Estimation of the Spatial Distribution of Methane Concentration in the Area of the Barents and Kara Seas in Summer in 2016–2017

The problem of estimation of average fields of air pollutant concentration based on local measurement data is stated: the problem of the passive location of the atmosphere by wind, or the problem of the fluid location of the atmosphere. The definitions of new functions are given: the average effective field of concentration and the average effective field of sources. The system of integral equations these functions obey is also presented. The results of numerical estimates of quasi-two-dimensional average fields of methane concentration in the area of the Barents and Kara seas retrieved from data on surface concentrations measured on Belyi Island in the summer of 2016 and 2017 are analyzed. A typical feature of the resulting fields is their mosaic pattern, as well as the higher values of methane concentration on the continent and in the coastal zone.