Abstract
Methane has been measured in air samples collected at approximately weekly intervals at 23 globally distributed sites in the NOAA/GMCC cooperative flask sampling network. Sites range in latitude from 90° S to 76° N, and at most of these we report 2 years of data beginning in early 1983. All measurements have been made by gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector at the NOAA/GMCC laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. All air samples have been referenced to a single secondary standard of methane-in-air, ensuring a high degree of internal consistency in the data. The precision of measurements is estimated from replicate determinations on each sample as 0.2%. The latitudinal distribution of methane and the seasonal variation of this distribution in the marine boundary layer has been defined in great detail, including a remarkable uniformity in background levels of methane in the Southern Hemisphere. We report for the first time the observation of a complete seasonal cycle of methane at the South Pole. A significant vertical gradient is observed between a sea level and a high altitude site in Hawaii. Globally averaged background concentrations in the marine boundary layer have been calculated for the 2 year-period May 1983-April 1985 inclusive, from which we find an average increase of 12.8 ppb per year, or 0.78% per year when referenced to the globally averaged concentration (1625 ppb) at the mid-point of this period. We present evidence that there has been a slowing down in the methane growth rate.
Presented at the Conference on the Scientific Application of Baseline Observations of Atmospheric Composition (SABOAC), Aspendale, Australia, 7–9 November 1984
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Steele, L.P. et al. (1987). The Global Distribution of Methane in the Troposphere. In: Ehhalt, D., Pearman, G., Galbally, I. (eds) Scientific Application of Baseline Observations of Atmospheric Composition (SABOAC). Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3909-7_21
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