Methane fluxes from Zambian tropical wetlands

<p>Airborne measurements of methane (CH₄) 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 CH₄ were measured over the Bangweulu (11&#176;36&#8217; S, 30&#176;05&#8217; E), Kafue (15&#176;43&#8217; S, 27&#176;17&#8217; E), and Lukanga (14&#176;29&#8217; S, 27&#176;47&#8217; 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 CH₄ m^-2 hr^-1, 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 CH₄ 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>