TY - JOUR
T1 - Nitrogen Oxide Emissions from U.S. Oil and Gas Production
T2 - Recent Trends and Source Attribution
AU - Dix, Barbara
AU - de Bruin, Joep
AU - Roosenbrand, Esther
AU - Vlemmix, Tim
AU - Francoeur, Colby
AU - Gorchov-Negron, Alan
AU - McDonald, Brian
AU - Zhizhin, Mikhail
AU - Elvidge, Christopher
AU - Veefkind, Pepijn
AU - Levelt, Pieternel
AU - de Gouw, Joost
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - U.S. oil and natural gas production volumes have grown by up to 100% in key production areas between January 2017 and August 2019. Here we show that recent trends are visible from space and can be attributed to drilling, production, and gas flaring activities. By using oil and gas activity data as predictors in a multivariate regression to satellite measurements of tropospheric NO2 columns, observed changes in NO2 over time could be attributed to NOx emissions associated with drilling, production and gas flaring for three select regions: the Permian, Bakken, and Eagle Ford basins. We find that drilling had been the dominant NOx source contributing around 80% before the downturn in drilling activity in 2015. Thereafter, NOx contributions from drilling activities and combined production and flaring activities are similar. Comparison of our top-down source attribution with a bottom-up fuel-based oil and gas NOx emission inventory shows agreement within error margins.
AB - U.S. oil and natural gas production volumes have grown by up to 100% in key production areas between January 2017 and August 2019. Here we show that recent trends are visible from space and can be attributed to drilling, production, and gas flaring activities. By using oil and gas activity data as predictors in a multivariate regression to satellite measurements of tropospheric NO2 columns, observed changes in NO2 over time could be attributed to NOx emissions associated with drilling, production and gas flaring for three select regions: the Permian, Bakken, and Eagle Ford basins. We find that drilling had been the dominant NOx source contributing around 80% before the downturn in drilling activity in 2015. Thereafter, NOx contributions from drilling activities and combined production and flaring activities are similar. Comparison of our top-down source attribution with a bottom-up fuel-based oil and gas NOx emission inventory shows agreement within error margins.
KW - NO VCDs
KW - NO emissions
KW - oil and gas
KW - OMI
KW - source attribution
KW - TROPOMI
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078278247&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1029/2019GL085866
DO - 10.1029/2019GL085866
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85078278247
SN - 0094-8276
VL - 47
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
IS - 1
M1 - e2019GL085866
ER -