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Volume 8, Issue 8 (Suppl) J Earth Sci Clim Change
ISSN: 2157-7617 JESCC, an open access journal Earth Science Congress 2017
September 18-19, 2017
September 18-19, 2017 Hong Kong
6th International Conference on
Earth Science and Climate Change
Methane emission estimates in South Asia: Challenge of the atmospheric methane and agriculture in
South Asia project
Sachiko Hayashida1, Naveen Chandra1, Prabir K. Patra2, Yukio Terao3, ShigetoSudo4, Kazuyuki Inubushi5, Masayoshi Mano5 and Akinori Yamamoto6
1Nara Women’s University, Japan
2Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Japan
3National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan
4National Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, Japan
5Chiba University, Japan
6Tokyo Gakugei University, Japan
Methane (CH4) is the second most significant anthropogenic greenhouse gas. In Asia, methane emissions are mostly
attributable to ruminant animals and rice fields. However, accurately quantifying emissions from these sources still
remains a challenge. In order to improve methane emission estimates, a project called “Atmospheric Methane and Agriculture
in South Asia (AMASA)” was initiated. The project is sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment. The project
goals are to improve local methane emission estimates in South Asia using remote sensing data from the Greenhouse Gases
Observing Satellite (GOSAT) and in situ measurements from ground-based stations and to develop an emission mitigation
proposal. Based on local experimental works on those measurements, we will arrange some mitigation scenarios; these will
be inputted into an atmospheric transport model in order to examine their feasibility and the predicted methane pathways
and concentrations. Very high concentrations of methane were detected over Asia in the satellite data; these seem to be
caused by high methane emissions in this region. However, determining local emission is not straight forward because of
complex atmospheric transport mechanisms. For instance, during the monsoon season, upwelling winds can lift methane
from the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains up to the mid- and upper-troposphere. High columnar concentrations are
indeed observed in GOSAT data. Presently, field measurements of atmospheric methane and cultivation experiments are being
conducted by the Tamil Nadu Rice Research Institute in South India. Preliminary results demonstrated that methane emissions
from rice cultivation can be reduced by half when applying proper cultivation management strategies. Following these new
findings, similar mitigation approaches are being proposed in South Asia.
J Earth Sci Clim Change 2017, 8:8 (Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2157-7617-C1-031