A multi-scale comparison of modeled and observed seasonal methane emissions in northern wetlands
Wetlands are the largest global natural methane (CH4/ source, and emissions between 50 and 70° N latitude contribute 10-30% to this source. Predictive capability of land models for northern wetland CH4 emissions is still low due to limited site measurements, strong spatial and temporal variability i...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
eScholarship, University of California
2016
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7bw6g6wg |
id |
ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt7bw6g6wg |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt7bw6g6wg 2024-01-07T09:41:59+01:00 A multi-scale comparison of modeled and observed seasonal methane emissions in northern wetlands Xu, Xiyan Riley, William J Koven, Charles D Billesbach, Dave P Chang, Rachel Y-W Commane, Róisín Euskirchen, Eugénie S Hartery, Sean Harazono, Yoshinobu Iwata, Hiroki McDonald, Kyle C Miller, Charles E Oechel, Walter C Poulter, Benjamin Raz-Yaseef, Naama Sweeney, Colm Torn, Margaret Wofsy, Steven C Zhang, Zhen Zona, Donatella 5043 - 5056 2016-01-01 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7bw6g6wg unknown eScholarship, University of California qt7bw6g6wg https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7bw6g6wg public Biogeosciences, vol 13, iss 17 Earth Sciences Atmospheric Sciences Climate Action Environmental Sciences Biological Sciences Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Ecology Physical geography and environmental geoscience Environmental management article 2016 ftcdlib 2023-12-11T19:07:47Z Wetlands are the largest global natural methane (CH4/ source, and emissions between 50 and 70° N latitude contribute 10-30% to this source. Predictive capability of land models for northern wetland CH4 emissions is still low due to limited site measurements, strong spatial and temporal variability in emissions, and complex hydrological and biogeochemical dynamics. To explore this issue, we compare wetland CH4 emission predictions from the Community Land Model 4.5 (CLM4.5-BGC) with siteto regional-scale observations. A comparison of the CH4 fluxes with eddy flux data highlighted needed changes to the model's estimate of aerenchyma area, which we implemented and tested. The model modification substantially reduced biases in CH4 emissions when compared with CarbonTracker CH4 predictions. CLM4.5 CH4 emission predictions agree well with growing season (May-September) CarbonTracker Alaskan regional-level CH4 predictions and sitelevel observations. However, CLM4.5 underestimated CH4 emissions in the cold season (October-April). The monthly atmospheric CH4 mole fraction enhancements due to wetland emissions are also assessed using the Weather Research and Forecasting-Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport (WRF-STILT) model coupled with daily emissions from CLM4.5 and compared with aircraft CH4 mole fraction measurements from the Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE) campaign. Both the tower and aircraft analyses confirm the underestimate of cold-season CH4 emissions by CLM4.5. The greatest uncertainties in predicting the seasonal CH4 cycle are from the wetland extent, coldseason CH4 production and CH4 transport processes. We recommend more cold-season experimental studies in highlatitude systems, which could improve the understanding and parameterization of ecosystem structure and function during this period. Predicted CH4 emissions remain uncertain, but we show here that benchmarking against observations across spatial scales can inform model structural and parameter improvements. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic University of California: eScholarship Arctic |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Earth Sciences Atmospheric Sciences Climate Action Environmental Sciences Biological Sciences Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Ecology Physical geography and environmental geoscience Environmental management |
spellingShingle |
Earth Sciences Atmospheric Sciences Climate Action Environmental Sciences Biological Sciences Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Ecology Physical geography and environmental geoscience Environmental management Xu, Xiyan Riley, William J Koven, Charles D Billesbach, Dave P Chang, Rachel Y-W Commane, Róisín Euskirchen, Eugénie S Hartery, Sean Harazono, Yoshinobu Iwata, Hiroki McDonald, Kyle C Miller, Charles E Oechel, Walter C Poulter, Benjamin Raz-Yaseef, Naama Sweeney, Colm Torn, Margaret Wofsy, Steven C Zhang, Zhen Zona, Donatella A multi-scale comparison of modeled and observed seasonal methane emissions in northern wetlands |
topic_facet |
Earth Sciences Atmospheric Sciences Climate Action Environmental Sciences Biological Sciences Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Ecology Physical geography and environmental geoscience Environmental management |
description |
Wetlands are the largest global natural methane (CH4/ source, and emissions between 50 and 70° N latitude contribute 10-30% to this source. Predictive capability of land models for northern wetland CH4 emissions is still low due to limited site measurements, strong spatial and temporal variability in emissions, and complex hydrological and biogeochemical dynamics. To explore this issue, we compare wetland CH4 emission predictions from the Community Land Model 4.5 (CLM4.5-BGC) with siteto regional-scale observations. A comparison of the CH4 fluxes with eddy flux data highlighted needed changes to the model's estimate of aerenchyma area, which we implemented and tested. The model modification substantially reduced biases in CH4 emissions when compared with CarbonTracker CH4 predictions. CLM4.5 CH4 emission predictions agree well with growing season (May-September) CarbonTracker Alaskan regional-level CH4 predictions and sitelevel observations. However, CLM4.5 underestimated CH4 emissions in the cold season (October-April). The monthly atmospheric CH4 mole fraction enhancements due to wetland emissions are also assessed using the Weather Research and Forecasting-Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport (WRF-STILT) model coupled with daily emissions from CLM4.5 and compared with aircraft CH4 mole fraction measurements from the Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE) campaign. Both the tower and aircraft analyses confirm the underestimate of cold-season CH4 emissions by CLM4.5. The greatest uncertainties in predicting the seasonal CH4 cycle are from the wetland extent, coldseason CH4 production and CH4 transport processes. We recommend more cold-season experimental studies in highlatitude systems, which could improve the understanding and parameterization of ecosystem structure and function during this period. Predicted CH4 emissions remain uncertain, but we show here that benchmarking against observations across spatial scales can inform model structural and parameter improvements. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Xu, Xiyan Riley, William J Koven, Charles D Billesbach, Dave P Chang, Rachel Y-W Commane, Róisín Euskirchen, Eugénie S Hartery, Sean Harazono, Yoshinobu Iwata, Hiroki McDonald, Kyle C Miller, Charles E Oechel, Walter C Poulter, Benjamin Raz-Yaseef, Naama Sweeney, Colm Torn, Margaret Wofsy, Steven C Zhang, Zhen Zona, Donatella |
author_facet |
Xu, Xiyan Riley, William J Koven, Charles D Billesbach, Dave P Chang, Rachel Y-W Commane, Róisín Euskirchen, Eugénie S Hartery, Sean Harazono, Yoshinobu Iwata, Hiroki McDonald, Kyle C Miller, Charles E Oechel, Walter C Poulter, Benjamin Raz-Yaseef, Naama Sweeney, Colm Torn, Margaret Wofsy, Steven C Zhang, Zhen Zona, Donatella |
author_sort |
Xu, Xiyan |
title |
A multi-scale comparison of modeled and observed seasonal methane emissions in northern wetlands |
title_short |
A multi-scale comparison of modeled and observed seasonal methane emissions in northern wetlands |
title_full |
A multi-scale comparison of modeled and observed seasonal methane emissions in northern wetlands |
title_fullStr |
A multi-scale comparison of modeled and observed seasonal methane emissions in northern wetlands |
title_full_unstemmed |
A multi-scale comparison of modeled and observed seasonal methane emissions in northern wetlands |
title_sort |
multi-scale comparison of modeled and observed seasonal methane emissions in northern wetlands |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7bw6g6wg |
op_coverage |
5043 - 5056 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, vol 13, iss 17 |
op_relation |
qt7bw6g6wg https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7bw6g6wg |
op_rights |
public |
_version_ |
1787422802189484032 |