Observational constraints on methane emissions from Polish coal mines using a ground-based remote sensing network
<p>Given its abundant coal mining activities, the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB) in southern Poland is one of the largest sources of anthropogenic methane (CH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>4</sub></span>) emissions in Europe. Here, we report on CH<spa...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Copernicus Publications
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| Online Access: | https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/22/5859/2022/acp-22-5859-2022.pdf |
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| author | A. Luther A. Luther J. Kostinek R. Kleinschek S. Defratyka M. Stanisavljević A. Forstmaier A. Dandocsi L. Scheidweiler D. Dubravica N. Wildmann F. Hase M. M. Frey J. Chen F. Dietrich J. Nȩcki J. Swolkień C. Knote S. N. Vardag S. N. Vardag A. Roiger A. Butz A. Butz A. Butz |
| author_facet | A. Luther A. Luther J. Kostinek R. Kleinschek S. Defratyka M. Stanisavljević A. Forstmaier A. Dandocsi L. Scheidweiler D. Dubravica N. Wildmann F. Hase M. M. Frey J. Chen F. Dietrich J. Nȩcki J. Swolkień C. Knote S. N. Vardag S. N. Vardag A. Roiger A. Butz A. Butz A. Butz |
| author_sort | A. Luther |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Given its abundant coal mining activities, the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB) in southern Poland is one of the largest sources of anthropogenic methane (CH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>4</sub></span>) emissions in Europe. Here, we report on CH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>4</sub></span> emission estimates for coal mine ventilation facilities in the USCB. Our estimates are driven by pairwise upwind–downwind observations of the column-average dry-air mole fractions of CH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>4</sub></span> (XCH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>4</sub></span>) by a network of four portable, ground-based, sun-viewing Fourier transform spectrometers of the type EM27/SUN operated during the CoMet campaign in May–June 2018. The EM27/SUN instruments were deployed in the four cardinal directions around the USCB approximately <span class="inline-formula">50</span> km from the center of the basin. We report on six case studies for which we inferred emissions by evaluating the mismatch between the observed downwind enhancements and simulations based on trajectory calculations releasing particles out of the ventilation shafts using the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART. The latter was driven by wind fields calculated by WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting model) under assimilation of vertical wind profile measurements of three co-deployed wind lidars. For emission estimation, we use a Phillips–Tikhonov regularization scheme with the L-curve criterion. Diagnosed by the emissions averaging kernels, we find that, depending on the catchment area of the downwind measurements, our ad hoc network can resolve individual facilities or groups of ventilation facilities but that inspecting the emissions averaging kernels is essential to detect correlated estimates. Generally, our instantaneous emission estimates range between 80 and 133 kt CH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>4</sub></span> a<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span> for the southeastern part of the USCB and between 414 and 790 kt CH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>4</sub></span> a<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span> for various larger parts of the basin, suggesting higher emissions than expected from the annual emissions reported by the E-PRTR (European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register). Uncertainties range between 23 % and 36 %, dominated by the error contribution from uncertain wind fields.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T16:10:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1e462bf5baa24837a755948471221587 |
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| issn | 1680-7316 1680-7324 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T16:10:57Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-1e462bf5baa24837a7559484712215872022-12-22T00:19:11ZengCopernicus PublicationsAtmospheric Chemistry and Physics1680-73161680-73242022-05-01225859587610.5194/acp-22-5859-2022Observational constraints on methane emissions from Polish coal mines using a ground-based remote sensing networkA. Luther0A. Luther1J. Kostinek2R. Kleinschek3S. Defratyka4M. Stanisavljević5A. Forstmaier6A. Dandocsi7L. Scheidweiler8D. Dubravica9N. Wildmann10F. Hase11M. M. Frey12J. Chen13F. Dietrich14J. Nȩcki15J. Swolkień16C. Knote17S. N. Vardag18S. N. Vardag19A. Roiger20A. Butz21A. Butz22A. Butz23Institute of Environmental Physics (IUP), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germanynow at: Environmental Sensing and Modeling, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, GermanyDeutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Oberpfaffenhofen, GermanyInstitute of Environmental Physics (IUP), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, GermanyLaboratoire des sciences du climat et de l'environnement (LSCE-IPSL) CEA-CNRS-UVSQ Université Paris Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, FranceAGH – University of Science and Technology, Kraków, PolandEnvironmental Sensing and Modeling, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, GermanyNational Institute of Research and Development for Optoelectronics (INOE2000), Măgurele, RomaniaInstitute of Environmental Physics (IUP), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, GermanyKarlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-ASF), Karlsruhe, GermanyDeutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Oberpfaffenhofen, GermanyKarlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-ASF), Karlsruhe, GermanyNational Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, JapanEnvironmental Sensing and Modeling, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, GermanyEnvironmental Sensing and Modeling, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, GermanyAGH – University of Science and Technology, Kraków, PolandAGH – University of Science and Technology, Kraków, PolandModel-Based Environmental Exposure Science, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, GermanyInstitute of Environmental Physics (IUP), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, GermanyHeidelberg Center for the Environment (HCE), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, GermanyDeutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Institut für Physik der Atmosphäre, Oberpfaffenhofen, GermanyInstitute of Environmental Physics (IUP), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, GermanyHeidelberg Center for the Environment (HCE), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, GermanyInterdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany<p>Given its abundant coal mining activities, the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB) in southern Poland is one of the largest sources of anthropogenic methane (CH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>4</sub></span>) emissions in Europe. Here, we report on CH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>4</sub></span> emission estimates for coal mine ventilation facilities in the USCB. Our estimates are driven by pairwise upwind–downwind observations of the column-average dry-air mole fractions of CH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>4</sub></span> (XCH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>4</sub></span>) by a network of four portable, ground-based, sun-viewing Fourier transform spectrometers of the type EM27/SUN operated during the CoMet campaign in May–June 2018. The EM27/SUN instruments were deployed in the four cardinal directions around the USCB approximately <span class="inline-formula">50</span> km from the center of the basin. We report on six case studies for which we inferred emissions by evaluating the mismatch between the observed downwind enhancements and simulations based on trajectory calculations releasing particles out of the ventilation shafts using the Lagrangian particle dispersion model FLEXPART. The latter was driven by wind fields calculated by WRF (Weather Research and Forecasting model) under assimilation of vertical wind profile measurements of three co-deployed wind lidars. For emission estimation, we use a Phillips–Tikhonov regularization scheme with the L-curve criterion. Diagnosed by the emissions averaging kernels, we find that, depending on the catchment area of the downwind measurements, our ad hoc network can resolve individual facilities or groups of ventilation facilities but that inspecting the emissions averaging kernels is essential to detect correlated estimates. Generally, our instantaneous emission estimates range between 80 and 133 kt CH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>4</sub></span> a<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span> for the southeastern part of the USCB and between 414 and 790 kt CH<span class="inline-formula"><sub>4</sub></span> a<span class="inline-formula"><sup>−1</sup></span> for various larger parts of the basin, suggesting higher emissions than expected from the annual emissions reported by the E-PRTR (European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register). Uncertainties range between 23 % and 36 %, dominated by the error contribution from uncertain wind fields.</p>https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/22/5859/2022/acp-22-5859-2022.pdf |
| spellingShingle | A. Luther A. Luther J. Kostinek R. Kleinschek S. Defratyka M. Stanisavljević A. Forstmaier A. Dandocsi L. Scheidweiler D. Dubravica N. Wildmann F. Hase M. M. Frey J. Chen F. Dietrich J. Nȩcki J. Swolkień C. Knote S. N. Vardag S. N. Vardag A. Roiger A. Butz A. Butz A. Butz Observational constraints on methane emissions from Polish coal mines using a ground-based remote sensing network Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| title | Observational constraints on methane emissions from Polish coal mines using a ground-based remote sensing network |
| title_full | Observational constraints on methane emissions from Polish coal mines using a ground-based remote sensing network |
| title_fullStr | Observational constraints on methane emissions from Polish coal mines using a ground-based remote sensing network |
| title_full_unstemmed | Observational constraints on methane emissions from Polish coal mines using a ground-based remote sensing network |
| title_short | Observational constraints on methane emissions from Polish coal mines using a ground-based remote sensing network |
| title_sort | observational constraints on methane emissions from polish coal mines using a ground based remote sensing network |
| url | https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/22/5859/2022/acp-22-5859-2022.pdf |
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