Sensitivity of Fugitive Methane Detection from Coal Seam Gas Fields in the Bowen Basin

Three years of continuous methane and carbon dioxide measurements collected at the 'Arcturus' monitoring station in the Bowen Basin, Australia, by Geoscience Australia and CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research. The dataset underpins a simulation study modeling fugitive emissions from a simulated coal seam gas field over a one-year period using the TAPM meteorological and air pollution model. Results, including statistical analysis and detection likelihoods, were presented at the American Geophysical Union meeting in December 2013.

Use Cases

• Modeling the sensitivity of atmospheric monitoring techniques for fugitive methane detection based on simulated emission rates and distances.
• Developing statistical time series models for baseline methane signals to estimate detection likelihood and false alarm rates.
• Analyzing the influence of various methane sources (cattle, landfill, coal production) on atmospheric signals in a gas-producing basin.
• Simulating fugitive emissions from a coal seam gas field based on parameters like well density, production volume, and field size.

Strengths

• Three-year continuous baseline of methane and carbon dioxide measurements provides a substantial temporal foundation.
• Simulation covers a range of fugitive emission rates (from <1% to 10% of production) and distances (10-50 km) from the monitoring station.
• Analysis uses a coupled prognostic meteorological and air pollution model (TAPM) for emission simulation.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic/temporal bias inherent to the specific monitoring station and simulation period.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia and CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research, via the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

Continuous atmospheric measurements collected at the 'Arcturus' station, with emissions simulated using the TAPM model.

Time Range

Three-year baseline measurement period, with a one-year simulation period.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 16:39:26.099096; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Bowen Basin, Australia.