Analysis of methane emissions measurements and data on concurrent maintenance activity within a natural gas production basin over a two-day period revealed considerable diurnal variation in emission rates associated with manual liquid unloadings conducted during working hours, with peak emissions occurring around the time of day when aircraft-based methane measurements are typically conducted, suggesting a possible source of discrepancy between top-down and bottom-up methane emissions estimates.
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Article #18-05687: "Temporal variability largely explains top-down/bottomup difference in methane emission estimates from a natural gas production region," by Timothy L. Vaughan et al .
MEDIA CONTACT: Daniel J. Zimmerle, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO; tel: 970-581-9945; e-mail: dan.zimmerle@colostate.edu
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences