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Atmospheric methane cycle

Spokesperson: Dr Patrick Jöckel

The long-lived greenhouse gas methane (CH₄) plays an important role for our climate. A crucial point with respect to CH₄ are the not fully understood changes in the growth rate during the recent decades. The Matrixgroup “Methane” facilitates networking between different research activities of the institute, addressing the following research questions:

• What and how big are the sources and sinks of atmospheric methane?
• How long is the lifetime of methane in the atmosphere?
• How large is the variability of the atmospheric methane mixing ratio?
• How large are the natural and anthropogenic contributions to the sources of methane?
• How do these characteristics and processes change in a changing climate and which feedbacks exist?

We seek synergies between the following methodical approaches:

• airborne active remote sensing with the CHARM-F lidar;
• airborne in-situ measurements of methane and other trace gases;
• global and regional numerical models for the description of atmospheric processes;
• utilization of data from the TCCON station network and involvement in the operation;
• utilization of satellite data (e.g., Sentinel-5P, GOSAT).

The IPA research on methane is anchored in the research program “Aeronautics” of the DLR strategy 2030, in which a particular focus is on research for the significant reduction of global warming below 2°, and on the corresponding characterization of greenhouse gas emissions. This includes notably the preparation of the German-French satellite mission MERLIN with the help of CHARM-F and in-situ measurements, as well as the numerical simulation of processes of the atmosphere. Moreover, this research contributes to the validation of current (Sentinel-5P, GOSAT) and planned satellite missions (GOSAT-2, MERLIN, Sentinel-5, CO2M). The Matrixgroup “Methane” accompanies with the help of the above mentioned spectrum of methodologies jointly various national and international projects and measurement campaigns