Airborne Mapping Reveals Emergent Power Law of Arctic Methane Emissions
Abstract Methane (CH4) emissions from thawing permafrost amplify a climate warming feedback. However, upscaling of site‐level CH4 observations across diverse Arctic landscapes remains highly uncertain, compromising accuracy of current pan‐Arctic CH4 budgets and confidence in model forecasts. We repo...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2020-02-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085707 |
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| _version_ | 1850135386264698880 |
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| author | Clayton D. Elder David R. Thompson Andrew K. Thorpe Philip Hanke Katey M. Walter Anthony Charles E. Miller |
| author_facet | Clayton D. Elder David R. Thompson Andrew K. Thorpe Philip Hanke Katey M. Walter Anthony Charles E. Miller |
| author_sort | Clayton D. Elder |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Methane (CH4) emissions from thawing permafrost amplify a climate warming feedback. However, upscaling of site‐level CH4 observations across diverse Arctic landscapes remains highly uncertain, compromising accuracy of current pan‐Arctic CH4 budgets and confidence in model forecasts. We report a 30,000‐km2 survey at 25‐m2 resolution (~1 billion observations) of CH4 hotspot patterns across Alaska and northwestern Canada using airborne imaging spectroscopy. Hotspots covered 0.2% of the surveyed area, concentrated in the wetland‐upland ecotone, and followed a two‐component power law as a function of distance from standing water. Hotspots decreased sharply over the first 40 m from standing water (y = 0.21×−0.649, R2 = 0.97), mirroring in situ flux observations. Beyond 40 m, CH4 hotspots diminished gradually over hundreds of meters (y = 0.004×−0.164, R2 = 0.99). This emergent property quantifies the distribution of strong methanogenic zones from site to regional scales, vastly improving metrics for scaling ground‐based CH4 inventories and validation of land models. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2643e29e044c462a9816b4db1df7969a |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2020-02-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-2643e29e044c462a9816b4db1df7969a2025-08-20T02:31:27ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072020-02-01473n/an/a10.1029/2019GL085707Airborne Mapping Reveals Emergent Power Law of Arctic Methane EmissionsClayton D. Elder0David R. Thompson1Andrew K. Thorpe2Philip Hanke3Katey M. Walter Anthony4Charles E. Miller5Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USAJet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USAJet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USAWater and Environmental Research Center University of Alaska Fairbanks AK USAWater and Environmental Research Center University of Alaska Fairbanks AK USAJet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena CA USAAbstract Methane (CH4) emissions from thawing permafrost amplify a climate warming feedback. However, upscaling of site‐level CH4 observations across diverse Arctic landscapes remains highly uncertain, compromising accuracy of current pan‐Arctic CH4 budgets and confidence in model forecasts. We report a 30,000‐km2 survey at 25‐m2 resolution (~1 billion observations) of CH4 hotspot patterns across Alaska and northwestern Canada using airborne imaging spectroscopy. Hotspots covered 0.2% of the surveyed area, concentrated in the wetland‐upland ecotone, and followed a two‐component power law as a function of distance from standing water. Hotspots decreased sharply over the first 40 m from standing water (y = 0.21×−0.649, R2 = 0.97), mirroring in situ flux observations. Beyond 40 m, CH4 hotspots diminished gradually over hundreds of meters (y = 0.004×−0.164, R2 = 0.99). This emergent property quantifies the distribution of strong methanogenic zones from site to regional scales, vastly improving metrics for scaling ground‐based CH4 inventories and validation of land models.https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085707MethaneArcticRemote SensingPermafrostEmissionsABoVE |
| spellingShingle | Clayton D. Elder David R. Thompson Andrew K. Thorpe Philip Hanke Katey M. Walter Anthony Charles E. Miller Airborne Mapping Reveals Emergent Power Law of Arctic Methane Emissions Geophysical Research Letters Methane Arctic Remote Sensing Permafrost Emissions ABoVE |
| title | Airborne Mapping Reveals Emergent Power Law of Arctic Methane Emissions |
| title_full | Airborne Mapping Reveals Emergent Power Law of Arctic Methane Emissions |
| title_fullStr | Airborne Mapping Reveals Emergent Power Law of Arctic Methane Emissions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Airborne Mapping Reveals Emergent Power Law of Arctic Methane Emissions |
| title_short | Airborne Mapping Reveals Emergent Power Law of Arctic Methane Emissions |
| title_sort | airborne mapping reveals emergent power law of arctic methane emissions |
| topic | Methane Arctic Remote Sensing Permafrost Emissions ABoVE |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085707 |
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