Methane (CH₄) emissions from natural gas production are not well quantified and have the potential to offset the climate benefits of natural gas over other fossil fuels. We use atmospheric measurements in a mass balance approach to estimate CH₄ emissions of 55 ± 15 × 10³ kg h⁻¹ from a natural gas and oil production field in Uintah County, Utah, on 1 day: 3 February 2012. This emission rate corresponds to 6.2%–11.7% (1σ) of average hourly natural gas production in Uintah County in the month of February. This study demonstrates the mass balance technique as a valuable tool for estimating emissions from oil and gas production regions and illustrates the need for further atmospheric measurements to determine the representativeness of our single‐day estimate and to better assess inventories of CH₄ emissions.

Emissions of methane (CH₄) from oil and natural gas (O&G) operations in the most densely drilled area of the Denver‐Julesburg Basin in Weld County located in northeastern Colorado are estimated for 2 days in May 2012 using aircraft‐based CH₄ observations and planetary boundary layer height and ground‐based wind profile measurements. Total top‐down CH₄ emission estimates are 25.8 ± 8.4 and 26.2 ± 10.7 t CH₄/h for the 29 and 31 May flights, respectively. Using inventory data, we estimate the total emissions of CH₄ from non‐O&G gas‐related sources at 7.1 ± 1.7 and 6.3 ± 1.0 t CH₄/h for these 2 days. The difference in emissions is attributed to O&G sources in the study region, and their total emission is on average 19.3 ± 6.9 t/h, close to 3 times higher than an hourly emission estimate based on Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program data for 2012. We derive top‐down emissions estimates for propane, n‐butane, i‐pentane, n‐pentane, and benzene from our total top‐down CH₄ emission estimate and the relative hydrocarbon abundances in aircraft‐based discrete air samples. Emissions for these five nonmethane hydrocarbons alone total 25.4 ± 8.2 t/h. Assuming that these emissions are solely originating from O&G‐related activities in the study region, our results show that the state inventory for total volatile organic compounds emitted by O&G activities is at least a factor of 2 too low for May 2012. Our top‐down emission estimate of benzene emissions from O&G operations is 173 ± 64 kg/h, or 7 times larger than in the state inventory.

Decayed plant leaf litters from North America, Europe and Asia have been found to contain copious numbers of ice nuclei, some active at −4°C. The abundance of nuclei in a litter was noted to vary according to the climate of the plant's origin; litters from tropical, A-type climates (according to the Köppen classification) contain fewer ice nuclei (103 g−1 active at −10°C) than litters from mid-latitude, C-type climates (105 g−1 active at −10°C) which in turn contain fewer nuclei than litters from high-latitude, D-type climates (109 g−1 at −10°C). The rate of release of freezing nuclei to the atmosphere from in situ litters from D-type climates was determined experimentally: the flux of nuclei active at −12°C was found to be 101−103 cm−2 day−1 during daylight hours. Active ice nuclei also have been found in seawaters rich in phytoplankton; seawaters devoid of plankton are poor sources of ice nuclei. Some of these nuclei are active at temperatures around −4°C and concentrations reach up to 107−103 ... Abstract Decayed plant leaf litters from North America, Europe and Asia have been found to contain copious numbers of ice nuclei, some active at −4°C. The abundance of nuclei in a litter was noted to vary according to the climate of the plant's origin; litters from tropical, A-type climates (according to the Köppen classification) contain fewer ice nuclei (103 g−1 active at −10°C) than litters from mid-latitude, C-type climates (105 g−1 active at −10°C) which in turn contain fewer nuclei than litters from high-latitude, D-type climates (109 g−1 at −10°C). The rate of release of freezing nuclei to the atmosphere from in situ litters from D-type climates was determined experimentally: the flux of nuclei active at −12°C was found to be 101−103 cm−2 day−1 during daylight hours. Active ice nuclei also have been found in seawaters rich in phytoplankton; seawaters devoid of plankton are poor sources of ice nuclei. Some of these nuclei are active at temperatures around −4°C and concentrations reach up to 107−103 ...

By modulating the Earth-atmosphere energy, hydrological and biogeochemical cycles, and affecting regional-to-global weather and climate, biomass burning is recognized as one of the major factors affecting the global carbon cycle. However, few comprehensive and wide-ranging experiments have been conducted to characterize biomass-burning pollutants in Southeast Asia (SEA) or assess their regional impact on meteorology, the hydrological cycle, the radiative budget, or climate change. Recently, BASE-ASIA (Biomass-burning Aerosols in South-East Asia: Smoke Impact Assessment) and the 7-SEAS (7-South-East Asian Studies)/Dongsha Experiment were conducted during the spring seasons of 2006 and 2010 in northern SEA, respectively, to characterize the chemical, physical, and radiative properties of biomass-burning emissions near the source regions, and assess their effects. This paper provides an overview of results from these two campaigns and related studies collected in this special issue, entitled “Observation, modeling and impact studies of biomass burning and pollution in the SE Asian Environment”. This volume includes 28 papers, which provide a synopsis of the experiments, regional weather/climate, chemical characterization of biomass-burning aerosols and related pollutants in source and sink regions, the spatial distribution of air toxics (atmospheric mercury and dioxins) in source and remote areas, a characterization of aerosol physical, optical, and radiative properties, as well as modeling and impact studies. These studies, taken together, provide the first relatively complete dataset of aerosol chemistry and physical observations conducted in the source/sink region in the northern SEA, with particular emphasis on the marine boundary layer and lower free troposphere (LFT). The data, analysis and modeling included in these papers advance our present knowledge of source characterization of biomass-burning pollutants near the source regions as well as the physical and chemical processes along transport pathways. In addition, we raise key questions to be addressed by a coming deployment during springtime 2013 in northern SEA, named 7-SEAS/BASELInE (Biomass-burning Aerosols & Stratocumulus Environment: Lifecycles and Interactions Experiment). This campaign will include a synergistic approach for further exploring many key atmospheric processes (e.g., complex aerosol–cloud interactions) and impacts of biomass burning on the surface–atmosphere energy budgets during the lifecycles of biomass-burning emissions