Atmospheric methane in the Mediterranean: Analysis of measurements at the island of Lampedusa during 1995–2005

Artuso, Florinda; Chamard, P.; Piacentino, Salvatore; Sarra, Alcide di; Meloni, Daniela; Monteleone, Francesco; Sferlazzo, Damiano; Thiery, F.

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.01.024

Cited by 23 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Langenfelds et al (2002) point at major biomass burning events linked to ENSO dry periods, which increased the growth rate of CH 4 over other parts of the world. Artuso et al (2007) compared the global average temperature anomaly to the growth rate of CH 4 in Lampedusa (35.5 • N, 12.6 • E), Italy, for the period 1995-2005. The 0.71 positive correlation they found reflects the strong relationship between these two factors.…”

Section: Methane Concentrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric pollution over the eastern Mediterranean during summer – a review

et al. 2017

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Abstract. The eastern Mediterranean (EM) is one of the regions in the world where elevated concentrations of primary and secondary gaseous air pollutants have been reported frequently, mainly in summer. This review discusses published studies of the atmospheric dispersion and transport conditions characterizing this region during the summer, followed by a description of some essential studies dealing with the corresponding concentrations of air pollutants such as ozone, carbon monoxide, total reactive nitrogen, methane, and sulfate aerosols observed there.The interlaced relationship between the downward motion of the subsiding air aloft induced by global circulation systems affecting the EM and the depth of the Persian Trough, a low-pressure trough that extends from the Asian monsoon at the surface controlling the spatiotemporal distribution of the mixed boundary layer during summer, is discussed. The strength of the wind flow within the mixed layer and its depth affect much the amount of pollutants transported and determine the potential of the atmosphere to disperse contaminants off their origins in the EM. The reduced mixed layer and the accompanying weak westerlies, characterizing the summer in this region, led to reduced ventilation rates, preventing an effective dilution of the contaminants. Several studies pointing at specific local (e.g., ventilation rates) and regional peculiarities (long-range transport) enhancing the build-up of air pollutant concentrations are presented.Tropospheric ozone (O 3 ) concentrations observed in the summer over the EM are among the highest over the Northern Hemisphere. The three essential processes controlling its formation (i.e., long-range transport of polluted air masses, dynamic subsidence at mid-tropospheric levels, and stratosphere-to-troposphere exchange) are reviewed. Airborne campaigns and satellite-borne initiatives have indicated that the concentration values of reactive nitrogen identified as precursors in the formation of O 3 over the EM were found to be 2 to 10 times higher than in the hemispheric background troposphere. Several factors favor sulfate particulate abundance over the EM. Models, aircraft measurements, and satellite-derived data have clearly shown that sulfate has a maximum during spring and summer over the EM. The carbon monoxide (CO) seasonal cycle, as obtained from global background monitoring sites in the EM, is mostly controlled by the tropospheric concentration of the hydroxyl radical (OH) and therefore demonstrates high concentrations over winter months and the lowest concentrations during summer when photochemistry is active. Modeling studies have shown that the diurnal variations in CO concentration during the summer result from long-range CO transport from European anthropogenic sources, contributing 60 to 80 % of the boundary-layer CO over the EM. The values retrieved from satellite data enable us to derive the spatial distribution of methane (CH 4 ), identifying August as the month with the highest levels over the EM. The outcomes of a...

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Section: Methane Concentrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric pollution over the eastern Mediterranean during summer – a review

et al. 2017

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“…We have selected 49 sites that had regular measurements during the period June 2009-December 2010 ( Fig. 1) from the NOAA global cooperative air sampling network (Dlugokencky et al, 1994, JMA (Matsueda et al, 2004), ENEA (Artuso et al, 2007), CSIRO (Francey et al, 1999) and NIWA (Lowe et al, 1991) networks. The synoptic variability from NOAA's GLOBALVIEW-CH4 (2009) is used as a proxy for transport error, which largely dominates the observation error.…”

Section: Surface Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the consistency between global and regional methane emissions inferred from SCIAMACHY, TANSO-FTS, IASI and surface measurements

et al. 2014

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Abstract. Satellite retrievals of methane weighted atmospheric columns are assimilated within a Bayesian inversion system to infer the global and regional methane emissions and sinks for the period August 2009 to July 2010. Inversions are independently computed from three different space-borne observing systems and one surface observing system under several hypotheses for prior-flux and observation errors. Posterior methane emissions are compared and evaluated against surface mole fraction observations via a chemistry-transport model. Apart from SCIAMACHY (SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CartograpHY), the simulations agree fairly well with the surface mole fractions. The most consistent configurations of this study using TANSO-FTS (Thermal And Near infrared Sensor for carbon Observation -Fourier Transform Spectrometer), IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) or surface measurements induce posterior methane global emissions of, respectively, 565 ± 21 Tg yr −1 , 549 ± 36 Tg yr −1 and 538 ± 15 Tg yr −1 over the one-year period August 2009-July 2010. This consistency between the satellite retrievals (apart from SCIAMACHY) and independent surface measurements is promising for future improvement of CH 4 emission estimates by atmospheric inversions.

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“…The increasing concentrations of GHGs put the global surface temperature in an ascending trend, being 0.3-0.6°C in last century [5]. Global warming has caused environmental deterioration and increased the frequency of natural disasters, which have seriously affected human society as well as the economic development.Global warming and quantification of global GHGs budgets have attracted increasing attention since the 1960s [6][7][8][9][10][11]. Main sources and sinks of the three GHGs have been confirmed [12].…”

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confidence: 99%

Seasonal variation analysis of atmospheric CH4, N2O and CO2 in Tianjin offshore area

Kong

Liu

Han

et al. 2010

Sci. China Earth Sci.

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in order to study the greenhouse gases in the Tianjin offshore area of Bohai Sea. CH 4 concentrations varied from 1.87 to 2.61 ppm with the highest value appearing in summer and the lowest in winter. The concentration range of N 2 O was 319.3 to 347.7 ppb, with the maximal value appearing in winter. CO 2 was higher in the heating season than in non-heating season in this area. Concentrations of the three greenhouse gases in the study area exceeded the 2005 global background values. Backward trajectory model was used to analyze the sources. All three gases were influenced evidently by continental sources in the inshore area during the sampling periods. Every gas was compared with each other by correlation analysis, showing that the correlation of CO 2 and N 2 O was more significant than to CH 4 and their relationship with meteorological factors was consistent. It can be concluded these three greenhouse gases may be influenced by some similar sources, especially for CO 2 and N 2 O.Bohai Sea, greenhouse gas, offshore observation, backward trajectory model, sources Citation: Kong S F, Lu B, Han B, et al. Seasonal variation analysis of atmospheric CH 4 , N 2 O and CO 2 in Tianjin offshore area. Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) are three important greenhouse gases (GHGs) with relatively high concentrations, long atmospheric lifetime in the troposphere, and are greatly influenced by anthropogenic emissions. With the development of industries, deforestation, population growth, and other human activities, global concentrations of CO 2 , CH 4 and N 2 O increased to 379.1 ppm, 1783 ppb, 319.2 ppb, respectively, by the year 2005, an increase of 35.4%, 154.7% and 18.2% [1], respectively, compared to the year 1750 levels (pre-industrial times).These three GHGs play an important role in global warming and climate change, although their mass concentrations attributed to less than 0.04% of the atmosphere [2][3][4]. CO 2 is the largest contributor to greenhouse effect. On an equivalent concentration basis, CH 4 and N 2 O have a global warming potential of 200 and 300 times larger than CO 2 . The increasing concentrations of GHGs put the global surface temperature in an ascending trend, being 0.3-0.6°C in last century [5]. Global warming has caused environmental deterioration and increased the frequency of natural disasters, which have seriously affected human society as well as the economic development.Global warming and quantification of global GHGs budgets have attracted increasing attention since the 1960s [6][7][8][9][10][11]. Main sources and sinks of the three GHGs have been confirmed [12]. However, budget balance between CO 2 sources and sinks still has gaps [13]. Recent studies have focused mainly on advanced research methodology, expanded studying areas, responses of GHGs flux to global

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Atmospheric methane in the Mediterranean: Analysis of measurements at the island of Lampedusa during 1995–2005

Cited by 23 publications

References 45 publications

Atmospheric pollution over the eastern Mediterranean during summer – a review

Atmospheric pollution over the eastern Mediterranean during summer – a review

On the consistency between global and regional methane emissions inferred from SCIAMACHY, TANSO-FTS, IASI and surface measurements

Seasonal variation analysis of atmospheric CH4, N2O and CO2 in Tianjin offshore area

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