Continental‐Scale Geographic Trends in Barometric‐Pumping Efficiency Potential: A North American Case Study
Sofia Avendaño, D. R. Harp, Sudarshan Kurwadkar, John P. Ortiz, Philip H. Stauffer
Abstract
Abstract Barometric pumping is a gas transport mechanism that has important implications for many applications involving subsurface gas seepage processes. This study provides the first continental‐scale analysis of barometric‐pumping efficiency potential based on meteorology. We quantified the barometric‐pumping efficiency potential at 1,257 locations across the continental US and Canada. The results provide continental‐scale geographic dependencies of barometric‐pumping efficiency potential, indicating a significant correlation with latitude and a nonlinear dependence on longitude. The analysis also indicates that variability in barometric‐pumping efficiency potential decreases with distance from the coast and as elevation increases. Locations far from the coastline are more likely to have upper mid‐range potentials, while higher elevation locations are more likely to have low potentials. The highest barometric‐pumping efficiency potentials are mostly found around the Gulf of St. Lawrence around 50°N. Locations along the Atlantic coast exhibit large‐scale variations in potentials with a clear increasing trend with latitude.