Remote Monitoring of Methane in the Earth’s Atmosphere Based on a Lidar with a Powerful Optical Amplifier

• Published in: Measurement techniques Vol. 65; no. 3; pp. 192 - 196
• Main Authors: Grigorievsky, V. I., Sadovnikov, V. P., Elbakidze, A. V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.06.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Air pollution; Amplifiers; Analytical Chemistry; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Control methods; Emissions; Environmental monitoring; Gas pipelines; Gases; Gasification; Greenhouse gases; Household wastes; Lidar; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Methane; Natural gas; Optical radar; Physical Chemistry; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Radiation sources; Remote monitoring; Remote sensing; atmosphere; methane; measurement error; concentration; lidar; resolution
• ISSN: 0543-1972; 1573-8906
• DOI: 10.1007/s11018-022-02068-7

Issues of global control of greenhouse gases are highlighted, and an overview of satellite, airborne and ground-based monitoring methods is given. It is shown that it is inappropriate to use satellite and aircraft methods to measure the concentrations of local methane emissions due to the low horizontal resolution. It is proposed to determine local methane emissions from natural or anthropogenic sources by ground control methods using a mobile laboratory equipped with a remote lidar. In the northeast of the Moscow region, local track measurements of the background concentration of methane were carried out with a remote lidar operating at a wavelength of 1650 nm with a powerful radiation source based on an optical Raman amplifier. The length of the tracks was 0.60–3.15 km. It was established that the highest background concentration of methane was observed over the livestock farm and over the route with the solid domestic waste landfill, which confirms the fact of increased gas emission over these objects. Above the highway with gasified houses and the highway with heavy traffic, an increased background of methane content was also observed, which indicates a possible increase in the number of cars using methane as a fuel and a possible leakage of natural gas from natural gas pipelines. The errors of the performed measurements are estimated. The measurement results are compared with the results of other works. The coincidence on average of the results of measurements of methane concentration for the European region was revealed, taking into account the gradual increase in the background concentration of gas over the past 10–15 years. The measurement results can be useful for environmental monitoring of objects with increased methane emission, gas pipeline leaks, and also for the prevention of explosive situations.