Variation characteristics of atmospheric methane and carbon dioxide in summertime at a coastal site in the South China Sea

doi:10.1007/s11783-022-1574-z

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng.

2022, Vol. 16

Issue (11) : 139 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11783-022-1574-z

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Variation characteristics of atmospheric methane and carbon dioxide in summertime at a coastal site in the South China Sea

Yangyan Cheng^1,^2,⁵, Ye Shan³, Yuhuan Xue^1,^2,⁵, Yujiao Zhu³, Xinfeng Wang³, Likun Xue³, Yanguang Liu⁴, Fangli Qiao^1,^2,⁵, Min Zhang^1,^2,⁵(

)

¹. Key Laboratory of Marine Sciences and Numerical Modeling, First Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao 266061, China
². Laboratory for Regional Oceanography and Numerical Modeling, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao), Qingdao 266237, China
³. Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
⁴. Key Laboratory of Marine Geology and Metallogeny, First Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao 266061, China
⁵. Shandong Key Laboratory of Marine Sciences and Numerical Modeling, Qingdao 266061, China

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Abstract

● Diurnal patterns of CH₄ and CO₂ are clearly extracted using EEMD.

● CH₄ and CO₂ show mid-morning high and evening low patterns during sea breezes.

● Wind direction significantly modulates the diurnal variations in CH₄ and CO₂.

Methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) are the two most important greenhouse gases (GHGs). To examine the variation characteristics of CH₄ and CO₂ in the coastal South China Sea, atmospheric CH₄ and CO₂ measurements were performed in Bohe (BH), Guangdong, China, in summer 2021. By using an adaptive data analysis method, the diurnal patterns of CH₄ and CO₂ were clearly extracted and analysed in relation to the sea breeze (SB) and land breeze (LB), respectively. The average concentrations of CH₄ and CO₂ were 1876.91 ± 31.13 ppb and 407.99 ± 4.24 ppm during SB, and 1988.12 ± 109.92 ppb and 421.54 ± 14.89 ppm during LB, respectively. The values of CH₄ and CO₂ during SB basically coincided with the values and trends of marine background sites, showing that the BH station could serve as an ideal site for background GHG monitoring and dynamic analysis. The extracted diurnal variations in CH₄ and CO₂ showed sunrise high and sunset low patterns (with peaks at 5:00–7:00) during LB but mid-morning high and evening low patterns (with peaks at 9:00) during SB. The diurnal amplitude changes in both CH₄ and CO₂ during LB were almost two to three times those during SB. Wind direction significantly modulated the diurnal variations in CH₄ and CO₂. The results in this study provide a new way to examine the variations in GHGs on different timescales and can also help us gain a better understanding of GHG sources and distributions in the South China Sea.

Keywords Methane Carbon dioxide Diurnal pattern Ensemble empirical mode decomposition South China Sea Sea breeze

Corresponding Author(s): Min Zhang

Issue Date: 29 May 2022

Cite this article:

Yangyan Cheng,Ye Shan,Yuhuan Xue, et al. Variation characteristics of atmospheric methane and carbon dioxide in summertime at a coastal site in the South China Sea[J]. Front. Environ. Sci. Eng., 2022, 16(11): 139.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/10.1007/s11783-022-1574-z
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/Y2022/V16/I11/139

Fig.1 Main sampling devices in the sampling container.

Fig.2 (a) Time series of wind speed/direction, (b) air temperature and relative humidity, and (c) CH₄ and (d) CO₂ concentrations at the Bohe station in June 2021, segmented into Episode 1, Episode 2 and Episode 3 according to wind directions/speeds in June 2021. Data gaps of CH₄ and CO₂ during 12–15 June are interpolated, which are indicated by red lines (c, d).

Tab.1 Comparison of atmospheric CH₄ and CO₂ concentrations with previous studies. (Note: The NOAA/ESRL and the SIO refer to the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography)

Fig.3 (a) Comparison of CH₄ and (b) CO₂ concentrations observed in this study (black line during sea breeze) with previous studies (coloured lines, dots and stars), with all values observed in June for each year. The greenhouse gas data at the Mauna Loa, Dongsha Island and Mt. Waliguan are from the website of the NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory Carbon Cycle Cooperative Global Air Sampling Network. The CO₂ data in Hok Tsui and King’s Park are updated online from the World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases (WDCGG) website provided by the Hong Kong Observatory (China), while the CH₄ data on Yongxing Island are from Jiang et al. (2021).

Fig.4 (a) Time series of atmospheric CH₄ and (b) CO₂ concentrations and (c) wind speed, with their extracted components from high-frequency to low-frequency using EEMD. (d) The IMF3s represent the diurnal fluctuations, segmented into Episode 1 (orange), Episode 2 (blue) and Episode 3 (green) at the Bohe station during June 2021.

Fig.5 Comparison of diurnal variations in (a) CH₄, (b) CO₂ and (c) wind speed as observed during Episode 1 (orange), Episode 2 (blue) and Episode 3 (green) at the Bohe station. Error bars indicate standard deviations with confidence intervals of 95%.

Fig.6 Scatterplots of CH₄ and CO₂ concentrations versus (a, b) wind speed, (c, d) TVOCs and (e, f) PM_2.5 for three episodes. Fitted lines of the corresponding colored circles represent the ordinary least-squared regression model, and r is the Pearson Correlation Coefficient.

Fig.7 Bivariate polar plots for (a) CH₄, (b) CO₂, (c) PM_2.5 and (d) TVOCs concentrations at the Bohe station in June 2021.

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