Measuring Oil and Gas Basin-Wide Methane Emissions from Aircraft with Full Doppler-Lidar Wind Profiles

Methane emissions from oil and gas production cause 2% of the United States CO₂-equivalent emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency's 2022 greenhouse gas inventory. However, this total remains uncertain. Airborne and Remote sensing Methane and Air Pollutant Surveys (AiRMAPS) is a series of studies led by NOAA Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) and NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) to provide comprehensive and quantitative top-down emissions data for methane, other greenhouse gases, and major air pollutants from oil and gas production basins, and selected urban and agricultural areas. Here, we report initial aircraft mass balance estimates of methane around the Denver-Julesburg oil and gas basin, from the Airborne Methane Mass Balance Emissions in Colorado (AMMBEC) campaign, one of the AiRMAPS studies.

NOAA Twin Otter aircraft flew 9 flights around the Denver Julesburg oil and gas basin between 29 June and 13 July 2024. In situ methane, ethane, and meteorology measurements allow a mass balance measurement of oil and gas-related methane emissions. To further improve accuracy of the mass balance method, the aircraft included a scanning Doppler lidar, providing vertically resolved horizontal profile and boundary layer height measurements along the flight track. A stationary Doppler lidar was also sited in the middle of the flight domain to provide temporal evolution of winds and boundary layer height during the flight.