Detection of CH4 Point Source Emissions in TROPOMI Data

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and its emissions are poorly characterized at all space and time scales. Given the sparseness in space of methane sources, they are particularly difficult to detect using in situ data. In 2017, the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) was launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) into low earth orbit. TROPOMI is a wide swath imager with high spatial resolution, and spectra measured in the 2.3 um spectral band allow for the retrieval of both methane and carbon monoxide. TROPOMI's wide swath and high (7km) spatial resolution allow for unprecedented ability to image methane plumes, which are associated with large emitters such a natural gas production.

In this presentation, we will demonstrate the ability of TROPOMI to detect plume structures in the vicinity of known emitters, such as the gas production fields in the Barnett Shale in northern Texas, and thus pave the way for more accurate emissions estimates from these types of emitters utilizing classical methods such as Gaussian plume models and/or more recent data-driven models such as those discussed in Buchwitz et al (2017).

References:

Buchwitz, M., Schneising, O., Reuter, M., Heymann, J., Krautwurst, S., Bovensmann, H., ... Turner, A. J. (2017). Satellite-derived methane hotspot emission estimates using a fast data-driven method. Atmos. Chem. Phys, 17, 5751–5774. http://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5751-2017