Methane fluxes from Zambian tropical wetlands
Domain:
climateenvironment and energyRecord type:
paper
Creator:
JacGraPatJos
Publisher:
Cop
Host:
<p>Airborne measurements of methane (CH<sub>4</sub>) were recorded over three major wetland areas in Zambia in February 2019 during the MOYA (Methane Observations and Yearly Assessments) ZWAMPS field campaign. Enhancements of up to 600 ppb CH<sub>4</sub> were measured over the Bangweulu (11°36’ S, 30°05’ E), Kafue (15°43’ S, 27°17’ E), and Lukanga (14°29’ S, 27°47’ E) wetlands. Three independent methods were used to quantify methane emission fluxes; aircraft mass balance, aircraft eddy covariance, and atmospheric inversion modelling. Results yielded methane emission fluxes of 10-20 mg CH<sub>4</sub> m<sup>-2</sup> hr<sup>-1</sup>, which were up to an order of magnitude greater than the emission fluxes simulated by various wetland process models (WetCHARTs ensemble and LPX-Bern). Independent column CH<sub>4</sub> observations from the TROPOMI instrument were used to verify these fluxes, and investigate their applicability for timescales longer than the duration of the MOYA flight campaign.</p>