Methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and isotopic ratios of methane observations from the Permian Basin tower network
<p>We describe the instrumentation, calibration, and uncertainty of the network of ground-based, in situ, cavity ring down spectroscopy (CRDS) greenhouse gas (GHG) measurements deployed in the Permian Basin. The primary goal of the network is to be used in conjunction with atmospheric transpor...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Earth System Science Data |
| Online Access: | https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/14/2401/2022/essd-14-2401-2022.pdf |
| Summary: | <p>We describe the instrumentation, calibration, and uncertainty of the network of ground-based, in situ, cavity ring down spectroscopy (CRDS)
greenhouse gas (GHG) measurements deployed in the Permian Basin. The primary goal of the network is to be used in conjunction with atmospheric
transport modeling to determine methane emissions of the Delaware sub-basin of the Permian Basin oil and natural gas extraction area in Texas and
New Mexico. Four of the measurements are based on tall communications towers, while one is on a building on a mountain ridge, with the recent
addition of a small tower at that site. Although methane (<span class="inline-formula">CH<sub>4</sub></span>) is the primary species of interest, carbon dioxide (<span class="inline-formula">CO<sub>2</sub></span>), hydrogen
sulfide (<span class="inline-formula">H<sub>2</sub>S</span>), and the isotopic ratio of methane (<span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>13</sup>CH<sub>4</sub></span>) are also reported for a subset of the sites. Measurements were
reported following the WMO X2004A scale for <span class="inline-formula">CH<sub>4</sub></span> and the WMO X2019 scale for <span class="inline-formula">CO<sub>2</sub></span>. CRDS instruments were calibrated for <span class="inline-formula">CH<sub>4</sub></span> and
<span class="inline-formula">CO<sub>2</sub></span> in the laboratory prior to deployment. For <span class="inline-formula">H<sub>2</sub>S</span>, data were offset-corrected using the minimum 40 <span class="inline-formula">min</span> running mean value of the
day, and for <span class="inline-formula"><i>δ</i><sup>13</sup>CH<sub>4</sub></span>, calibrations were based on laboratory data. We describe the characteristics of the dataset with a set of
illustrative analyses. Methane and carbon dioxide showed strong seasonality, with a well-defined diurnal cycle during the summer, which was opposed
to the winter, when a diurnal cycle was absent. <span class="inline-formula">CH<sub>4</sub></span> enhancements to the background, during the winter, are up to twice the summer values,
which is attributed to the changes in boundary layer depth and wind speed. The largest <span class="inline-formula">CH<sub>4</sub></span> enhancements occurred when winds blow from the
center of the Delaware sub-basin, where most of the methane emissions come from. The magnitude of enhancements of <span class="inline-formula">CO<sub>2</sub></span> did not present
seasonality. <span class="inline-formula">H<sub>2</sub>S</span> enhancements indicated a potential source northeast of the tower (Hobbs, New Mexico) where the inlet is installed. Isotopic
ratios of methane indicated that oil and natural gas extraction is the source of local methane in the region. The hourly-averaged data, starting on
1 March 2020 and described in this paper, are archived at The Pennsylvania State University Data Commons at <a href="https://doi.org/10.26208/98y5-t941">https://doi.org/10.26208/98y5-t941</a> (Monteiro et
al., 2021).</p> |
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| ISSN: | 1866-3508 1866-3516 |