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Can a drone equipped with a miniature methane sensor determine methane fluxes from an Alaskan wetland?
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  • Kristen Manies,
  • Emma Yates,
  • Lance Christensen,
  • Matt Fladeland,
  • Richard Kolyer,
  • Eugenie Euskirchen,
  • Mark Waldrop
Kristen Manies
USGS Western Regional Offices Menlo Park

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Emma Yates
NASA Ames Research Center
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Lance Christensen
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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Matt Fladeland
NASA
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Richard Kolyer
NASA Ames Research Center
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Eugenie Euskirchen
University of Alaska Fairbanks
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Mark Waldrop
US Geological Survey
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Abstract

Methane fluxes are often studied using eddy covariance flux towers or chambers placed on the soil surface. These measurement techniques have improved our understanding of methane emissions from wetlands. However, there are limitations with each measurement method. For example, chambers are fixed in place and have high maintenance costs, limiting spatial coverage and characterization of heterogeneity. Measurements taken in Interior Alaskan wetlands suggest that heterogeneity in methane fluxes from this region may increase during the fall and early winter, when the soils begin to freeze. Unfortunately, off-grid power limitations and freezing conditions complicate chamber operation during this time. Towers share similar demands with respect to maintenance and cost of operation, and, therefore, are not often replicated within a landscape. Moreover, towers provide an integrated measurement which masks any spatial heterogeneity in fluxes within the tower footprint. Therefore, although chamber and flux towers provide important insights into the carbon exchange between terrestrial and atmospheric pools, these methods have limitations, particularly when characterizing spatial heterogeneity. We tested a new technology that may be able to be counteract some of these limitations, thereby providing additional insights into methane emissions from wetlands. We outfitted a small-unmanned aerial system (sUAS, or drone), that can fly extremely close (<2 m) to the wetland’s surface, with a miniature open-path laser spectrometer methane sensor, LIDAR, and a miniature anemometer. We then tested this system in several bogs near Fairbanks, Alaska. We tested if this system could detect spatial and/or temporal variability of methane emissions within a bog. We also compared methane fluxes calculated using this system to values obtained from tower and chamber measurements. Results of these missions will be presented and we will discuss the ability of this new technology to provide additional information regarding methane emissions from wetlands.