Using Satellite, Aircraft, and Ground-Based Observations to Monitor Methane and Improve a Greenhouse Gas Inventory Network for the San Francisco Bay Area

CH4 is the second most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas in terms of radiative forcing, with methane emissions coming from a variety of human-induced sources in populated areas, such as livestock, landfill, and wastewater. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) uses traditional bottom-up methodologies to produce source-specific emissions estimates for their regional greenhouse gas inventory; however, recent literature demonstrates that bottom-up methodologies are underestimating CH4 emissions by up to 50% in many regions of California, including the San Francisco Bay Area. This discrepancy is investigated in this project by comparing ground-based in situ greenhouse gas measurements with sub-Planetary Boundary Layer aircraft measurements from the NASA Alpha Jet Atmospheric eXperiment (AJAX). Understanding the spatial and temporal variations in CH4 can help identify hotspots and trace the sources of high-CH4 plumes. Additionally, this project utilized land classification to identify the associated sources, and search for other similar sources that are not included in the current BAAQMD emissions inventory. Integrating these findings into their traditional bottom-up methodologies have offered a more accurate approach to compiling this inventory. Furthermore, the identification of possible high-emission point sources may suggest areas of future in situ measurement for the agency's Mobile Greenhouse Gas Measurement Network, or remotely sensed total column measurements by targeted greenhouse gas satellites such as Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT).

Location

NASA Ames Research Center

Term

Summer 2016

Partner(s)

Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD)
NASA Alpha Jet Atmospheric eXperiment (AJAX)

NASA Earth Observations

Landsat 5, TM
Landsat 7, ETM+
Landsat 8, OLI
USGS High Resolution Orthoimagery
RapidEye Constellation
PlanetScape Constellation

Team

Maya Midzik (Project Lead)
Joseph Abbate
Garima Raheja

Advisor(s)

Dr. Abhinav Guha (Bay Area Air Quality Management District)
Dr. Laura Iraci (ARC), Dr. Josette Marrero (NASA Postdoctoral Program)
Dr. Warren Gore (ARC)
Dr. Emma Yates (Bay Area Environmental Research Institute)
Dr. Juan Torres-Pérez (Bay Area Environmental Research Institute)

Project Video