanding on the local/regional scale, placing the role of Arctic emissions in large scale global atmospheric change.
Planned Impact
Greenhouse warming is a highly significant social, political and scientific issue. Any scientific study that seeks to increase our understanding of greenhouse gases (GHG) potentially has wide ranging impact. The MAMM project will therefore have significant impact across a wide spectrum of stakeholders.
Who will benefit from this research?
Scientific community. This work will be of significant scientific interest nationally and internationally. The cross-disciplinary nature of the project will ensure the results are relevant to atmospheric scientists, geologists and land-surface scientists.
Policymakers. The Arctic is a region of rapid change and currently much uncertainty exists about its role in contributing to growth in GHG, underlining the need for investment in Arctic research. This project will have a direct bearing on understanding the role of the Arctic in global warming for policymaking purposes. Therefore, policymakers in government and scientific bodies (such as IPCC) will all be users of the project outcomes.
Business. The UK Met Office will benefit from the close links with this project through collaborations for provision of modelling capability and measurements. Instrument companies have expressed interest in collaborating with MAMM scientists.
General public / media. There has been significant publicity in recent years on GHG and the Arctic. However, confusion is still apparent; for example, in a recent school visit 3 out of 4 6th form students thought the most abundant greenhouse gas was methane.
How will they benefit?
Scientific community. There is a lack of observations of GHG, particularly CH4 isotopic data, in the Arctic so the dataset gathered by this project will be important for the scientific community. Improvements to instruments during and after this project are likely. Improved national modelling capability will result that may enhance our ability to model polar climate change in Earth System Models. Project results will be widely reported in publications, international conferences, and an Arctic themed national conference as well as existing projects and collaborations such as MethaneNet, EU-GEOmon, etc. Project results will feed into future IPCC assessments.
Policymakers. Project PIs have provided advice to the UK government, contributed to EU policy committees, as well as to IPCC and WMO panels and assessments. Many opportunities exist for MAMM scientists to raise awareness of the role of the Arctic and of NERC's Arctic programme at the policy level, influencing legislation. In addition, project PDRAs will be encouraged to participate in the various 'science into policy' schemes that exist with the Royal Society and NERC.
Business. The UK Met Office is a key beneficiary of the MAMM project. They are providing the ARIES instrument during field campaigns and will benefit from field tests, leading to improved radiation modelling for the Met Office. They will also benefit from access to the new data and improvements to modelling capability through the UKCA and JULES projects. Instrument manufacturers will also benefit from advertising their involvement in a high profile scientific campaign and field testing of equipment e.g. Aerodyne Inc have expressed a wish to test their new instrument during the campaign.
General public / media. Our aim will be to raise awareness of the role of the Arctic and improve scientific understanding surrounding greenhouse warming. We will do this by media interviews and press releases during the project. Articles for popular science magazines will also be produced. A project website will be established along with a website aimed at presenting Arctic science to schoolchildren. Through podcasts and other web technologies we will aim to reach a wide audience. Local events such as national science week and presentations to local schools enhance the outreach from this project.
Who will benefit from this research?
Scientific community. This work will be of significant scientific interest nationally and internationally. The cross-disciplinary nature of the project will ensure the results are relevant to atmospheric scientists, geologists and land-surface scientists.
Policymakers. The Arctic is a region of rapid change and currently much uncertainty exists about its role in contributing to growth in GHG, underlining the need for investment in Arctic research. This project will have a direct bearing on understanding the role of the Arctic in global warming for policymaking purposes. Therefore, policymakers in government and scientific bodies (such as IPCC) will all be users of the project outcomes.
Business. The UK Met Office will benefit from the close links with this project through collaborations for provision of modelling capability and measurements. Instrument companies have expressed interest in collaborating with MAMM scientists.
General public / media. There has been significant publicity in recent years on GHG and the Arctic. However, confusion is still apparent; for example, in a recent school visit 3 out of 4 6th form students thought the most abundant greenhouse gas was methane.
How will they benefit?
Scientific community. There is a lack of observations of GHG, particularly CH4 isotopic data, in the Arctic so the dataset gathered by this project will be important for the scientific community. Improvements to instruments during and after this project are likely. Improved national modelling capability will result that may enhance our ability to model polar climate change in Earth System Models. Project results will be widely reported in publications, international conferences, and an Arctic themed national conference as well as existing projects and collaborations such as MethaneNet, EU-GEOmon, etc. Project results will feed into future IPCC assessments.
Policymakers. Project PIs have provided advice to the UK government, contributed to EU policy committees, as well as to IPCC and WMO panels and assessments. Many opportunities exist for MAMM scientists to raise awareness of the role of the Arctic and of NERC's Arctic programme at the policy level, influencing legislation. In addition, project PDRAs will be encouraged to participate in the various 'science into policy' schemes that exist with the Royal Society and NERC.
Business. The UK Met Office is a key beneficiary of the MAMM project. They are providing the ARIES instrument during field campaigns and will benefit from field tests, leading to improved radiation modelling for the Met Office. They will also benefit from access to the new data and improvements to modelling capability through the UKCA and JULES projects. Instrument manufacturers will also benefit from advertising their involvement in a high profile scientific campaign and field testing of equipment e.g. Aerodyne Inc have expressed a wish to test their new instrument during the campaign.
General public / media. Our aim will be to raise awareness of the role of the Arctic and improve scientific understanding surrounding greenhouse warming. We will do this by media interviews and press releases during the project. Articles for popular science magazines will also be produced. A project website will be established along with a website aimed at presenting Arctic science to schoolchildren. Through podcasts and other web technologies we will aim to reach a wide audience. Local events such as national science week and presentations to local schools enhance the outreach from this project.
Publications
Pisso I
(2016)
Constraints on oceanic methane emissions west of Svalbard from atmospheric in situ measurements and Lagrangian transport modeling.
in Journal of geophysical research. Atmospheres : JGR
France JL
(2016)
Measurements of d13C in CH4 and using particle dispersion modeling to characterize sources of Arctic methane within an air mass.
in Journal of geophysical research. Atmospheres : JGR
Cain M
(2017)
A cautionary tale: A study of a methane enhancement over the North Sea
in Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
Allen G
(2016)
Biogeochemistry: Rebalancing the global methane budget.
in Nature
Grant Allen (Author)
(2013)
Methane: The Unnatural Gas
in Science in Parliament -Harlow then London-
Samuel Illingworth (Author)
(2013)
EGU Conference Presentation: 'MARS: A New Retrieval Scheme for Aircraft Remote Sensing Measurements'
Description | MAMM has used aircraft research flights to derive a flux of methane from the UK and these have been shown to be broadly in agreement with early measured estimates for methane, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. During the Elgin gas leak in March-May 2012, the MAMM project was able to respond using the FAAM aircraft fitted with greenhouse gas instruments and, using a series of downwind transects of the plume, sample the gas concentration and derive a leakage rate of methane from the platform. Subsequent flights were also used to derive a leak rate. This was a very important contribution to the assessment of the leak and confirmed that methane was not emanating from the main reservoir. |
Exploitation Route | see above. This data was a civil contingency response and the data were collected directly to address the leakage rates from the rig. The data were supplied directly to Total, the company running the rig. Total used this information in its assessment case to DEFRA. |
Sectors | Energy,Environment |
Description | Key findings resulting from MAMM at the University of Manchester concern new methodologies and instrumentation for the measurement of methane both in Arctic environments and more widely (e.g. "hotspot" areas like landfills and fracking sites). And our papers and conference presentations on regional scalability of flux calculations (from local to regional scales) are already providing global leadership on how to apply methodologies in analogous environments (e.g. boreal Canada and Siberia). A key finding was that measured methane fluxes are much lower than those estimated by current state-of-the-art land surface models, which is leading to refinement of the models and understandign of the factors controlling bias in the JULES model. These outcomes have led to a recently submitted NERC large grant application (which includes Dr Allen from this team) to complete the broeal narrative on methane fluxes. Together with synergistic activity on other NERC projects (Dr Allen's Fellowship and the GAUGE programme), we have also developed drone aircraft measurement techniques that we are currently operating in ongoing projects with the UK Environment Agency for regulatory monitoring of fugitve emissions of methane. This also resulted in a policy guidance note and faesibility study by Dr Allen that has been published by the Agency. Dr Allen was also invited to be a reviewer on the DECC Mackay and Stone report on "the potential for fugitive emissions from fracking in the UK" and this has led to guidance on new monitoring techniques for fugitive methane assessment and Dr Allen is working with Cuadrilla, in the UK on a baseline methane monitoring study ahead of operations for statistical analysis using transport models and local flux methods. |
First Year Of Impact | 2013 |
Sector | Energy,Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice |
Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
Description | Environmental footprint of exploratory hydraulic fracturing in the UK |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
Impact | Building on work and instrument characterisation conducted during the first MAMM field campaign, Dr. Allen has been consulted by DECC to report on the potential impacts and long-term monitoring of fugitive emissions of methane from fracking operations in the UK. Dr. Allen is working with partners from NRL and the EPA in the USA to decide best practice internationally in this context and future research in this area is envisioned. |
Description | Strategic Programme |
Amount | £5,000,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | NE/N015835/1 |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2016 |
End | 04/2020 |
Description | Technology Proof Of Concept |
Amount | £101,803 (GBP) |
Funding ID | NE/P003737/1 |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2016 |
End | 06/2017 |
Title | Growing season methane and nitrous oxide static chamber fluxes from Sodankylä region, Northern Finland |
Description | This dataset contains calculated terrestrial fluxes of methane and nitrous oxide using static chambers from the Sodankylä region of Northern Finland across both forest and wetland ecosystems. Measurements were carried out during growing season 2012 in two measurement campaigns (Summer: 12th July - 2nd August; Autumn: 22nd September - 14th October) using 60 static chambers (21 within the forest and 39 within the wetland). Fluxes were measured on approximately 2 day intervals resulting in a total of 10 measurements for all chambers during the summer campaign, and 7 for the forest and 8 for the wetland chambers during the autumn campaign. In addition to fluxes, auxiliary measurements include soil temperature, water table depth (wetland only), soil moisture (forest only) and soil respiration. The data was collected as part of the MAMM project (Methane and other greenhouse gases in the Arctic: Measurements, process studies and Modelling, http://arp.arctic.ac.uk/projects/) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (grant NE/I029293/1) involving partners from CEH and the Finnish Meteorological Institute (Climate Change Research, FI-00101 Helsinki, Finland). |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Title | Growing season terrestrial methane static chamber fluxes from Abisko, Northern Sweden (June - September 2013) |
Description | This dataset contains calculated terrestrial fluxes of methane using static chambers from Stordalen mire, a subarctic peatland (68°20' N, 19°03' E) located near Abisko, Northern Sweden . Measurements were carried out during growing season 2013 in three measurement campaigns: 16-27 June (number of sampling occasions, n, = 4), 11-22 August (n=5) and 16-29 September (n=5 for wetland and 4 for birch forest). A total of 60 static chambers were measured, 14 within the birch forest and 46 within the wetland. In addition to fluxes auxiliary measurements such as air and soil temperature, soil moisture and soil nutrients were taken and the vegetation composition was recorded. The data was collected as part of the MAMM project (Methane and other greenhouse gases in the Arctic: Measurements, process studies and Modelling, http://arp.arctic.ac.uk/projects/) funded by the UK Natural Environment Research Council (grant NE/I029293/1). |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Description | NILU - Svalbard sampling of seabed methane flux |
Organisation | Newlife the Charity for Disabled Children |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Manchester flew aircraft sampling airborne methane concentrations and fluxes. |
Collaborator Contribution | NILU conducted Svalbard sampling of seabed methane flux |
Impact | none yet |
Start Year | 2015 |
Description | Arctic Science Expo |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | FAAM mock-up cockpit went to Edinburgh in Oct 2015 - public engagement with hands on display |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Greenhouse Gas Summer School |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Grant Allen taught at this workshop on aircraft flux approaches in August 2015 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Manchester Science Festival |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Manchester Science Festival is a one week event in November each year. Throughout the week a number of stalls are open for the public to engage with a range of different areas of research through interactive demos and discussions with staff engaged in the research. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015 |
URL | http://www.manchestersciencefestival.com/information/about-the-festival |
Description | NERC Into the Blue |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | NERC Into the Blue - a week long event at Manchester Airport showcasing the FAAM aircraft and a wide range of NERC science |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |