Comparison of operational and scientific Sentinel-5-Precursor XCH4 retrievals over methane emission hotpot areas
Michael Buchwitz, University of Bremen, buchwitz@uni-bremen.de (Presenter)
Oliver Schneising, University of Bremen, oliver.schneising@iup.physik.uni-bremen.de
Steffen Vanselow, University of Bremen, vanselow@iup.physik.uni-bremen.de
Maximilian Reuter, University of Bremen, mreuter@iup.physik.uni-bremen.de
Heinrich Bovensmann, University of Bremen, heinrich.bovensmann@iup.physik.uni-bremen.de
John P. Burrows, University of Bremen, burrows@iup.physik.uni-bremen.de
Ilse Aben, SRON, e.a.a.aben@sron.nl
Jochen Landgraf, SRON, j.landgraf@sron.nl
Alba Lorente, SRON, a.lorente.delgado@sron.nl
Tobias Borsdorff, SRON, t.borsdorff@sron.nl
Christian Retscher, ESA/ESRIN, christian.retscher@esa.int
The TROPOMI instrument onboard the Sentinel-5-Precursor (S5P) satellite permits retrievals of column-averaged dry-air mole fraction of atmospheric methane, denoted XCH4, with an unprecedented combination of spatial coverage (swath width 2600 km) and resolution (approx. 7x7 km2). S5P measurements are used to derive global XCH4 maps which can be analysed to detect and quantify methane emissions of localized emission hotspots such as oil and gas fields. Currently, two independently generated XCH4 data sets are available from S5P: the official operational Copernicus S5P XCH4 data product and the scientific WFMD algorithm data product generated by the University of Bremen. The WFMD product is generated, assessed and further developed in the framework of GHG-CCI+ project (https://climate.esa.int/en/projects/ghgs/) of ESA’s Climate Change Initiative (CCI) and detailed comparisons of this scientific product with the operational product are currently being conducted within the ESA project Methane+ (https://methaneplus.eu/). Here we focus on detailed comparisons of the two S5P XCH4 data products over several areas showing locally elevated atmospheric methane concentrations. We present spatial maps and time series for several hotspot areas and discuss the level of agreement / disagreement of the two data products in terms of maps and time series. We show that the spatial distributions exhibit significant differences in terms of XCH4 values and spatial coverage. Most of these observed differences are currently not yet well understood. For users who plan to use S5P XCH4 to obtain qualitative or quantitative information on methane emissions sources we recommend to analyse both XCH4 products in order to enhance the robustness of critical findings, for example, with regard to the derived emission strength of the investigated emission source.
Poster: Poster_Buchwitz__8_25.pdf
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 3.2c Observations to quantify hot spots and local/urban emissions
Session Date: Wednesday (6/16) 9:45 AM