An assessment of near surface CO2 leakage detection techniques under Australian conditions

Abstract

Geoscience Australia and the CO2CRC operate a greenhouse gas controlled release facility at an experimental agricultural station maintained by CSIRO Plant Industry in Canberra, Australia. The facility is designed to simulate surface emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases from the soil into the atmosphere. Over 10 different near surface monitoring techniques were trialled at the Ginninderra controlled release site during 2012-2013. These included soil gas, soil CO2 flux, soil analysis, eddy covariance, CO2 laser, noble gas tracers, airborne hyperspectral, in-field phenotyping (thermal, hyperspectral and 3D imaging), and microbial soil genomics. Result highlights are presented. Different climatic conditions for the early 2012 release experiment (wet) and late 2013 release experiment (dry) resulted in markedly different sub-surface plume behaviour and surface expression of CO2. The differences between the years are attributed to changes in groundwater levels and drier conditions leading to a larger vadose zone during the 2013 experiment.