A multi-scale comparison of modeled and observed seasonal methane emissions in northern wetlands

Xiyan Xu; William J. Riley; Charles D. Koven; Dave P. Billesbach; Rachel Y.W. Chang; Róisín Commane; Eugénie S. Euskirchen; Sean Hartery; Yoshinobu Harazono; Hiroki Iwata; Kyle C. McDonald; Charles E. Miller; Walter C. Oechel; Benjamin Poulter; Naama Raz-Yaseef; Colm Sweeney; Margaret Torn; Steven C. Wofsy; Zhen Zhang; Donatella Zona

doi:10.5194/bg-13-5043-2016

A multi-scale comparison of modeled and observed seasonal methane emissions in northern wetlands

Xiyan Xu, William J. Riley, Charles D. Koven, Dave P. Billesbach, Rachel Y.W. Chang, Róisín Commane, Eugénie S. Euskirchen, Sean Hartery, Yoshinobu Harazono, Hiroki Iwata, Kyle C. McDonald, Charles E. Miller, Walter C. Oechel, Benjamin Poulter, Naama Raz-Yaseef, Colm Sweeney, Margaret Torn, Steven C. Wofsy, Zhen Zhang, Donatella Zona

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Wetlands are the largest global natural methane (CH₄/ source, and emissions between 50 and 70° N latitude contribute 10-30% to this source. Predictive capability of land models for northern wetland CH₄ emissions is still low due to limited site measurements, strong spatial and temporal variability in emissions, and complex hydrological and biogeochemical dynamics. To explore this issue, we compare wetland CH₄ emission predictions from the Community Land Model 4.5 (CLM4.5-BGC) with siteto regional-scale observations. A comparison of the CH₄ fluxes with eddy flux data highlighted needed changes to the model's estimate of aerenchyma area, which we implemented and tested. The model modification substantially reduced biases in CH₄ emissions when compared with CarbonTracker CH₄ predictions. CLM4.5 CH₄ emission predictions agree well with growing season (May-September) CarbonTracker Alaskan regional-level CH₄ predictions and sitelevel observations. However, CLM4.5 underestimated CH₄ emissions in the cold season (October-April). The monthly atmospheric CH₄ mole fraction enhancements due to wetland emissions are also assessed using the Weather Research and Forecasting-Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport (WRF-STILT) model coupled with daily emissions from CLM4.5 and compared with aircraft CH₄ mole fraction measurements from the Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE) campaign. Both the tower and aircraft analyses confirm the underestimate of cold-season CH₄ emissions by CLM4.5. The greatest uncertainties in predicting the seasonal CH₄ cycle are from the wetland extent, coldseason CH₄ production and CH₄ transport processes. We recommend more cold-season experimental studies in highlatitude systems, which could improve the understanding and parameterization of ecosystem structure and function during this period. Predicted CH₄ emissions remain uncertain, but we show here that benchmarking against observations across spatial scales can inform model structural and parameter improvements.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	5043-5056
Number of pages	14
Journal	Biogeosciences
Volume	13
Issue number	17
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-5043-2016
State	Published - Sep 13 2016
Externally published	Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Earth-Surface Processes

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.5194/bg-13-5043-2016

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Xu, X., Riley, W. J., Koven, C. D., Billesbach, D. P., Chang, R. Y. W., Commane, R., Euskirchen, E. S., Hartery, S., Harazono, Y., Iwata, H., McDonald, K. C., Miller, C. E., Oechel, W. C., Poulter, B., Raz-Yaseef, N., Sweeney, C., Torn, M., Wofsy, S. C., Zhang, Z., & Zona, D. (2016). A multi-scale comparison of modeled and observed seasonal methane emissions in northern wetlands. Biogeosciences, 13(17), 5043-5056. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-5043-2016

Xu, X, Riley, WJ, Koven, CD, Billesbach, DP, Chang, RYW, Commane, R, Euskirchen, ES, Hartery, S, Harazono, Y, Iwata, H, McDonald, KC, Miller, CE, Oechel, WC, Poulter, B, Raz-Yaseef, N, Sweeney, C, Torn, M, Wofsy, SC, Zhang, Z & Zona, D 2016, 'A multi-scale comparison of modeled and observed seasonal methane emissions in northern wetlands', Biogeosciences, vol. 13, no. 17, pp. 5043-5056. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-5043-2016

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title = "A multi-scale comparison of modeled and observed seasonal methane emissions in northern wetlands",

abstract = "Wetlands are the largest global natural methane (CH4/ source, and emissions between 50 and 70° N latitude contribute 10-30% to this source. Predictive capability of land models for northern wetland CH4 emissions is still low due to limited site measurements, strong spatial and temporal variability in emissions, and complex hydrological and biogeochemical dynamics. To explore this issue, we compare wetland CH4 emission predictions from the Community Land Model 4.5 (CLM4.5-BGC) with siteto regional-scale observations. A comparison of the CH4 fluxes with eddy flux data highlighted needed changes to the model's estimate of aerenchyma area, which we implemented and tested. The model modification substantially reduced biases in CH4 emissions when compared with CarbonTracker CH4 predictions. CLM4.5 CH4 emission predictions agree well with growing season (May-September) CarbonTracker Alaskan regional-level CH4 predictions and sitelevel observations. However, CLM4.5 underestimated CH4 emissions in the cold season (October-April). The monthly atmospheric CH4 mole fraction enhancements due to wetland emissions are also assessed using the Weather Research and Forecasting-Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport (WRF-STILT) model coupled with daily emissions from CLM4.5 and compared with aircraft CH4 mole fraction measurements from the Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE) campaign. Both the tower and aircraft analyses confirm the underestimate of cold-season CH4 emissions by CLM4.5. The greatest uncertainties in predicting the seasonal CH4 cycle are from the wetland extent, coldseason CH4 production and CH4 transport processes. We recommend more cold-season experimental studies in highlatitude systems, which could improve the understanding and parameterization of ecosystem structure and function during this period. Predicted CH4 emissions remain uncertain, but we show here that benchmarking against observations across spatial scales can inform model structural and parameter improvements.",

author = "Xiyan Xu and Riley, {William J.} and Koven, {Charles D.} and Billesbach, {Dave P.} and Chang, {Rachel Y.W.} and R{\'o}is{\'i}n Commane and Euskirchen, {Eug{\'e}nie S.} and Sean Hartery and Yoshinobu Harazono and Hiroki Iwata and McDonald, {Kyle C.} and Miller, {Charles E.} and Oechel, {Walter C.} and Benjamin Poulter and Naama Raz-Yaseef and Colm Sweeney and Margaret Torn and Wofsy, {Steven C.} and Zhen Zhang and Donatella Zona",

note = "Funding Information: Study was provided by the US Department of Energy, BER, under the RGCM program and NGEEArctic project under contract no. DE-AC02-05CH11231. We thank the CARVE flight group for their efforts on CARVE science flights. CarbonTracker CH4 results provided by NOAA ESRL, Boulder, Colorado, USA, from the website at http://www.esrl.noaa.gov. The eddy covariance tower data used in this study were supported by the Division of Polar Programs of the National Science Foundation (NSF; Award 1204263); Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE), an Earth Ventures (EV-1) investigation, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; and Department of Energy (DOE) Grant DE-SC005160. Logistical support was funded by the NSF Division of Polar Programs. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Author(s) 2016.",

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doi = "10.5194/bg-13-5043-2016",

language = "English (US)",

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T1 - A multi-scale comparison of modeled and observed seasonal methane emissions in northern wetlands

AU - Xu, Xiyan

AU - Riley, William J.

AU - Koven, Charles D.

AU - Billesbach, Dave P.

AU - Chang, Rachel Y.W.

AU - Commane, Róisín

AU - Euskirchen, Eugénie S.

AU - Hartery, Sean

AU - Harazono, Yoshinobu

AU - Iwata, Hiroki

AU - McDonald, Kyle C.

AU - Miller, Charles E.

AU - Oechel, Walter C.

AU - Poulter, Benjamin

AU - Raz-Yaseef, Naama

AU - Sweeney, Colm

AU - Torn, Margaret

AU - Wofsy, Steven C.

AU - Zhang, Zhen

AU - Zona, Donatella

N1 - Funding Information: Study was provided by the US Department of Energy, BER, under the RGCM program and NGEEArctic project under contract no. DE-AC02-05CH11231. We thank the CARVE flight group for their efforts on CARVE science flights. CarbonTracker CH4 results provided by NOAA ESRL, Boulder, Colorado, USA, from the website at http://www.esrl.noaa.gov. The eddy covariance tower data used in this study were supported by the Division of Polar Programs of the National Science Foundation (NSF; Award 1204263); Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE), an Earth Ventures (EV-1) investigation, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; and Department of Energy (DOE) Grant DE-SC005160. Logistical support was funded by the NSF Division of Polar Programs. Publisher Copyright: © Author(s) 2016.

PY - 2016/9/13

Y1 - 2016/9/13

N2 - Wetlands are the largest global natural methane (CH4/ source, and emissions between 50 and 70° N latitude contribute 10-30% to this source. Predictive capability of land models for northern wetland CH4 emissions is still low due to limited site measurements, strong spatial and temporal variability in emissions, and complex hydrological and biogeochemical dynamics. To explore this issue, we compare wetland CH4 emission predictions from the Community Land Model 4.5 (CLM4.5-BGC) with siteto regional-scale observations. A comparison of the CH4 fluxes with eddy flux data highlighted needed changes to the model's estimate of aerenchyma area, which we implemented and tested. The model modification substantially reduced biases in CH4 emissions when compared with CarbonTracker CH4 predictions. CLM4.5 CH4 emission predictions agree well with growing season (May-September) CarbonTracker Alaskan regional-level CH4 predictions and sitelevel observations. However, CLM4.5 underestimated CH4 emissions in the cold season (October-April). The monthly atmospheric CH4 mole fraction enhancements due to wetland emissions are also assessed using the Weather Research and Forecasting-Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport (WRF-STILT) model coupled with daily emissions from CLM4.5 and compared with aircraft CH4 mole fraction measurements from the Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE) campaign. Both the tower and aircraft analyses confirm the underestimate of cold-season CH4 emissions by CLM4.5. The greatest uncertainties in predicting the seasonal CH4 cycle are from the wetland extent, coldseason CH4 production and CH4 transport processes. We recommend more cold-season experimental studies in highlatitude systems, which could improve the understanding and parameterization of ecosystem structure and function during this period. Predicted CH4 emissions remain uncertain, but we show here that benchmarking against observations across spatial scales can inform model structural and parameter improvements.

AB - Wetlands are the largest global natural methane (CH4/ source, and emissions between 50 and 70° N latitude contribute 10-30% to this source. Predictive capability of land models for northern wetland CH4 emissions is still low due to limited site measurements, strong spatial and temporal variability in emissions, and complex hydrological and biogeochemical dynamics. To explore this issue, we compare wetland CH4 emission predictions from the Community Land Model 4.5 (CLM4.5-BGC) with siteto regional-scale observations. A comparison of the CH4 fluxes with eddy flux data highlighted needed changes to the model's estimate of aerenchyma area, which we implemented and tested. The model modification substantially reduced biases in CH4 emissions when compared with CarbonTracker CH4 predictions. CLM4.5 CH4 emission predictions agree well with growing season (May-September) CarbonTracker Alaskan regional-level CH4 predictions and sitelevel observations. However, CLM4.5 underestimated CH4 emissions in the cold season (October-April). The monthly atmospheric CH4 mole fraction enhancements due to wetland emissions are also assessed using the Weather Research and Forecasting-Stochastic Time-Inverted Lagrangian Transport (WRF-STILT) model coupled with daily emissions from CLM4.5 and compared with aircraft CH4 mole fraction measurements from the Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE) campaign. Both the tower and aircraft analyses confirm the underestimate of cold-season CH4 emissions by CLM4.5. The greatest uncertainties in predicting the seasonal CH4 cycle are from the wetland extent, coldseason CH4 production and CH4 transport processes. We recommend more cold-season experimental studies in highlatitude systems, which could improve the understanding and parameterization of ecosystem structure and function during this period. Predicted CH4 emissions remain uncertain, but we show here that benchmarking against observations across spatial scales can inform model structural and parameter improvements.

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A multi-scale comparison of modeled and observed seasonal methane emissions in northern wetlands

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