Source apportionment of methane emissions from the Upper Silesian Coal Basin using isotopic signatures

During the CoMet mission in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB) ground-based and airborne air samples were taken, and analyzed for the isotopic composition of CH4 to derive the mean signature of the USCB and the source signatures of individual coal mines. Using δ2H signatures, the biogenic emissions from the USCB account for 15–50 % of total emissions, which is underestimated in common emission inventories. This demonstrates the importance of δ2H-CH4 observations for methane source attribution