Continuous in situ measurement of dissolved methane in Lake Kivu using a membrane inlet laser spectrometer

We report the first high-resolution continuous profile of dissolved methane in the shallow water of Lake Kivu, Rwanda. The measurements were performed using an in situ dissolved gas sensor, called Sub-Ocean, based on a patented membrane-based extraction technique coupled with a highly sensitive optical spectrometer. The sensor was originally designed for ocean settings, but both the spectrometer and the extraction system were modified to extend the dynamical range up to 6 orders of magnitude with respect to the original prototype (from nmol L-1 to mmol L-1 detection) to fit the range of concentrations at Lake Kivu. The accuracy of the instrument was estimated to ±22% (2) from the standard deviation of eight profiles at 80m depth, corresponding to ±0:112 mbar of CH4 in water or ±160 nmol L-1 at 25 C and 1 atm. The instrument was able to continuously profile the top 150m of the water column within only 25 min. The maximum observed mixing ratio of CH4 in the gas phase concentration was 77 %, which at 150m depth and under thermal conditions of the lake corresponds to 3.5 mmol L-1. Deeper down, dissolved CH4 concentrations were too large for the methane absorption spectrum to be correctly retrieved. Results are in good agreement with discrete in situ measurements conducted with the commercial HydroC® sensor. This fast-profiling feature is highly useful for studying the transport, production and consumption of CH4 and other dissolved gases in aquatic systems. While the sensor is well adapted for investigating most environments with a concentration of CH4 up to a few millimoles per liter, in the future the spectrometer could be replaced with a less sensitive analytical technique possibly including simultaneous detection of dissolved CO2 and total dissolved gas pressure, for exploring settings with very high concentrations of CH4 such as the bottom waters of Lake Kivu. © Author(s) 2020.