Mapping Ozone and Methane in Western Pennsylvania around Natural Gas Wells
Abstract
4378970">Natural gas usage has increased by 40% since 1990 in the United States. Due to this increased demand, the natural gas extraction industry4378970"> has grown4378970"> over the same period of time. In 4378970">W4378970">estern 4378970">Pennsylvania, there are hundreds of thousands of oil and natural gas wells - which 4378970">vary in4378970"> types, ages, and statuses. Each of these wells has the potential to emit methane into the atmosphere. Understanding these emissions and their variations - particularly as the4378970"> wells4378970"> age - is key to understanding the cumulative effect of methane emissions from the oil and gas industry on both climate and air quality. Additionally, as methane can be produced by both biogenic and thermogenic processes, it is important to verify that the source of the methane observed is, in fact, from a thermogenic source. By4378970"> 4378970">monitoring methane and ethane concentrations, we can use the 4378970">ethane4378970">:methane4378970"> ratio as a source tracer verifying 4378970">that the source of methane is4378970"> thermogenic. In this work, we measured methane and ethane concentrations using mid-infrared absorption spectroscopy and ozone concentrations using UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. These were paired with a GPS and small weather station which measured location and weather conditions. The instruments were packaged in a small backpack equipped with a solar panel. This instrument package allowed us to map small4378970">-4378970">scale methane sources and their impacts on ozone concentrations in areas that are not accessible using larger platforms4378970">. This is essential as4378970"> many gas wells in 4378970">W4378970">estern Pennsylvania are not readily accessible. In this work4378970">,4378970"> we will demonstrate the use of this new instrument package to characterize local methane sources and ozone concentrations 9739":160,"335559740":240}"="201341983":0,"335551550":6,"335551620":6,"335559739":160,"335559740":240}"">
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFM.A31M3121I
- Keywords:
-
- 0322 Constituent sources and sinks;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 0345 Pollution: urban and regional;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 0365 Troposphere: composition and chemistry;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTUREDE: 0478 Pollution: urban;
- regional and global;
- BIOGEOSCIENCES