Grantee Research Project Results
2024 Progress Report: Integrating Multi-Source Data for Landfill Methane Emission Quantification
EPA Grant Number: R840627Title: Integrating Multi-Source Data for Landfill Methane Emission Quantification
Investigators: Li, Jiayu
Institution: University of Miami
EPA Project Officer: Davey, Elisa
Project Period: August 1, 2023 through May 9, 2025
Project Period Covered by this Report: August 1, 2023 through July 31,2024
Project Amount: $594,550
RFA: Understanding and Control of Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Air Emissions Request for Applications (RFA) (2023) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Landfill Emissions , Air Toxics , Watersheds , Endocrine Disruptors , Environmental Engineering , Early Career Awards , Air Quality and Air Toxics , Waste Reduction and Pollution Prevention , Air , Land and Waste Management
Objective:
Landfill methane contributes significantly to global climate change. However, large uncertainties exist in existing inventories due to a lack of field data. Existing data cannot provide high spatiotemporal resolution for quantifying methane emissions and evaluating methane reduction technologies. This proposed work aims to advance our knowledge in landfill methane generation and mitigation using cost-effective and convenient measuring techniques. The objectives of the proposed study are: 1) Develop low-cost air quality sensors to capture methane (CH4) variation spatially and temporally. 2) Integrate sensor data from fixed locations, mobile sampling, and drone surveys to map pollution distribution and estimate emission fluxes. 3) Correlate the spatiotemporally resolved methane emission data with multiple environmental factors for evaluating methane reduction techniques. The data generated from the proposed method can reveal the dynamic and heterogeneous features of landfill methane emissions, which can facilitate our understanding of landfill methane emission characteristics. The data can also identify key drivers behind landfill methane emissions, laying the basis for evaluating and comparing control technologies.
Progress Summary:
The anticipated outcome of this study is the integration of advanced sampling technologies for precise methane emission quantification. The resulting datasets will provide valuable insights for landfill management, inform methane emission models, and support methane reduction strategies. This proposal has detailed the end-to-end process from data collection to analysis, emphasizing the essential requirement in landfill methane studies: generating robust datasets to deepen our understanding of methane emissions at a granular, process-specific level. The highspatiotemporal resolution data will serve as a critical resource for point-by-point analysis, revealing the spatial and temporal variability of methane emissions within landfill environments.
In the past year (2023-2024), we achieved Milestone 1 of the proposal by designing and prototyping a sensor node equipped with dual metal oxide semiconductor (MOx) sensors, temperature and humidity monitoring, onboard GPS, data storage, and telemetry capabilities. We produced an initial batch of ten nodes and are now entering the calibration phase ahead of our planned field campaign. We have secured access to a landfill site in Miami and conducted an on-site assessment. The first deployment of these nodes is scheduled for the coming months.
Future Activities:
In the next reporting period, we plan to complete the construction and calibration of our sensor nodes, deploy them at the landfill, and begin data collection and analysis. We have already conducted a preliminary test of our drying system in the past four months, which successfully reduced humidity by 50-70%. This is expected to decrease relative humidity variation by 50%, improving data quality in terms of linearity and accuracy, as demonstrated in our previous publication.
On September 6th, 2024, we also received official approval to access a Miami-Dade landfill. Our team will initiate field deployment soon after the necessary paperwork. Our goal is to complete field deployment by the end of 2024, finish mapping and begin emissions calculations by the end of March next year.
Besides the proposed research activities, we will initiate the collaboration with the education team at the Landfills to develop an exhibition for the FROST Museum in downtown Miami. The exhibition will showcase how landfills separate and treat different types of materials, using various formats and educational materials to effectively engage the audience.
Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
| Other project views: | All 1 publications | 1 publications in selected types | All 1 journal articles |
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Furuta D, Wilson B, Presto AA, Li J. Design and evaluation of a low-cost sensor node for near-background methane measurement. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions 2024;2024:1-31. |
R840627 (2024) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
Landfill, methane emission, air quality sensors, drone measurement, data fusionProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.