Satellite Data Shows U.S. Methane ‘Hot Spot’ Bigger than Expected

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/october/satellite-data-shows-us-methane-hot-spot-bigger-than-expected/

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October 9, 2014
RELEASE 14-280
[font size=5]Satellite Data Shows U.S. Methane ‘Hot Spot’ Bigger than Expected[/font]

The Four Corners area (red) is the major U.S. hot spot for methane emissions in this map showing how much emissions varied from average background concentrations from 2003-2009 (dark colors are lower than average; lighter colors are higher).
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Michigan

[font size=3]One small “hot spot” in the U.S. Southwest is responsible for producing the largest concentration of the greenhouse gas methane seen over the United States – more than triple the standard ground-based estimate -- according to a new study of satellite data by scientists at NASA and the University of Michigan.

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In the study published online today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, researchers used observations made by the European Space Agency’s Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY) instrument. SCIAMACHY measured greenhouse gases from 2002 to 2012. The atmospheric hot spot persisted throughout the study period. A ground station in the Total Carbon Column Observing Network, operated by the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, provided independent validation of the measurement.

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The study's lead author, Eric Kort of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, noted the study period predates the widespread use of hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, near the hot spot. This indicates the methane emissions should not be attributed to fracking but instead to leaks in natural gas production and processing equipment in New Mexico's San Juan Basin, which is the most active coalbed methane production area in the country.

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[Man from Pickens]

1. Funny

I'd have thought it would be centered over DC

[Demeter]

2. Only when sauerkraut is on the lunch menu at the Pentagon

otherwise, it's all just clean hot air, not methane.

[NickB79]

3. "the study period predates the widespread use of hydraulic fracturing"

Boy, I wonder what they'd find if they did the same study again today, given all the fracking we're doing now.