Methanetracker.org

[Apocalypse4Real]

During the last few months, I have not posted as much on methane layers at Apocalypse4Real. That was not due to less interest - although time was a factor. The lag was due to collaboration on a new project which will make 3-D near real time global tracking of methane release at high concentrations a reality.

http://methanetracker.org was developed by Omar Cabrera, and has now progressed enough to go public. We are not done with improvements, but it portrays methane release and 3-D concentration in near real time.

The resource uses the METOP 2 IASI CH4 imagery, which has been reprocessed to display in Google Earth. It captures the 100 layers of IASI CH4 readings every 12 hours, from 0-12 hr Z and 12-24 hrs Z daily. We have started with imagery from January 1, 2013 to YTD.

See my comment on the Arctic Sea Ice Blog for further details. I'll post more later.

A4R

[wili]

Wow!

Lot's to ponder in those first two videos.

I see you got honorable mention in the first one for your insights.

What concentrations of methane do the yellow shades represent and at what height(s) exactly?

[Apocalypse4Real]

Hi wili,

The yellow shading represents any area with layers with above 1950 ppbv CH4.

The layers displayed shift in every 12 hr segment, based upon whether they have even on cell with above 1950 ppbv globally.

Omar and I have been engaged in discovery mode for the last few weeks, welcome to what we are finding a fascinating way over understanding global methane release in interaction with ice, sea temperatures, rainfall, forest fires and more.

A4R

[Apocalypse4Real]

There is a methane release above 1950 ppbv in the East Siberian Sea that has persisted as the sea ice has melted or moved over the last three days.

Beginning 7 July 2013 pm it develops across the area between 150-165E and 71 30 and 76 N. There is a major burst on July 9-10, between 151-156 E and 71 15 - 72 45 N or an area approximately 75x100 miles that persists for 36 hours, which seems like the release of clathrate methane release by melting ice.

I used the unified layers and SSMIS sea ice layer to follow the changes in methanetracker.org.

[Apocalypse4Real]

methanetracker.org has added a new set of reports which enables you to track global methane be ppb ranges, from 1750-1850, 1850-1950 and 1950+. It is one step in developing a full range of reporting methane levels from January 2013 to date.

[Apocalypse4Real]

methanetracker.org continues to add layers and improve reporting. To demonstrate what you can observe and learn, the image below reveals the relationship between forest fires, CO and methane release/concentrations.

The image shows the CH4 concentrations above 1950 ppb (yellow areas) between 399-607 mb on August 3, 2013 0-12 hr. The methane is overlaid on the CO (carbon monoxide) concentrations for August 3, which is a result of the forest fires in Siberia (brown, orange and red areas).

The result is a pretty tight fit. This causes concern about increasing methane, since CO and methane oxidation require OH (hydroxyl) for breakdown. Thus with more large fires and CO in the atmosphere, it adds to the increasing concentrations of methane.

[lanevn]

Doesn't work anymore?

[Laurent]

The site seems ok, I don't have the plugin (under linux).

[Apocalypse4Real]

The Methanetracker.org server filled and the funding for the conversion was not forthcoming. It is a sad loss.

A4R

[viddaloo]

Hoping it comes up again! PS: Cloud server services provided by eg. Amazon are relatively cheap and ideal for small ventures demanding a flexible/large amount of storage. They probably already know this, but I thought I'd mention it just to be sure.

[Neven]

The Methanetracker.org server filled and the funding for the conversion was not forthcoming. It is a sad loss.

A4R

That's really too bad. It looked awesome.