Amazon methane budget derived from multi-year airborne observations highlights regional variations in emissions

Atmospheric methane concentrations were nearly constant between 1999 and 2006, but have been rising since by an average of similar to 8 ppb per year. Increases in wetland emissions, the largest natural global methane source, may be partly responsible for this rise. The scarcity of in situ atmospheric methane observations in tropical regions may be one source of large disparities between top-down and bottom-up estimates. Here we present 590 lower-troposphere vertical profiles of methane concentration from four sites across Amazonia between 2010 and 2018. We find that Amazonia emits 46.2 +/- 10.3 Tg of methane per year (similar to 8% of global emissions) with no temporal trend. Based on carbon monoxide, 17% of the sources are from biomass burning with the remainder (83%) attributable mainly to wetlands. Northwest-central Amazon emissions are nearly aseasonal, consistent with weak precipitation seasonality, while southern emissions are strongly seasonal linked to soil water seasonality. We also find a distinct east-west contrast with large fluxes in the northeast, the cause of which is currently unclear.

Automated summary

Atmospheric methane concentrations have been rising by an average of 8 ppb per year since 2006, with wetland emissions likely playing a significant role. In the Amazon region, 46.2 +/- 10.3 Tg of methane is emitted annually, with a large proportion coming from wetlands and a distinct east-west contrast observed in emissions.