| Methane (CH4) and Nitrous Oxide (N2O) are the two most significant anthropogenic, long-lived, non-CO2 greenhouse gases, together perturbing the earth's energy balance by an amount comparable to that of CO2. This dissertation will focus on the use of atmospheric observations to quantify emissions of CH4 and N2O. First top-down emissions constraints on the regional scale, covering large areas of the U.S and southern Canada, are derived from airborne observations made in Spring of 2003. Using a receptor-oriented Lagrangian particle dispersion model provides robust validation of bottom-up emission estimates from EDGAR 32FT2000 and GEIA inventories. It is found that EDGAR CH4 emission rates are slightly low by a factor of 1.08 +/- 0.15 (2 sigma), while both EDGAR and GEIA N2O emissions are significantly too low, by factors of 2.62 +/- 0.50 and 3.05 +/- 0.61 respectively. This analysis is then extended over a full calendar year in 2004 with observations from NOAA's tall tower and aircraft profile network. EDGAR 32FT2000 CH 4 emissions are found to be consistent with observations, though the newer EDGAR v4.0 reduces CH4 emissions by 30%, and this reduction is not consistent with this study. Scaling factors found for N2O in May/June of 2003 (2.62 & 3.05) are found to hold for February-May of 2004, suggesting inventories are significantly too low in primary growing season coincident with significant fertilizer inputs.;A new instrument for airborne observation of CO2, CH 4, N2O, and CO is introduced, and its operation and in-field performance are highlighted (demonstrated 1-sec precisions of 20 ppb, 0.5 ppb, 0.09 ppb, and 0.15 ppb respectively). Finally, global N2O observations collected with this sensor on the HIPPO (Hlaper Pole to Pole Observations) campaign are assessed. Comparison with a global model and subsequent inversion indicates strong, episodic inputs of nitrous oxide from tropical regions are necessary to bring observations and model in agreement. Findings highlight the strong temporal variability of nitrous oxide emissions, and the necessity of using full vertical profile observations in deriving emissions from atmospheric measurements. |
