About the Project
Wetlands represent the largest and most uncertain global methane source (Kirschke et al., 2013). With atmospheric methane concentrations now increasing rapidly after a period of stabilization (1999 and 2006; Nisbet et al., 2014), the quantification of current and future emissions from wetlands represents a core challenge to climate science. However, the tools needed to effectively measure methane emissions are unavailable. Eruptions of gas bubbles from wetlands provide an important transport pathway of methane to the atmosphere. But the spatio-temporal complexity of such events means that they cannot be effectively quantified using traditional field based approaches (Stamp et al., 2013); gas emerging from hot spots during hot moments (McClain et al., 2003).
This project will revolutionize the in situ measurement of bubbling events through the development and application of a real-time monitoring network (Krause et al., 2015). The approach will combine novel fibre optic acoustic technology (Conway and Mondanos, 2015), integrated with traditional point source methods (Baird et al., 2004, Stamp et al., 2013) and driven through machine learning data analysis. The technique offers unrivalled capability to measure individual bubbles movements (Leighton, 2017) over transects kilometres in extent.
The project will apply the approach to assess the stability of large accumulations of methane locked deep within wetlands (Glaser et al., 2004, Comas et al., 2005) to seismic activity. It will determine the extent to which earthquakes provide previously overlooked triggers of methane emissions within seismically active tropical wetlands. The network will i) characterize pore scale behaviour of biogenic gas bubbles necessary for the development and evaluation of state-of-the-art modelling approaches (Ranmirez et al., 2015), ii) quantify methane losses and their spatio-temporal dynamics to centennial disturbance events, and iii) provide the technological foundation to develop an international network of stations across the broad range of wetland classes and climate regimes that drive methane fluxes (Turetsky, 2014). The integration of this approach within flux tower networks, such as the ABoVE programme within northern latitudes, will constrain land surface models and the determination of global methane budgets (Kirschke et al., 2013).
This is a CASE PhD studentship with direct financial and indirect training support provided by Silixa (https://silixa.com) who have developed the acoustic technology for application principally within the oil, gas and mining sectors. You will join a strong team of PhD students and postdoctoral researchers within the university who are working with fibre optic measurement systems to tackle environmental grand challenges. Further, the project aligns closely with the global network lead by the University of Birmingham in applying smart high-frequency environmental sensor networks such as this for quantifying non-linear hydrological process dynamics across spatial scales.
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/physical-geography/index.aspx
References
Baird, A.J., Beckwith, C.W., Waldron, S. and Waddington, J.M. (2004) Ebullition of methane‐containing gas bubbles from near‐surface Sphagnum peat. Geophysical Research Letters, 31, L21505.
Comas, X., Slater, L. and Reeve, A. (2005) Spatial variability in biogenic gas accumulations in peat soils is revealed by ground penetrating radar (GPR). Geophysical Research Letters, 32, L08401.
Conway, C. and Mondanos, M. (2015) An introduction to fibre optic Intelligent Distributed Acoustic Sensing (iDAS) technology for power industry applications. In Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Insulated Power Cables, Versailles, France (Vol. 2125, p. 16).
Glaser, P.H., Chanton, J.P., Morin, P., Rosenberry, D.O., Siegel, D.I., Ruud, O., Chasar, L.I. and Reeve, A.S. (2004) Surface deformations as indicators of deep ebullition fluxes in a large northern peatland. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 18, GB1003.
Kirschke, S., Bousquet, P., Ciais, P., Saunois, M., Canadell, J. G., Dlugokencky, E. J., et al (2013) Three decades of global methane sources and sinks. Nature Geoscience, 6, 813-823.
Krause, S., Lewandowski, J., Dahm, C. N., & Tockner, K. (2015). Frontiers in real‐time ecohydrology–a paradigm shift in understanding complex environmental systems. Ecohydrology, 8, 529-537
Leighton, Timothy (2017) Climate change, dolphins, spaceships and antimicrobial resistance: the impact of bubble acoustics. 24th International Congress on Sound and Vibration: ICSV24, London, United Kingdom. 23 - 27 Jul 2017. 16 pp.
McClain, M.E., Boyer, E.W., Dent, C.L., Gergel, S.E., Grimm, N.B., Groffman, P.M., Hart, S.C., Harvey, J.W., Johnston, C.A., Mayorga, E. and McDowell, W.H. (2003) Biogeochemical hot spots and hot moments at the interface of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Ecosystems, 6, 301-312.
Nisbet, E. G., Dlugokencky, E. J., and Bousquet, P. (2014). Methane on the rise—again. Science, 343, 493-495.
Ramirez, J. A., Baird, A. J., Coulthard, T. J., and Waddington, J. M. (2015). Ebullition of methane from peatlands: Does peat act as a signal shredder?, Geophysical Research Letters, 42, 3371-3379.
Stamp, I., Baird, A.J. and Heppell, C.M., 2013. The importance of ebullition as a mechanism of methane (CH4) loss to the atmosphere in a northern peatland. Geophysical Research Letters, 40, 2087-2090.
Turetsky, M. R., Kotowska, A., Bubier, J., Dise, N. B., Crill, P., Hornibrook, E. R. et al (2014). A synthesis of methane emissions from 71 northern, temperate, and subtropical wetlands. Global change biology, 20, 2183-2197.
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