Sensitivity of detection of fugitive methane emissions from coal seam gas fields

Three years of continuous methane and carbon dioxide measurements collected at the 'Arcturus' monitoring station in Australia's Bowen Basin. Geoscience Australia and CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research used this baseline to simulate and statistically analyze fugitive emissions from a typical coal seam gas field. Results, including detection likelihoods and false alarm rates, were presented at the American Geophysical Union meeting in December 2013.

Use Cases

• Simulating fugitive methane emission detection sensitivity based on a three-year atmospheric baseline.
• Statistical comparison of perturbed and baseline methane signals to test for the presence of emissions.
• Developing time series models of methane baselines to generate alternative realizations of the signal.
• Estimating the minimum detectable fugitive methane emission rate for a single monitoring station.

Strengths

• Three years of continuous methane and carbon dioxide measurements provide a substantial temporal baseline.
• Simulations cover a defined range of fugitive emission rates (estimates of <1% to up to 10% of production) and distances (10-50 km).
• Analysis is based on field parameters typical of Australian CSG fields, including well density, production volumes, and field size.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last updated 2026-06-27 16:15:15.857204; freshness should be verified as the underlying study is from 2013.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Continuous atmospheric measurements collected at the 'Arcturus' monitoring station, with emissions simulated using the TAPM meteorological and air pollution model.

Time Range

Three-year baseline measurement period (specific years not stated), with simulations for a 1-year period.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-27 16:15:15.857204; the core data and analysis are from a 2013 study.

Geography

Bowen Basin, Australia, with simulated CSG field distances of 10-50 km from the monitoring station.