Daily Global Methane Super-Emitter Detection and Source Identification With Sub-Daily Tracking
Abstract
We use the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) satellite instruments to retrieve atmospheric methane enhancements with 750 m resolution. We show that the three VIIRS instruments in orbit uniquely enhance tracking of methane super-emission events with sub-daily coverage. The VIIRS instrument on Suomi-NPP and the TROPOMI instrument on Sentinel-5 Precursor have overpasses that are only a few minutes apart, which allows for detection of methane super-emitters by TROPOMI followed by direct attribution to sources by VIIRS. This showcases the components needed to develop the first satellite system capable of daily, global, actionable, monitoring. The co-location also allows us to cross-validate our VIIRS methane enhancements with TROPOMI. Furthermore, we show how the multiple overpasses per day by VIIRS and Sentinel-3 give a unique insight in the timeline of emissions and can be vital in understanding and attributing transient emissions.
Plain Language Summary
Mitigating large, concentrated methane emissions such as gas leaks is vital to curb global warming. Satellites can help in finding the largest methane emitters. We use the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) satellite instruments to observe large methane plumes with a high resolution of 750 m. We show that using the three VIIRS instruments improves current abilities to track large methane emissions. Together with the Sentinel-3 satellites we can now image methane plumes multiple times a day. This is especially important for plumes that result from short-duration emission events. Furthermore, we show that because the observations of one of these VIIRS satellites overlap with those of the TROPOMI instrument, we can directly compare the low-resolution, high-precision measurements of TROPOMI with the high-resolution, but high-noise measurements of VIIRS. This means we can use VIIRS to zoom in on plumes detected by TROPOMI to identify the responsible facility and compare the observed methane plumes, which we find agree well within their respective uncertainties.
Key Points
Methane super-emitter attribution and quantification at 0.75 km resolution using Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) including concurrently with TROPOMI super-emitter detection
Cross-validation of multi-band multi-pass method by comparison of co-located TROPOMI and Suomi-NPP VIIRS measurements
At least 4 times per day global coverage by combining three VIIRS instruments with Sentinel-3 Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer data
Authors
Tobias A. de Jong, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Itziar Irakulis-Loitxate, Cynthia A. Randles, Paul Tol, Ilse Aben