Time-resolved methane mass flow rate per emission event in cattle

This dataset and scripts are provided as part of Synchronous Respiration Flow Rate and Methane Concentration Measurements to Estimate Flux and Mass of Methane in Free-Ranging Cattle by Muriel et al. (2026). If you use all or part of this data set, please cite the above work.

This database contains records of methane (CH₄) emissions from cattle during respiration and eructation. The data was collected using a Laser Methane Detector and bidirectional flow meters. The format is .fig, a native Matlab format. We provide accompanying codes to read and extract the data from each image. Figure01 correspond to the respiration curves in the morning, noon, and afternoon. Figure 02 contains the average respiration curves for measurements in two nostrils and one nostril. Figures starting with ExperimentalResults contain the concentration and flow measurements, as well as the mass flow rate and total mass emitted per event. The database contains 18 of these experimental events.

The code ReadExtractPlotFig_Respiration.m is intended for Figure01.fig and Figure02.fig. The code loads a saved .fig file in MATLAB and reconstructs the original plot without needing the workspace variables used to create it. It opens the figure invisibly, retrieves the axes and legend information, and extracts the legend labels. ReadExtractPlotFig_Experimental.m is intended for all methane emission figures (those starting with ExperimentalResults). The code reads .fig images from methane emission events, extracts the corresponding data, and reproduces the original plots without requiring the raw workspace variables.