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Study on the regional distribution of tropospheric methane using a rapidly and continuously measuring instrument

Research Project

Project/Area Number 02402014
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (A)

Allocation TypeSingle-year Grants
Research Field 気象・海洋・陸水学
Research InstitutionUniversity of Tokyo

Principal Investigator

OGAWA Toshihiro  University of Tokyo, Fac.of Science, Professor, 理学部, 教授 (70011616)

Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) KITA Kazuyuki  University of Tokyo, Fac.of Science, assistant professor, 理学部, 助手 (30221914)
IWAGAMI Naomoto  University of Tokyo, Fac.of Science, assoc.professor, 理学部, 助教授 (30143374)
Project Period (FY) 1990 – 1991
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 1991)
Budget Amount *help
¥12,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥12,000,000)
Fiscal Year 1991: ¥6,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥6,900,000)
Fiscal Year 1990: ¥5,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥5,100,000)
Keywordsgreenhouse effect / methane / regional distribution / emission sourse
Research Abstract

In 1990 modifying the methane instrument that we had developed, we designed and fabricated a new model to be adapted to a moving platform and made laboratory tests on its performance. A field test observation was made on the research vessel Shirase cruising from Tokyo to the Antarctica with respect to its performance aboard a vibrating and moving platform and the disturbance of atmospheric water vapor to the measurement. The observation exhibited a precision of about 5% with a measurement time constant of a few minutes when a statistical data processing was applied to remove periodic oscillations in the data due to the vessel engine. The processed data depicted the latitudinal distribution of tropospheric methane. In 1991 we made several performance tests of the instrument, to find that it was the stability of the laser that was limiting measurement precision. The temperature fluctuation was thought to be a major source to degrade the stability. We improved the instrument to keep tempe … More rature constant and spatially uniform around the laser oscillator tube.
After the end of the projected research period, in 1992 and 1993 we made further improvement of the instrument. A significant improvement was attained by adding a feedback roop to stabilize the laser output, in which the distance between the laser resonator mirrors was adjusted with a piezoelectric element. The improved instrument exhibited a precision of 1% with a measurement time constant of a few minutes, and was used in the observations on board an automobile and an airship with respect to the spatial distributions of atmospheric methane concentration over and around rice paddies in Ibaraki-ken and over the Tokyo metropolitan area. Applying a diffusive transport model to the methane concentration distributions observed around rice paddies, we were able to estimate the emission source strength of methane from rice paddies. The estimated value exhibited a reasonable agreement with those deduced from the chamber method and the gradient method, implying a possibility of estimating the methane emission flux in a horizontal scale of a few 100 m to a few km with the aid of the diffusive transport model. The airship observation over the Tokyo metropolitan area revealed an area of large methane mixing ratio exceeding 2 ppmv around Urayasu, suggesting a strong emission source of methane. Less

Report

(3 results)
  • 1991 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report Summary
  • 1990 Annual Research Report
  • Research Products

    (9 results)

All Other

All Publications (9 results)

  • [Publications] Kondo,Y.: "Measurements of nitric oxide and ozone in the troposphere from midーlatitude to equator." Papers on Meteorology and Geophysics. 42. 21-29 (1991)

    • Related Report
      1991 Annual Research Report
  • [Publications] Ogawa,T.: "Stratospheric ozone profiles based on the EXOSーC satellite data." Advances in Space Research. 12. (1992)

    • Related Report
      1991 Annual Research Report
  • [Publications] Iwagami,N.: "Nitric oxide variability in the lower thermosphere at low latitudes." Advances in Space Research. 12. (1992)

    • Related Report
      1991 Annual Research Report
  • [Publications] de la Noe,J.: "Comparison of stratospheric and mesospheric ozone profiles obtained by groundーbased and satellite observations." Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry. 14. (1992)

    • Related Report
      1991 Annual Research Report
  • [Publications] Pommereau,J.P.: "Balloon observations of nitrogen dioxide by visible occultation during GLOBUS NO_x." Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry. 14. (1992)

    • Related Report
      1991 Annual Research Report
  • [Publications] 小川 利紘: "大気の物理化学" 東京堂出版, 224 (1991)

    • Related Report
      1991 Annual Research Report
  • [Publications] Ogawa,T.: "Intercomparison of remote measurements of stratospheric NO and NO_2." J.Atmos.Chem.10. 111-144 (1990)

    • Related Report
      1990 Annual Research Report
  • [Publications] 小川 利紘(共著): "気の世界" 東京大学出版会, 310 (1990)

    • Related Report
      1990 Annual Research Report
  • [Publications] 小川 利紘(英訳・改訂): "Compendium of Aeronomy" Terra Scientific Pub.Co., 509 (1990)

    • Related Report
      1990 Annual Research Report

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Published: 1990-04-01   Modified: 2016-04-21  

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