Fingerprint of rice paddies in spatial–temporal dynamics of atmospheric methane concentration in monsoon Asia

Agriculture (e.g., rice paddies) has been considered one of the main emission sources responsible for the sudden rise of atmospheric methane concentration (XCH(4)) since 2007, but remains debated. Here we use satellite-based rice paddy and XCH(4) data to investigate the spatial–temporal relationships between rice paddy area, rice plant growth, and XCH(4) in monsoon Asia, which accounts for ~87% of the global rice area. We find strong spatial consistencies between rice paddy area and XCH(4) and seasonal consistencies between rice plant growth and XCH(4). Our results also show a decreasing trend in rice paddy area in monsoon Asia since 2007, which suggests that the change in rice paddy area could not be one of the major drivers for the renewed XCH(4) growth, thus other sources and sinks should be further investigated. Our findings highlight the importance of satellite-based paddy rice datasets in understanding the spatial–temporal dynamics of XCH(4) in monsoon Asia.