Contribution of oil and natural gas production to renewed increase in atmospheric methane (2007-2014): Top-down estimate from ethane and methane column observations

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

Volumn 16, Issue 5, 2016, Pages 3227-3244

  Hausmann, Petra ^a   Sussmann, Ralf ^a   Smale, Dan ^b  

^a KARLSRUHE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY   (Germany)

^b NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF WATER AND ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH   (New Zealand)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY; EMISSION; ETHANE; FTIR SPECTROSCOPY; GAS PRODUCTION; METHANE; OIL PRODUCTION; TREND ANALYSIS;

BAVARIA; GERMANY; LAUDER; NEW ZEALAND; OTAGO; SOUTH ISLAND; ZUGSPITZE PLATEAU;

EID: 84960875110     PISSN: 16807316     EISSN: 16807324     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.5194/acp-16-3227-2016     Document Type: Article

References (91)

1. Akagi, S. K., Yokelson, R. J., Wiedinmyer, C., Alvarado, M. J., Reid, J. S., Karl, T., Crounse, J. D., and Wennberg, P. O.: Emission factors for open and domestic biomass burning for use in atmospheric models, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 4039-4072, doi:10.5194/acp-11-4039-2011, 2011.
2. Andreae, M. O. and Merlet, P.: Emission of trace gases and aerosols from biomass burning, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 15, 955-966, 2001.
3. Angelbratt, J., Mellqvist, J., Simpson, D., Jonson, J. E., Blumenstock, T., Borsdorff, T., Duchatelet, P., Forster, F., Hase, F., Mahieu, E., De Maziere, M., Notholt, J., Petersen, A. K., Raffalski, U., Servais, C., Sussmann, R., Warneke, T., and Vigouroux, C.: Carbon monoxide (CO) and ethane (C2H6) trends from ground-based solar FTIR measurements at six European stations, comparison and sensitivity analysis with the EMEP model, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 9253-9269, doi:10.5194/acp-11-9253- 2011, 2011.
4. Aydin, M., Verhulst, K. R., Saltzman, E. S., Battle, M. O., Montzka, S. A., Blake, D. R., Tang, Q., and Prather, M. J.: Recent decreases in fossil-fuel emissions of ethane and methane derived from firn air, Nature, 476, 198-201, doi:10.1038/nature10352, 2011.
5. Bergamaschi, P., Houweling, S., Segers, A., Krol, M., Frankenberg, C., Scheepmaker, R. A., Dlugokencky, E., Wofsy, S. C., Kort, E. A., Sweeney, C., Schuck, T., Brenninkmeijer, C., Chen, H., Beck, V., and Gerbig, C.: Atmospheric CH4 in the first decade of the 21st century: Inverse modeling analysis using SCIAMACHY satellite retrievals and NOAA surface measurements, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 118, 7350-7369, doi:10.1002/jgrd.50480, 2013.
6. Borbon, A., Gilman, J., Kuster, W., Grand, N., Chevaillier, S., Colomb, A., Dolgorouky, C., Gros, V., Lopez, M., Sarda-Esteve, R., Holloway, J., Stutz, J., Petetin, H., McKeen, S., Beekmann, M., Warneke, C., Parrish, D. D., and de Gouw, J. A.: Emission ratios of anthropogenic volatile organic compounds in northern midlatitude megacities: Observations versus emission inventories in Los Angeles and Paris, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 118, 2041-2057, doi:10.1002/jgrd.50059, 2013.
7. Bousquet, P., Ringeval, B., Pison, I., Dlugokencky, E. J., Brunke, E.- G., Carouge, C., Chevallier, F., Fortems-Cheiney, A., Frankenberg, C., Hauglustaine, D. A., Krummel, P. B., Langenfelds, R. L., Ramonet, M., Schmidt, M., Steele, L. P., Szopa, S., Yver, C., Viovy, N., and Ciais, P.: Source attribution of the changes in atmospheric methane for 2006-2008, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 3689-3700, doi:10.5194/acp-11-3689-2011, 2011.
8. Brandt, A. R., Heath, G. A., Kort, E. A., OSullivan, F., Petron, G., Jordaan, S., Tans, P., Wilcox, J., Gopstein, A. M., Arent, D., Wofsy, S., Brown, N. J., Bradley, R., Stucky, G. D., Eardley, D., and Harriss, R.: Methane Leaks from North American Natural Gas Systems, Science, 343, 733-735, doi:10.1126/science.1247045, 2014.
9. Bruhwiler, L., Dlugokencky, E., Masarie, K., Ishizawa, M., Andrews, A., Miller, J., Sweeney, C., Tans, P., and Worthy, D.: CarbonTracker-CH4: an assimilation system for estimating emissions of atmospheric methane, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 8269-8293, doi:10.5194/acp-14-8269-2014, 2014.
10. Dils, B., Cui, J., Henne, S., Mahieu, E., Steinbacher, M., and De Maziere, M.: 1997-2007 CO trend at the high Alpine site Jungfraujoch: a comparison between NDIR surface in situ and FTIR remote sensing observations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 6735-6748, doi:10.5194/acp-11-6735-2011, 2011.
11. Dlugokencky, E., Masarie, K., Lang, P., and Tans, P.: Continuing decline in the growth rate of the atmospheric methane burden, Nature, 393, 447-450, 1998.
12. Dlugokencky, E. J., Bruhwiler, L., White, J. W. C., Emmons, L. K., Novelli, P. C., Montzka, S. A., Masarie, K. A., Lang, P. M., Crotwell, A. M., Miller, J. B., and Gatti, L. V.: Observational constraints on recent increases in the atmospheric CH4 burden, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L18803, doi:10.1029/2009GL039780, 2009.
13. Dlugokencky, E. J., Nisbet, E. G., Fisher, R., and Lowry, D.: Global atmospheric methane: budget, changes and dangers, Philos. T. Roy. Soc. A, 369, 2058-2072, doi:10.1098/rsta.2010.0341, 2011.
14. Dlugokencky, E. J., Crotwell, A. M., Crotwell, M., Lang, P. M., Masarie, K. A., Michel, S., and Bruhwiler, L.: What have we learned from three decades of atmospheric CH4 measurements?, International Conference on non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases, In- GOS, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 21-24 September 2015a.
15. Dlugokencky, E. J., Lang, P. M., Crotwell, A. M., Masarie, K. A., and Crotwell, M. J.: Atmospheric Methane Dry Air Mole Fractions from the NOAA ESRL Carbon Cycle Cooperative Global Air Sampling Network, available at: ftp://aftp.cmdl.noaa. gov/data/trace-gases/ch4/flask/surface (last access: 16 February 2016), 2015b.
16. Etiope, G. and Ciccioli, P.: Earths degassing: a missing ethane and propane source, Science, 323, 478-478, doi:10.1126/science.1165904, 2009.
17. Fernandes, S. D., Trautmann, N. M., Streets, D. G., Roden, C. A., and Bond, T. C.: Global biofuel use, 1850-2000, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 21, GB2019, doi:10.1029/2006gb002836, 2007.
18. Field, R., Soltis, J., and Murphy, S.: Air quality concerns of unconventional oil and natural gas production, Environ. Sci. Process. Impacts, 16, 954-969, doi:10.1039/c4em00081a, 2014.
19. Franco, B., Bader, W., Toon, G., Bray, C., Perrin, A., Fischer, E., Sudo, K., Boone, C., Bovy, B., Lejeune, B., Servais, C., and Mahieu, E.: Retrieval of ethane from ground-based FTIR solar spectra using improved spectroscopy: Recent burden in- crease above Jungfraujoch, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Ra., 160, 36-49, doi:10.1016/j.jqsrt.2015.03.017, 2015.
20. Frankenberg, C., Aben, I., Bergamaschi, P., Dlugokencky, E. J., van Hees, R., Houweling, S., van der Meer, P., Snel, R., and Tol, P.: Global column-averaged methane mixing ratios from 2003 to 2009 as derived from SCIAMACHY: Trends and variability, J. Geophys. Res., 116, D04302, doi:10.1029/2010JD014849, 2011.
21. Garcia, R. R., Marsh, D. R., Kinnison, D. E., Boville, B. A., and Sassi, F.: Simulation of secular trends in the middle atmosphere, 1950-2003, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D09301, doi:10.1029/2006JD007485, 2007.
22. Gardiner, T., Forbes, A., de Maziere, M., Vigouroux, C., Mahieu, E., Demoulin, P., Velazco, V., Notholt, J., Blumenstock, T., Hase, F., Kramer, I., Sussmann, R., Stremme,W., Mellqvist, J., Strandberg, A., Ellingsen, K., and Gauss, M.: Trend analysis of greenhouse gases over Europe measured by a network of ground-based remote FTIR instruments, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 6719-6727, doi:10.5194/acp-8-6719-2008, 2008.
23. Giglio, L., Randerson, J. T., and van der Werf, G. R.: Analysis of daily, monthly, and annual burned area using the fourthgeneration global fire emissions database (GFED4), J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeo., 118, 317-328, doi:10.1002/jgrg.20042, 2013.
24. Hase, F., Hannigan, J., Coffey, M., Goldman, A., Hopfner, M., Jones, N., Rinsland, C., and Wood, S.: Intercomparison of retrieval codes used for the analysis of high-resolution, groundbased FTIR measurements, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Ra., 87, 25-52, doi:10.1016/j.jqsrt.2003.12.008, 2004.
25. Heimann, M.: Atmospheric science: Enigma of the recent methane budget, Nature, 476, 157-158, doi:10.1038/476157a, 2011.
26. Helmig, D., Petrenko, V., Martinerie, P., Witrant, E., Rockmann, T., Zuiderweg, A., Holzinger, R., Hueber, J., Thompson, C., White, J. W. C., Sturges, W., Baker, A., Blunier, T., Etheridge, D., Rubino, M., and Tans, P.: Reconstruction of Northern Hemisphere 1950-2010 atmospheric non-methane hydrocarbons, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1463-1483, doi:10.5194/acp-14-1463- 2014, 2014.
27. Howarth, R. W.: A bridge to nowhere: methane emissions and the greenhouse gas footprint of natural gas, Energy Sci. Eng., 2, 47-60, doi:10.1002/ese3.35, 2014.
28. IPCC: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution ofWorking Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, edited by: Stocker, T. F., Qin, D., Plattner, G.-K., Tignor, M., Allen, S. K., Boschung, J., Nauels, A., Xia, Y., Bex, V., and Midgley, P. M., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 2013.
29. IRWG (Infrared Working Group): Uniform Retrieval Parameter Summary, available at: http://www.acom.ucar.edu/irwg/IRWG- Uniform-RP-Summary-3.pdf (last access: 18 December 2015), 2014.
30. Jackson, R. B., Down, A., Phillips, N. G., Ackley, R. C., Cook, C. W., Plata, D. L., and Zhao, K.: Natural gas pipeline leaks across Washington, DC, Environ. Sci. Technol., 48, 2051-2058, doi:10.1021/es404474x, 2014.
31. Kai, F. M., Tyler, S. C., Randerson, J. T., and Blake, D. R.: Reduced methane growth rate explained by decreased Northern Hemisphere microbial sources, Nature, 476, 194-197, doi:10.1038/nature10259, 2011.
32. Kang, M., Kanno, C. M., Reid, M. C., Zhang, X., Mauzerall, D. L., Celia, M. A., Chen, Y., and Onstott, T. C.: Direct measurements of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 111, 18173-18177, doi:10.1073/pnas.1408315111, 2014.
33. Karion, A., Sweeney, C., Petron, G., Frost, G., Hardesty, R. M., Kofler, J., Miller, B. R., Newberger, T., Wolter, S., Banta, R., Brewer, A., Dlugokencky, E., Lang, P., Montzka, S. A., Schnell, R., Tans, P., Trainer, M., Zamora, R., and Conley, S.: Methane emissions estimate from airborne measurements over a western United States natural gas field, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 4393-4397, doi:10.1002/grl.50811, 2013.
34. Kirschke, S., Bousquet, P., Ciais, P., Saunois, M., Canadell, J. G., Dlugokencky, E. J., Bergamaschi, P., Bergmann, D., Blake, D. R., Bruhwiler, L., Cameron-Smith, P., Castaldi, S., Chevallier, F., Feng, L., Fraser, A., Heimann, M., Hodson, E. L., Houweling, S., Josse, B., Fraser, P. J., Krummel, P. B., Lamarque, J.- F., Langenfelds, R. L., Le Quere, C., Naik, V., ODoherty, S., Palmer, P. I., Pison, I., Plummer, D., Poulter, B., Prinn, R. G., Rigby, M., Ringeval, B., Santini, M., Schmidt, M., Shindell, D. T., Simpson, I. J., Spahni, R., Steele, L. P., Strode, S. A., Sudo, K., Szopa, S., van der Werf, G. R., Voulgarakis, A., van Weele, M., Weiss, R. F., Williams, J. E., and Zeng, G.: Three decades of global methane sources and sinks, Nat. Geosci., 6, 813-823, doi:10.1038/ngeo1955, 2013.
35. Kort, E. A., Frankenberg, C., Costigan, K. R., Lindenmaier, R., Dubey, M. K., and Wunch, D.: Four corners: The largest US methane anomaly viewed from space, Geophys. Res. Lett., 41, 6898-6903, doi:10.1002/2014gl061503, 2014.
36. Levin, I., Veidt, C., Vaughn, B. H., Brailsford, G., Bromley, T., Heinz, R., Lowe, D., Miller, J. B., Poß, C., and White, J. W. C.: No inter-hemispheric 13CH4 trend observed, Nature, 486, E3-E4, doi:10.1038/nature11175, 2012.
37. Miller, S. M., Wofsy, S. C., Michalak, A. M., Kort, E. A., Andrews, A. E., Biraud, S. C., Dlugokencky, E. J., Eluszkiewicz, J., Fischer, M. L., Janssens-Maenhout, G., Miller, B. R., Miller, J. B., Montzka, S. A., Nehrkorn, T., and Sweeney, C.: Anthropogenic emissions of methane in the United States, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 110, 20018-20022, doi:10.1073/pnas.1314392110, 2013.
38. Montzka, S. A., Krol, M., Dlugokencky, E., Hall, B., Jockel, P., and Lelieveld, J.: Small interannual variability of global atmospheric hydroxyl, Science, 331, 67-69, doi:10.1126/science.1197640, 2011.
39. Moore, C. W., Zielinska, B., Petron, G., and Jackson, R. B.: Air Impacts of Increased Natural Gas Acquisition, Processing, and Use: A Critical Review, Environ. Sci. Technol., 48, 8349-8359, doi:10.1021/es4053472, 2014.
40. Nicewonger, M. R., Verhulst, K. R., Aydin, M., and Saltzman, E. S.: Preindustrial atmospheric ethane levels inferred from polar ice cores: A constraint on the geologic sources of atmospheric ethane and methane, Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, 214-221, doi:10.1002/2015GL066854, 2016.
41. Nisbet, E. and Weiss, R.: Top-Down Versus Bottom-Up, Science, 328, 1241-1243, doi:10.1126/science.1189936, 2010.
42. Nisbet, E. G., Dlugokencky, E. J., and Bousquet, P.: Methane on the Rise-Again, Science, 343, 493-495, doi:10.1126/science.1247828, 2014.
43. Nisbet, E. G., Lowry, D., Zazzeri, G., Fisher, R., France, J., Brownlow, R., and Lanoiselle, M.: The use of C-isotopes in understanding the growth in atmospheric methane 2007-14, International Conference on non-CO2 Greenhouse Gases, InGOS, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 21-24 September 2015.
44. OECD/IEA: Excerpt from Coal Information (2015 edition), IEA Publishing, available at: http://www.iea.org/statistics/topics/coal, last access: 18 December 2015.
45. Ostler, A., Sussmann, R., Rettinger, M., Deutscher, N. M., Dohe, S., Hase, F., Jones, N., Palm, M., and Sinnhuber, B.-M.: Multistation intercomparison of column-averaged methane from NDACC and TCCON: impact of dynamical variability, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 4081-4101, doi:10.5194/amt-7-4081-2014, 2014.
46. Parrish, D., Stohl, A., Forster, C., Atlas, E., Blake, D., Goldan, P., Kuster, W., and De Gouw, J.: Effects of mixing on evolution of hydrocarbon ratios in the troposphere, J. Geophys. Res., 112, D10S34, doi:10.1029/2006JD007583, 2007.
47. Patra, P. K., Takigawa, M., Dutton, G. S., Uhse, K., Ishijima, K., Lintner, B. R., Miyazaki, K., and Elkins, J. W.: Transport mechanisms for synoptic, seasonal and interannual SF6 variations and "age" of air in troposphere, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 1209-1225, doi:10.5194/acp-9-1209-2009, 2009.
48. Patra, P. K., Houweling, S., Krol, M., Bousquet, P., Belikov, D., Bergmann, D., Bian, H., Cameron-Smith, P., Chipperfield, M. P., Corbin, K., Fortems-Cheiney, A., Fraser, A., Gloor, E., Hess, P., Ito, A., Kawa, S. R., Law, R. M., Loh, Z., Maksyutov, S., Meng, L., Palmer, P. I., Prinn, R. G., Rigby, M., Saito, R., and Wilson, C.: TransCom model simulations of CH4 and related species: linking transport, surface flux and chemical loss with CH4 variability in the troposphere and lower stratosphere, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 12813-12837, doi:10.5194/acp-11-12813-2011, 2011.
49. Petron, G., Karion, A., Sweeney, C., Miller, B. R., Montzka, S. A., Frost, G. J., Trainer, M., Tans, P., Andrews, A., Kofler, J., Helmig, D., Guenther, D., Dlugokencky, E., Lang, P., Newberger, T., Wolter, S., Hall, B., Novelli, P., Brewer, A., Conley, S., Hardesty, M., Banta, R., White, A., Noone, D., Wolfe, D., and Schnell, R.: A new look at methane and nonmethane hydrocarbon emissions from oil and natural gas operations in the Colorado Denver-Julesburg Basin, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 119, 6836-6852, doi:10.1002/2013JD021272, 2014.
50. Pison, I., Ringeval, B., Bousquet, P., Prigent, C., and Papa, F.: Stable atmospheric methane in the 2000s: key-role of emissions from natural wetlands, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 11609-11623, doi:10.5194/acp-13-11609-2013, 2013.
51. Pozzer, A., Pollmann, J., Taraborrelli, D., Jockel, P., Helmig, D., Tans, P., Hueber, J., and Lelieveld, J.: Observed and simulated global distribution and budget of atmospheric C2-C5 alkanes, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 4403-4422, doi:10.5194/acp-10-4403- 2010, 2010.
52. Prather, M. J., Holmes, C. D., and Hsu, J.: Reactive greenhouse gas scenarios: Systematic exploration of uncertainties and the role of atmospheric chemistry, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L09803, doi:10.1029/2012GL051440, 2012.
53. Reichert, A., Hausmann, P., and Sussmann, R.: Pointing errors in solar absorption spectrometry - correction scheme and its validation, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 3715-3728, doi:10.5194/amt-8-3715-2015, 2015.
54. Rigby, M., Prinn, R. G., Fraser, P. J., Simmonds, P. G., Langenfelds, R. L., Huang, J., Cunnold, D. M., Steele, L. P., Krummel, P. B., Weiss, R. F., ODoherty, S., Salameh, P. K., Wang, H. J., Harth, C. M., Muhle, J., and Porter, L. W.: Renewed growth of atmospheric methane, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L22805, doi:10.1029/2008GL036037, 2008.
55. Rinsland, C. P., Jones, N. B., Connor, B. J., Logan, J. A., Pougatchev, N. S., Goldman, A., Murcray, F. J., Stephen, T. M., Pine, A. S., Zander, R., Mahieu, E., and Demoulin, P.: Northern and southern hemisphere ground-based infrared spectroscopic measurements of tropospheric carbon monoxide and ethane, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 28197-28217, 1998.
56. Rinsland, C. P., Meier, A., Griffith, D.W., and Chiou, L. S.: Groundbased measurements of tropospheric CO, C2H6, and HCN from Australia at 34S latitude during 1997-1998, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 20913-20924, 2001.
57. Rothman, L. S., Barbe, A., Benner, D. C., Brown, L. R., Camy- Peyret, C., Carleer, M. R., Chance, K., Clerbaux, C., Dana, V., Devi, V. M., Fayt, A., Flaud, J.-M., Gamache, R. R., Goldman, A., Jacquemart, D., Jucks, K. W., Lafferty, W. J., Mandin, J.-Y., Massie, S. T., Nemtchinov, V., Newnham, D. A., Perrin, A., Rinsland, C. P., Schroeder, J., Smith, K. M., Smith, M. A. H., Tang, K., Toth, R. A., Vander Auwera, J., Varanasi, P., and Yoshino, K.: The HITRAN molecular spectroscopic database: edition of 2000 including updates through 2001, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Ra., 82, 5-44, doi:10.1016/s0022-4073(03)00146-8, 2003.
58. Rudolph, J.: The tropospheric distribution and budget of ethane, J. Geophys. Res., 100, 11369-11381, 1995.
59. Saito, R., Patra, P. K., Deutscher, N.,Wunch, D., Ishijima, K., Sherlock, V., Blumenstock, T., Dohe, S., Griffith, D., Hase, F., Heikkinen, P., Kyro, E., Macatangay, R., Mendonca, J., Messerschmidt, J., Morino, I., Notholt, J., Rettinger, M., Strong, K., Sussmann, R., and Warneke, T.: Technical Note: Latitude-time variations of atmospheric column-average dry air mole fractions of CO2, CH4 and N2O, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 7767-7777, doi:10.5194/acp- 12-7767-2012, 2012.
60. Sander, S. P., Abbatt, J., Barker, J. R., Burkholder, J. B., Friedl, R. R., Golden, D. M., Huie, R. E., Kolb, C. E., Kurylo, M. J., Moortgat, G. K., Orkin, V. L., and Wine, P. H.: Chemical Kinetics and Photochemical Data for Use in Atmospheric Studies, Evaluation No. 17, JPL Publication 10-6, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, USA, available at: http://jpldataeval.jpl.nasa.gov (last access: 18 December 2015), 2011.
61. Schneising, O., Burrows, J. P., Dickerson, R. R., Buchwitz, M., Reuter, M., and Bovensmann, H.: Remote sensing of fugitive methane emissions from oil and gas production in North American tight geologic formations, Earths Future, 2, 548-558, doi:10.1002/2014EF000265, 2014.
62. Schoell, M.: The hydrogen and carbon isotopic composition of methane from natural gases of various origins, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 44, 649-661, 1980.
63. Schwietzke, S., Griffin, W. M., Matthews, H. S., and Bruhwiler, L. M. P.: Global Bottom-Up Fossil Fuel Fugitive Methane and Ethane Emissions Inventory for Atmospheric Modeling, ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng., 2, 1992-2001, doi:10.1021/sc500163h, 2014.
64. Simmonds, P. G., Manning, A. J., Derwent, R. G., Ciais, P., Ramonet, M., Kazan, V., and Ryall, D.: A burning question. Can recent growth rate anomalies in the greenhouse gases be attributed to large-scale biomass burning events?, Atmos. Environ., 39, 2513-2517, doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2005.02.018, 2005.
65. Simpson, I. J., Chen, T.-Y., Blake, D. R., and Rowland, F. S.: Implications of the recent fluctuations in the growth rate of tropospheric methane, Geophys. Res. Lett., 29, 117-1-117-4, doi:10.1029/2001gl014521, 2002.
66. Simpson, I. J., Rowland, F. S., Meinardi, S., and Blake, D. R.: Influence of biomass burning during recent fluctuations in the slow growth of global tropospheric methane, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33, L22808, doi:10.1029/2006GL027330, 2006.
67. Simpson, I. J., Sulbaek Andersen, M. P., Meinardi, S., Bruhwiler, L., Blake, N. J., Helmig, D., Rowland, F. S., and Blake, D. R.: Long-term decline of global atmospheric ethane concentrations and implications for methane, Nature, 488, 490-494, doi:10.1038/nature11342, 2012.
68. Staudt, A. C., Jacob, D. J., Logan, J. A., Bachiochi, D., Krishnamurti, T. N., and Poisson, N.: Global Chemical Model Analysis of Biomass Burning and Lightning Influences over the South Pacific in Austral Spring, J. Geophys. Res., 107, ACH 11-1-ACH 11-17, doi:10.1029/2000JD000296, 2002.
69. Stein, A. F., Draxler, R. R., Rolph, G. D., Stunder, B. J. B., Cohen, M. D., and Ngan, F.: NOAAs HYSPLIT atmospheric transport and dispersion modeling system, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 96, 2059-2077, doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00110.1, 2015.
70. Stohl, A., Eckhardt, S., Forster, C., James, P., and Spichtinger, N.: On the pathways and timescales of intercontinental air pollution transport, J. Geophys. Res., 107, 4684, doi:10.1029/2001JD001396, 2002.
71. Sussmann, R. and Schafer, K.: Infrared spectroscopy of tropospheric trace gases: combined analysis of horizontal and vertical column abundances, Appl. Opt., 36, 735-741, 1997.
72. Sussmann, R., Forster, F., Rettinger, M., and Jones, N.: Strategy for high-accuracy-and-precision retrieval of atmospheric methane from the mid-infrared FTIR network, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 4, 1943-1964, doi:10.5194/amt-4-1943-2011, 2011.
73. Sussmann, R., Forster, F., Rettinger, M., and Bousquet, P.: Renewed methane increase for five years (2007-2011) observed by solar FTIR spectrometry, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 4885-4891, doi:10.5194/acp-12-4885-2012, 2012.
74. Sussmann, R., Ostler, A., Forster, F., Rettinger, M., Deutscher, N. M., Griffith, D.W. T., Hannigan, J.W., Jones, N., and Patra, P. K.: First intercalibration of column-averaged methane from the Total Carbon Column Observing Network and the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 397-418, doi:10.5194/amt-6-397-2013, 2013.
75. Tans, P. P.: A note on isotopic ratios and the global atmospheric methane budget, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 11, 77-81, 1997.
76. Taylor, S.W., Sherwood Lollar, B., andWassenaar, I.: Bacteriogenic Ethane in Near-Surface Aquifers: Implications for Leaking Hydrocarbon Well Bores, Environ. Sci. Technol., 34, 4727-4732, doi:10.1021/es001066x, 2000.
77. Toon, G.: Conversion of column abundances to dry-air mole fractions (and vice versa), available at: https://tccon-wiki.caltech. edu/@api/deki/files/375/=column-abundance.pdf (last access: 18 December 2015), 2008.
78. Turner, A. J., Jacob, D. J., Wecht, K. J., Maasakkers, J. D., Lundgren, E., Andrews, A. E., Biraud, S. C., Boesch, H., Bowman, K. W., Deutscher, N. M., Dubey, M. K., Griffith, D. W. T., Hase, F., Kuze, A., Notholt, J., Ohyama, H., Parker, R., Payne, V. H., Sussmann, R., Sweeney, C., Velazco, V. A., Warneke, T., Wennberg, P. O., and Wunch, D.: Estimating global and North American methane emissions with high spatial resolution using GOSAT satellite data, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 7049-7069, doi:10.5194/acp-15-7049-2015, 2015.
79. US Energy Information Administration: Annual Energy Outlook 2014, DOE/EIA-0383(2014), Washington DC, 2014.
80. US Energy Information Administration: International Energy Statistics, available at: http://www.eia.gov/cfapps/ipdbproject, last access: 19 October 2015.
81. van derWerf, G. R., Randerson, J. T., Giglio, L., Collatz, G. J., Mu, M., Kasibhatla, P. S., Morton, D. C., DeFries, R. S., Jin, Y., and van Leeuwen, T. T.: Global fire emissions and the contribution of deforestation, savanna, forest, agricultural, and peat fires (1997-2009), Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 11707-11735, doi:10.5194/acp- 10-11707-2010, 2010.
82. Vigouroux, C., Stavrakou, T., Whaley, C., Dils, B., Duflot, V., Hermans, C., Kumps, N., Metzger, J.-M., Scolas, F., Vanhaelewyn, G., Muller, J.-F., Jones, D. B. A., Li, Q., and De Maziere, M.: FTIR time-series of biomass burning products (HCN, C2H6, C2H2, CH3OH, and HCOOH) at Reunion Island (21S, 55 E) and comparisons with model data, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 10367-10385, doi:10.5194/acp-12-10367-2012, 2012.
83. Vinciguerra, T., Yao, S., Dadzie, J., Chittams, A., Deskins, T., Ehrman, S., and Dickerson, R. R.: Regional air quality impacts of hydraulic fracturing and shale natural gas activity: Evidence from ambient VOC observations, Atmos. Environ., 110, 144-150, doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2015.03.056, 2015.
84. Wang, Q., Chen, X., Jha, A. N., and Rogers, H.: Natural gas from shale formation - The evolution, evidences and challenges of shale gas revolution in United States, Renew. Sust. Energ Rev., 30, 1-28, doi:10.1016/j.rser.2013.08.065, 2014.
85. Wang, Y. and Zeng, T.: On tracer correlations in the troposphere: The case of ethane and propane, J. Geophys. Res., 109, D24306, doi:10.1029/2004JD005023, 2004.
86. Wennberg, P. O., Mui, W., Wunch, D., Kort, E. A., Blake, D. R., Atlas, E. L., Santoni, G. W., Wofsy, S. C., Diskin, G. S., Jeong, S., and Fischer, M. L.: On the Sources of Methane to the Los Angeles Atmosphere, Environ. Sci. Technol., 46, 9282-9289, doi:10.1021/es301138y, 2012.
87. Williams, J. and Koppmann, R.: Volatile Organic Compounds in the Atmosphere, in: Volatile Organic Compounds in the Atmosphere: An Overview, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, UK, 1-32, 2007.
88. Xiao, Y., Logan, J. A., Jacob, D. J., Hudman, R. C., Yantosca, R., and Blake, D. R.: Global budget of ethane and regional constraints on U.S. sources, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D21306, doi:10.1029/2007jd009415, 2008.
89. Yacovitch, T. I., Herndon, S. C., Roscioli, J. R., Floerchinger, C., McGovern, R. M., Agnese, M., Petron, G., Kofler, J., Sweeney, C., Karion, A., Conley, S. A., Kort, E. A., Nahle, L., Fischer, M., Hildebrandt, L., Koeth, J., McManus, J. B., Nelson, D. D., Zahniser, M. S., and Kolb, C. E.: Demonstration of an Ethane Spectrometer for Methane Source Identification, Environ. Sci. Technol., 48, 8028-8034, doi:10.1021/es501475q, 2014.
90. Yokelson, R. J., Andreae, M. O., and Akagi, S. K.: Pitfalls with the use of enhancement ratios or normalized excess mixing ratios measured in plumes to characterize pollution sources and aging, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 2155-2158, doi:10.5194/amt-6- 2155-2013, 2013.
91. Zeng, G.,Wood, S.W., Morgenstern, O., Jones, N. B., Robinson, J., and Smale, D.: Trends and variations in CO, C2H6, and HCN in the Southern Hemisphere point to the declining anthropogenic emissions of CO and C2H6, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 7543-7555, doi:10.5194/acp-12-7543-2012, 2012.