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Cited by 422Climate change and permafrostPeatlands and Wetlands EcologyAtmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics

Cold season emissions dominate the arctic tundra methane budget

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Zona, Donatella, Gioli, Beniamino, Commane, Róisín, Lindaas, Jakob, Wofsy, Steven C., Miller, Charles E., Dinardo, Steven J., Dengel, Sigrid +12 more·2016·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
DOI 10.1073/pnas.1516017113PMC PMC4711884
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Abstract

Significance: Arctic ecosystems are major global sources of methane. We report that emissions during the cold season (September to May) contribute ≥50% of annual sources of methane from Alaskan tundra, based on fluxes obtained from eddy covariance sites and from regional fluxes calculated from aircraft data. The largest emissions were observed at the driest site (<5% inundation). Emissions of methane in the cold season are linked to the extended “zero curtain” period, where soil temperatures are poised near 0 °C, indicating that total emissions are very sensitive to soil climate and related factors, such as snow depth. The dominance of late season emissions, sensitivity to soil conditions, and importance of dry tundra are not currently simulated in most global climate models.

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Crossref · 10.1073/pnas.1516017113

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  • Weather monitoring stations often measure other relevant parameters such as ambient air temperature, wind direction, wind speed, barometric pressure, relative humidity, and ozone, which may affect CH4 concentration.

    “Moreover, weather monitoring stations often measure other relevant parameters such as ambient air temperature (AT), wind direction (WD), wind speed (WS), barometric pressure (PB), relative humidity (RH) and atmospheric concentration of other gases such as ozone (O3), which may affect the concentration of CH4 (Zona et al., 2016; Delkash et al., 2016; Vinogradova et al., 2022).”

    From Decoding methane concentration in Alberta oil sands: A machine learning exploration (2025) · cites this paper as Zona et al., 2016

    Materials and Methods describes methane-measuring towers equipped with sonic anemometers, and Results and Discussion links soil temperature to methane emissions. The paper does not establish that weather stations often measure the full listed set of parameters, or that ozone, pressure, humidity, and the other listed variables affect atmospheric methane concentration. It specifically emphasizes subsurface soil temperature rather than air temperature as a driver for its flux models. (LLM, conf=0.79)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Methane concentration varies between cold and warm seasons.

    “as it is known that methane concentration varies between cold and warm seasons (Vinogradova et al., 2022; Zona et al., 2016).”

    From Decoding methane concentration in Alberta oil sands: A machine learning exploration (2025) · cites this paper as Zona et al., 2016

    The Results and Discussion (page unavailable) document seasonal differences in Arctic tundra methane emissions and report elevated atmospheric methane in November. They do not establish the claimed comparison of methane concentrations between cold and warm seasons; emissions and concentrations are different measures. (LLM, conf=0.78)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cites

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Authors
Zona, D., Gioli, B., Commane, R., Lindaas, J., Wofsy, S. C., Miller, C. E., Dinardo, S. J., Dengel, S., Sweeney, C., Karion, A., Chang, R. Y.-W., Henderson, J. M., Murphy, P. C., Goodrich, J. P., Moreaux, V., Liljedahl, A., Watts, J. D., Kimball, J. S., Lipson, D. A., & Oechel, W. C.
Affiliations
  • San Diego State University (US)
  • Istituto di Biometeorologia (IT)
  • School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138;
  • Harvard University (US)
  • California Institute of Technology (US)
  • University of Helsinki (FI)
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (US)
  • Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (US)
  • Dalhousie University (CA)
  • Atmospheric and Environmental Research (US)
  • University of Alaska Fairbanks (US)
  • University of Montana (US)
  • The Open University (GB)
ORCID
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Published
2015-12-22
Volume
113
Issue
1
Pages
40-45
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.1516017113
PMC
PMC4711884
OpenAlex
W2221376693
Cited by
422
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 29 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 46 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 42 · 2021: 45 · 2020: 51 · 2019: 38 · 2018: 40 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 29
FWCI
22.94
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.pnas.org/preview_site/misc/userlicense.xhtml (vor)
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • The Mathematics Enthusiast (submittedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
  • Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja (submittedVersion)
  • NOAA Institutional Repository (submittedVersion)
  • OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • NSF (ARC 1204263)
  • NASA (CARVE EV-1)
  • DOE (DE-SC005160)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Climate change and permafrost
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Peatlands and Wetlands Ecology
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Atmospheric and Environmental Gas Dynamics
Keywords
soil temperature, snow cover, active layer thickness, upland tundra, methane budget, airborne remote sensing, eddy covariance, climate warming feedback, wetland methane emissions
MeSH terms
Arctic Regions, Cold Temperature, Environmental Monitoring, Methane, Models, Theoretical, Seasons, Soil, Wetlands, Tundra

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