Reset filters

Search publications


Search by keyword
List by department / centre / faculty

No publications found.

 

Assessing the regional biogenic methanol emission from spring wheat during the growing season: A Canadian case study

Authors: Cai MAn CGuy CLu CMafakheri F


Affiliations

1 Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, Concordia University, Montreal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada.
2 Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, Concordia University, Montreal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada. Electronic address: chunjiang.an@concordia.ca.
3 Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada.
4 Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Communities, University of Regina, Regina, SK S4S 0A2, Canada.
5 Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, H3G 1M8, Canada.

Description

As a volatile organic compound existing in the atmosphere, methanol plays a key role in atmospheric chemistry due to its comparatively high abundance and long lifetime. Croplands are a significant source of biogenic methanol, but there is a lack of systematic assessment for the production and emission of methanol from crops in various phases. In this study, methanol emissions from spring wheat during the growing period were estimated using a developed emission model. The temporal and spatial variations of methanol emissions of spring wheat in a Canadian province were investigated. The averaged methanol emission of spring wheat is found to be 37.94 ± 7.5 µg·m-2·h-1, increasing from north to south and exhibiting phenological peak to valley characteristics. Moreover, cold crop districts are projected to be with higher increase in air temperature and consequent methanol emissions during 2020-2099. Furthermore, the seasonality of methanol emissions is found to be positively correlated to concentrations of CO, filterable particulate matter, and PM10 but negatively related to NO2 and O3. The uncertainty and sensitivity analysis results suggest that methanol emissions show a Gamma probabilistic distribution, and growth length, air temperature, solar radiation and leafage are the most important influencing variables. In most cases, methanol emissions increase with air temperature in the range of 3-35 °C while the excessive temperature may result in decreased methanol emissions because of inactivated enzyme activity or increased instant methanol emissions due to heat injury. Notably, induced emission might be the major source of biogenic methanol of mature leaves. The results of this study can be used to develop appropriate strategies for regional emission management of cropping systems.


Keywords: Air pollutantsBiogenic methanolClimate changeEmission assessmentSpring wheatUncertainty and sensitivity


Links

PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34182392/

DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117602