Isotopic signatures of methane emissions from tropical fires, agriculture and wetlands: The MOYA and ZWAMPS flights

Euan G. Nisbet; Grant Allen; Rebecca E. Fisher; James L. France; James D. Lee; David Lowry; Marcos F. Andrade; Thomas J. Bannan; Patrick Barker; Prudence Bateson; Stéphane J.B. Bauguitte; Keith N. Bower; Tim J. Broderick; Francis Chibesakunda; Michelle Cain; Alice E. Cozens; Michael C. Daly; Anita L. Ganesan; Anna E. Jones; Musa Lambakasa; Mark F. Lunt; Archit Mehra; Isabel Moreno; Dominika Pasternak; Paul I. Palmer; Carl J. Percival; Joseph R. Pitt; Amber J. Riddle; Matthew Rigby; Jacob T. Shaw; Angharad C. Stell; Adam R. Vaughan; Nicola J. Warwick; Shona E. Wilde

doi:10.1098/rsta.2021.0112

Isotopic signatures of methane emissions from tropical fires, agriculture and wetlands: The MOYA and ZWAMPS flights

Euan G. Nisbet^*, Grant Allen, Rebecca E. Fisher, James L. France, James D. Lee, David Lowry, Marcos F. Andrade, Thomas J. Bannan, Patrick Barker, Prudence Bateson, Stéphane J.B. Bauguitte, Keith N. Bower, Tim J. Broderick, Francis Chibesakunda, Michelle Cain, Alice E. Cozens, Michael C. Daly, Anita L. Ganesan, Anna E. Jones, Musa LambakasaMark F. Lunt, Archit Mehra, Isabel Moreno, Dominika Pasternak, Paul I. Palmer, Carl J. Percival, Joseph R. Pitt, Amber J. Riddle, Matthew Rigby, Jacob T. Shaw, Angharad C. Stell, Adam R. Vaughan, Nicola J. Warwick, Shona E. Wilde

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We report methane isotopologue data from aircraft and ground measurements in Africa and South America. Aircraft campaigns sampled strong methane fluxes over tropical papyrus wetlands in the Nile, Congo and Zambezi basins, herbaceous wetlands in Bolivian southern Amazonia, and over fires in African woodland, cropland and savannah grassland. Measured methane δ 13 C CH 4 isotopic signatures were in the range -55 to -49‰ for emissions from equatorial Nile wetlands and agricultural areas, but widely -60 ± 1‰ from Upper Congo and Zambezi wetlands. Very similar δ 13 C CH 4 signatures were measured over the Amazonian wetlands of NE Bolivia (around -59‰) and the overall δ 13 C CH 4 signature from outer tropical wetlands in the southern Upper Congo and Upper Amazon drainage plotted together was -59 ± 2‰. These results were more negative than expected. For African cattle, δ 13 C CH 4 values were around -60 to -50‰. Isotopic ratios in methane emitted by tropical fires depended on the C3: C4 ratio of the biomass fuel. In smoke from tropical C3 dry forest fires in Senegal, δ 13 C CH 4 values were around -28‰. By contrast, African C4 tropical grass fire δ 13 C CH 4 values were -16 to -12‰. Methane from urban landfills in Zambia and Zimbabwe, which have frequent waste fires, had δ 13 C CH 4 around -37 to -36‰. These new isotopic values help improve isotopic constraints on global methane budget models because atmospheric δ 13 C CH 4 values predicted by global atmospheric models are highly sensitive to the δ 13 C CH 4 isotopic signatures applied to tropical wetland emissions. Field and aircraft campaigns also observed widespread regional smoke pollution over Africa, in both the wet and dry seasons, and large urban pollution plumes. The work highlights the need to understand tropical greenhouse gas emissions in order to meet the goals of the UNFCCC Paris Agreement, and to help reduce air pollution over wide regions of Africa. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Rising methane: is warming feeding warming? (part 2)'.

Original language	English
Article number	20210112
Number of pages	17
Journal	Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
Volume	380
Issue number	2215
Early online date	6 Dec 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2021.0112
Publication status	Published - 24 Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
E.G.N. thanks the UK Natural Environment Research Council for grants: NE/S00159X/1 ZWAMPS Quantifying Methane Emissions in remote tropical settings: a new 3D approach. NE/N016238/1 MOYA The Global Methane Budget 2016–2020 and allied consortium grants in partner institutions, and also NE/P019641/1 New methodologies for removal of methane. The team thank the University of Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA research fund for supporting measurements in Kenya. Acknowledgements

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors.

Keywords

African air pollution
African biomass burning
African wetlands
aircraft surveys
atmospheric methane
methane isotopes

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Isotopic signatures of methane emissions from tropical fires, agriculture and wetlands: the MOYA and ZWAMPS flights
© 2021 The Authors.
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Nisbet, E. G., Allen, G., Fisher, R. E., France, J. L., Lee, J. D., Lowry, D., Andrade, M. F., Bannan, T. J., Barker, P., Bateson, P., Bauguitte, S. J. B., Bower, K. N., Broderick, T. J., Chibesakunda, F., Cain, M., Cozens, A. E., Daly, M. C., Ganesan, A. L., Jones, A. E., ... E. Wilde, S. (2022). Isotopic signatures of methane emissions from tropical fires, agriculture and wetlands: The MOYA and ZWAMPS flights. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 380(2215), Article 20210112. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2021.0112

@article{047f2fd3cbfd4294b2919f3b1d25f380,

title = "Isotopic signatures of methane emissions from tropical fires, agriculture and wetlands: The MOYA and ZWAMPS flights",

abstract = "We report methane isotopologue data from aircraft and ground measurements in Africa and South America. Aircraft campaigns sampled strong methane fluxes over tropical papyrus wetlands in the Nile, Congo and Zambezi basins, herbaceous wetlands in Bolivian southern Amazonia, and over fires in African woodland, cropland and savannah grassland. Measured methane δ 13 C CH 4 isotopic signatures were in the range -55 to -49‰ for emissions from equatorial Nile wetlands and agricultural areas, but widely -60 ± 1‰ from Upper Congo and Zambezi wetlands. Very similar δ 13 C CH 4 signatures were measured over the Amazonian wetlands of NE Bolivia (around -59‰) and the overall δ 13 C CH 4 signature from outer tropical wetlands in the southern Upper Congo and Upper Amazon drainage plotted together was -59 ± 2‰. These results were more negative than expected. For African cattle, δ 13 C CH 4 values were around -60 to -50‰. Isotopic ratios in methane emitted by tropical fires depended on the C3: C4 ratio of the biomass fuel. In smoke from tropical C3 dry forest fires in Senegal, δ 13 C CH 4 values were around -28‰. By contrast, African C4 tropical grass fire δ 13 C CH 4 values were -16 to -12‰. Methane from urban landfills in Zambia and Zimbabwe, which have frequent waste fires, had δ 13 C CH 4 around -37 to -36‰. These new isotopic values help improve isotopic constraints on global methane budget models because atmospheric δ 13 C CH 4 values predicted by global atmospheric models are highly sensitive to the δ 13 C CH 4 isotopic signatures applied to tropical wetland emissions. Field and aircraft campaigns also observed widespread regional smoke pollution over Africa, in both the wet and dry seasons, and large urban pollution plumes. The work highlights the need to understand tropical greenhouse gas emissions in order to meet the goals of the UNFCCC Paris Agreement, and to help reduce air pollution over wide regions of Africa. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Rising methane: is warming feeding warming? (part 2)'.",

keywords = "African air pollution, African biomass burning, African wetlands, aircraft surveys, atmospheric methane, methane isotopes",

author = "Nisbet, {Euan G.} and Grant Allen and Fisher, {Rebecca E.} and France, {James L.} and Lee, {James D.} and David Lowry and Andrade, {Marcos F.} and Bannan, {Thomas J.} and Patrick Barker and Prudence Bateson and Bauguitte, {St{\'e}phane J.B.} and Bower, {Keith N.} and Broderick, {Tim J.} and Francis Chibesakunda and Michelle Cain and Cozens, {Alice E.} and Daly, {Michael C.} and Ganesan, {Anita L.} and Jones, {Anna E.} and Musa Lambakasa and Lunt, {Mark F.} and Archit Mehra and Isabel Moreno and Dominika Pasternak and Palmer, {Paul I.} and Percival, {Carl J.} and Pitt, {Joseph R.} and Riddle, {Amber J.} and Matthew Rigby and Shaw, {Jacob T.} and Stell, {Angharad C.} and Vaughan, {Adam R.} and Warwick, {Nicola J.} and {E. Wilde}, Shona",

note = "Funding Information: E.G.N. thanks the UK Natural Environment Research Council for grants: NE/S00159X/1 ZWAMPS Quantifying Methane Emissions in remote tropical settings: a new 3D approach. NE/N016238/1 MOYA The Global Methane Budget 2016–2020 and allied consortium grants in partner institutions, and also NE/P019641/1 New methodologies for removal of methane. The team thank the University of Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA research fund for supporting measurements in Kenya. Acknowledgements Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Authors.",

year = "2022",

month = jan,

day = "24",

doi = "10.1098/rsta.2021.0112",

language = "English",

volume = "380",

journal = "Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences",

issn = "1364-503X",

publisher = "The Royal Society",

number = "2215",

}

Nisbet, EG, Allen, G, Fisher, RE, France, JL, Lee, JD, Lowry, D, Andrade, MF, Bannan, TJ, Barker, P, Bateson, P, Bauguitte, SJB, Bower, KN, Broderick, TJ, Chibesakunda, F, Cain, M, Cozens, AE, Daly, MC, Ganesan, AL, Jones, AE, Lambakasa, M, Lunt, MF, Mehra, A, Moreno, I, Pasternak, D, Palmer, PI, Percival, CJ, Pitt, JR, Riddle, AJ, Rigby, M, Shaw, JT, Stell, AC, Vaughan, AR, Warwick, NJ & E. Wilde, S 2022, 'Isotopic signatures of methane emissions from tropical fires, agriculture and wetlands: The MOYA and ZWAMPS flights', Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, vol. 380, no. 2215, 20210112. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2021.0112

Isotopic signatures of methane emissions from tropical fires, agriculture and wetlands: The MOYA and ZWAMPS flights. / Nisbet, Euan G.; Allen, Grant; Fisher, Rebecca E. et al.
In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 380, No. 2215, 20210112, 24.01.2022.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Isotopic signatures of methane emissions from tropical fires, agriculture and wetlands

T2 - The MOYA and ZWAMPS flights

AU - Nisbet, Euan G.

AU - Allen, Grant

AU - Fisher, Rebecca E.

AU - France, James L.

AU - Lee, James D.

AU - Lowry, David

AU - Andrade, Marcos F.

AU - Bannan, Thomas J.

AU - Barker, Patrick

AU - Bateson, Prudence

AU - Bauguitte, Stéphane J.B.

AU - Bower, Keith N.

AU - Broderick, Tim J.

AU - Chibesakunda, Francis

AU - Cain, Michelle

AU - Cozens, Alice E.

AU - Daly, Michael C.

AU - Ganesan, Anita L.

AU - Jones, Anna E.

AU - Lambakasa, Musa

AU - Lunt, Mark F.

AU - Mehra, Archit

AU - Moreno, Isabel

AU - Pasternak, Dominika

AU - Palmer, Paul I.

AU - Percival, Carl J.

AU - Pitt, Joseph R.

AU - Riddle, Amber J.

AU - Rigby, Matthew

AU - Shaw, Jacob T.

AU - Stell, Angharad C.

AU - Vaughan, Adam R.

AU - Warwick, Nicola J.

AU - E. Wilde, Shona

N1 - Funding Information: E.G.N. thanks the UK Natural Environment Research Council for grants: NE/S00159X/1 ZWAMPS Quantifying Methane Emissions in remote tropical settings: a new 3D approach. NE/N016238/1 MOYA The Global Methane Budget 2016–2020 and allied consortium grants in partner institutions, and also NE/P019641/1 New methodologies for removal of methane. The team thank the University of Cambridge-Africa ALBORADA research fund for supporting measurements in Kenya. Acknowledgements Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors.

PY - 2022/1/24

Y1 - 2022/1/24

N2 - We report methane isotopologue data from aircraft and ground measurements in Africa and South America. Aircraft campaigns sampled strong methane fluxes over tropical papyrus wetlands in the Nile, Congo and Zambezi basins, herbaceous wetlands in Bolivian southern Amazonia, and over fires in African woodland, cropland and savannah grassland. Measured methane δ 13 C CH 4 isotopic signatures were in the range -55 to -49‰ for emissions from equatorial Nile wetlands and agricultural areas, but widely -60 ± 1‰ from Upper Congo and Zambezi wetlands. Very similar δ 13 C CH 4 signatures were measured over the Amazonian wetlands of NE Bolivia (around -59‰) and the overall δ 13 C CH 4 signature from outer tropical wetlands in the southern Upper Congo and Upper Amazon drainage plotted together was -59 ± 2‰. These results were more negative than expected. For African cattle, δ 13 C CH 4 values were around -60 to -50‰. Isotopic ratios in methane emitted by tropical fires depended on the C3: C4 ratio of the biomass fuel. In smoke from tropical C3 dry forest fires in Senegal, δ 13 C CH 4 values were around -28‰. By contrast, African C4 tropical grass fire δ 13 C CH 4 values were -16 to -12‰. Methane from urban landfills in Zambia and Zimbabwe, which have frequent waste fires, had δ 13 C CH 4 around -37 to -36‰. These new isotopic values help improve isotopic constraints on global methane budget models because atmospheric δ 13 C CH 4 values predicted by global atmospheric models are highly sensitive to the δ 13 C CH 4 isotopic signatures applied to tropical wetland emissions. Field and aircraft campaigns also observed widespread regional smoke pollution over Africa, in both the wet and dry seasons, and large urban pollution plumes. The work highlights the need to understand tropical greenhouse gas emissions in order to meet the goals of the UNFCCC Paris Agreement, and to help reduce air pollution over wide regions of Africa. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Rising methane: is warming feeding warming? (part 2)'.

AB - We report methane isotopologue data from aircraft and ground measurements in Africa and South America. Aircraft campaigns sampled strong methane fluxes over tropical papyrus wetlands in the Nile, Congo and Zambezi basins, herbaceous wetlands in Bolivian southern Amazonia, and over fires in African woodland, cropland and savannah grassland. Measured methane δ 13 C CH 4 isotopic signatures were in the range -55 to -49‰ for emissions from equatorial Nile wetlands and agricultural areas, but widely -60 ± 1‰ from Upper Congo and Zambezi wetlands. Very similar δ 13 C CH 4 signatures were measured over the Amazonian wetlands of NE Bolivia (around -59‰) and the overall δ 13 C CH 4 signature from outer tropical wetlands in the southern Upper Congo and Upper Amazon drainage plotted together was -59 ± 2‰. These results were more negative than expected. For African cattle, δ 13 C CH 4 values were around -60 to -50‰. Isotopic ratios in methane emitted by tropical fires depended on the C3: C4 ratio of the biomass fuel. In smoke from tropical C3 dry forest fires in Senegal, δ 13 C CH 4 values were around -28‰. By contrast, African C4 tropical grass fire δ 13 C CH 4 values were -16 to -12‰. Methane from urban landfills in Zambia and Zimbabwe, which have frequent waste fires, had δ 13 C CH 4 around -37 to -36‰. These new isotopic values help improve isotopic constraints on global methane budget models because atmospheric δ 13 C CH 4 values predicted by global atmospheric models are highly sensitive to the δ 13 C CH 4 isotopic signatures applied to tropical wetland emissions. Field and aircraft campaigns also observed widespread regional smoke pollution over Africa, in both the wet and dry seasons, and large urban pollution plumes. The work highlights the need to understand tropical greenhouse gas emissions in order to meet the goals of the UNFCCC Paris Agreement, and to help reduce air pollution over wide regions of Africa. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Rising methane: is warming feeding warming? (part 2)'.

KW - African air pollution

KW - African biomass burning

KW - African wetlands

KW - aircraft surveys

KW - atmospheric methane

KW - methane isotopes

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U2 - 10.1098/rsta.2021.0112

DO - 10.1098/rsta.2021.0112

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85122308822

SN - 1364-503X

VL - 380

JO - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences

JF - Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences

IS - 2215

M1 - 20210112

ER -

Isotopic signatures of methane emissions from tropical fires, agriculture and wetlands: The MOYA and ZWAMPS flights

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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