Duren, Riley: Carbon Mapper/U. Arizona (Project Lead)
Frankenberg, Christian: Caltech (Co-Investigator)
Hopkins, Francesca: University of California Riverside (Co-Investigator)
Kuai, Le (Elva): JPL/Caltech (Co-Investigator)
Matheou, Georgios: University of Connecticut (Co-Investigator)
Thompson, David: Jet Propulsion Laboratory / Caltech (Co-Investigator)
Thorpe, Andrew: JPL (Co-Investigator)
Croes, Bart: California Energy Commission / California Air Resources Board (retired) / CIRES at University of Colorado-Boulder (Collaborator)
Guha, Abhinav: Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Collaborator)
Jacob, Daniel: Harvard University (Collaborator)
Lloyd, Ian: Department of State (Collaborator)
Martynowicz, Trina: Environmental Protection Agency (Collaborator)
Herner, Jorn: California Air Resources Board (Stakeholder)
Totten, Sanden: 89.3 KPCC Southern California Public Radio (Stakeholder)
Project Funding:
2016 - 2019
NRA: 2015 NASA: Carbon Monitoring System
Funded by NASA
Abstract:
We propose to leverage a planned project with California stakeholder agencies to develop a prototype methane monitoring system for the state. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the California Energy Commission (CEC) are funding JPL to conduct a baseline survey of methane super-emitters across the state in late 2016 using proven airborne imaging spectrometers. The California Baseline Methane Survey will produce a data set of geolocated methane plume images for super-emitter sources. We propose to build on and dramatically improve the relevance of that data set by developing and validating point source flux estimates, uncertainty estimates, linking that information with multi-scale attribution data and regional flux estimates derived from other CMS and NACP projects (that employ satellite and surface observations), and coordinating with California stakeholder agencies to infuse those products into their decision-making frameworks. We will also work with a broader set of stakeholders to evaluate the potential future application of this Prototype Methane Monitoring System in other key regions in the US and internationally.
Our proposed development of a Prototype Methane Monitoring System for California is of immediate societal relevance and significance given growing priorities to account for and mitigate methane emissions. The recently approved California law AB1496 states that “there is an urgent need to improve the monitoring and measurement of methane emissions from the major sources in California” and directs the California Air Resources Board to “undertake, in consultation with districts that monitor methane, monitoring and measurements of high-emission methane hot spots in the state using the best available and cost-effective scientific and technical methods”. Hence this project is directly responsive to that policy by addressing methane hot spots (super-emitters), by establishing a close collaboration between local, state, and US national stakeholders and by applying the best available scientific methods (including remote sensing derived point
flux estimates and integration with other data sets across multiple spatial scales and emission sectors).
The planned use for this data set by stakeholders spans multiple governance levels, emission sectors and programs – ranging from EPA Region 9’s interest in livestock emissions under the EPA AgStar program (the largest methane emission sector in California) to SC-AQMD’s focus on landfills, oil and gas (both for methane and potential co-emitted criteria pollutants). Similarly, the proposed end-to-end, multi-scale approach will also help explore and path-find the potential future extensibility of these methods to other regions in the US and internationally – addressing key US national priorities (US- Canada Joint Statement, 2016; President’s Climate Action Plan, 2013).
Publications:
Carranza, V., Rafiq, T., Frausto-Vicencio, I., Hopkins, F. M., Verhulst, K. R., Rao, P., Duren, R. M., Miller, C. E. 2018. Vista-LA: Mapping methane-emitting infrastructure in the Los Angeles megacity. Earth System Science Data. 10(1), 653-676. DOI: 10.5194/essd-10-653-2018
Cusworth, D. H., Duren, R. M., Thorpe, A. K., Tseng, E., Thompson, D., Guha, A., Newman, S., Foster, K. T., Miller, C. E. 2020. Using remote sensing to detect, validate, and quantify methane emissions from California solid waste operations. Environmental Research Letters. 15(5), 054012. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab7b99
Cusworth, D. H., Duren, R. M., Yadav, V., Thorpe, A. K., Verhulst, K., Sander, S., Hopkins, F., Rafiq, T., Miller, C. E. 2020. Synthesis of Methane Observations Across Scales: Strategies for Deploying a Multitiered Observing Network. Geophysical Research Letters. 47(7). DOI: 10.1029/2020GL087869
Cusworth, D. H., Thorpe, A. K., Ayasse, A. K., Stepp, D., Heckler, J., Asner, G. P., Miller, C. E., Yadav, V., Chapman, J. W., Eastwood, M. L., Green, R. O., Hmiel, B., Lyon, D. R., Duren, R. M. 2022. Strong methane point sources contribute a disproportionate fraction of total emissions across multiple basins in the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 119(38). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2202338119
Duren, R. M., Thorpe, A. K., Foster, K. T., Rafiq, T., Hopkins, F. M., Yadav, V., Bue, B. D., Thompson, D. R., Conley, S., Colombi, N. K., Frankenberg, C., McCubbin, I. B., Eastwood, M. L., Falk, M., Herner, J. D., Croes, B. E., Green, R. O., Miller, C. E. 2019. California's methane super-emitters. Nature. 575(7781), 180-184. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1720-3
Thorpe, A. K., Duren, R. M., Conley, S., Prasad, K. R., Bue, B. D., Yadav, V., Foster, K. T., Rafiq, T., Hopkins, F. M., Smith, M. L., Fischer, M. L., Thompson, D. R., Frankenberg, C., McCubbin, I. B., Eastwood, M. L., Green, R. O., Miller, C. E. 2020. Methane emissions from underground gas storage in California. Environmental Research Letters. 15(4), 045005. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab751d
Thorpe, A. K., O'Handley, C., Emmitt, G. D., DeCola, P. L., Hopkins, F. M., Yadav, V., Guha, A., Newman, S., Herner, J. D., Falk, M., Duren, R. M. 2021. Improved methane emission estimates using AVIRIS-NG and an Airborne Doppler Wind Lidar. Remote Sensing of Environment. 266, 112681. DOI: 10.1016/j.rse.2021.112681
Yadav, V., Duren, R., Mueller, K., Verhulst, K. R., Nehrkorn, T., Kim, J., Weiss, R. F., Keeling, R., Sander, S., Fischer, M. L., Newman, S., Falk, M., Kuwayama, T., Hopkins, F., Rafiq, T., Whetstone, J., Miller, C. 2019. Spatio-temporally Resolved Methane Fluxes From the Los Angeles Megacity. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. 124(9), 5131-5148. DOI: 10.1029/2018JD030062
More details may be found in the following project profile(s):