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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2022

Gulf of Mexico Health & Air Quality Ii: Mapping Methane Emission Plumes Using Sunglint-Configured Imagery for Monitoring Offshore Oil and Gas Activity

Offshore oil and gas production in the United States is a major source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and accounts for nearly 30% of global oil and gas production. Methane venting and flaring are primary contributors to offshore emissions, and monitoring these activities is crucial for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Limited ground truthing and intermittent offshore satellite revisits make monitoring venting and flaring challenging. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) oversee offshore oil and gas activity but rely primarily on operator-reported data. The non-profit organization SkyTruth monitors natural resources like methane and identifies sources of fugitive emissions. By combining BOEM and BSEE’s operational data along with observations from Sentinel-2 Multispectral Instrument (MSI), Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Landsat 9 OLI-2, and PRecursore IperSpettrale della Missione Applicativa (PRISMA), the team further identified ultra-emitter point sources in the Gulf of Mexico using sunglint-configured imagery. We quantified these plume emission rates using the methodology from Varon et al. (2020). The team found three plumes in the Gulf of Mexico occurring between 2020 and 2022 using Sentinel-2 MSI and Landsat 9 OLI-2 imagery, in addition to the single plume identified by the Gulf of Mexico Health & Air Quality I team, and successfully quantified three plumes. Our statistical retrieval of three PRISMA images tasked over areas of interest yielded no methane plumes, despite a successful test of a known plume in Assam, India. These analyses serve as a proof of concept for the utility of remote sensing for methane emission monitoring offshore, which can complement regulator emission inventories and validate self-reported operator records.

sunglint↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Gulf of Mexico Health & Air Quality: Mapping Methane Emission Plumes Using Sunglint-configured Imagery for Monitoring Offshore Oil and Gas Activity

We had three project objectives that we set out to accomplish. The first objective is to demonstrate how remote sensing can complement the current bottom-up methane emission assessments. Currently, quantities of disposed gas vented and flared are self-reported by operators to BOEM and BSEE. Meanwhile, inspections are uncommon, and ground sensors are non-existent. Therefore, remote sensing may be the agencies' best bet in verifying these operator accounts. The second objective is to identify methane plumes in the Gulf of Mexico, Asia, and elsewhere using Sentinel-2, LandSat, and PRISMA images, and then present an estimate of their emission rate. While methane retrievals from oil and gas infrastructure on-shore has been relatively well-documented, doing so on the offshore oil and gas platforms is more difficult, less prevalent, and contingent on the presence of specific conditions. The final objective is to give our partners, BOEM and BSEE, a more robust understanding of methane emissions from oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico. This increased knowledge, paired with a demonstration of methane monitoring, is intended to help our partners think about how they can incorporate remote sensing into their monitoring, regulatory and enforcement framework.

Ben Dahan↗
NASA NTRS2018

GES DISC Long-Term Data Analysis Services Using AIRS and CMS Methane Data as an Example

NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) archives and distributes rich collections of data on atmospheric greenhouse gases from multiple satellite missions and model results. Among those greenhouse gases, atmospheric methane is a powerful greenhouse gas contributing ~0.5 (W/m^2) to total radiative forcing, and its concentration has increased by about 150% since 1750. Observations or estimates of methane emissions typically have sparse spatial and temporal coverage. The lack of comprehensive spatial and temporal coverage of methane source and sink observations has made analyzing atmospheric methane trends challenging. In this study the GES DISC aims to provide the community with the resources to better understand changes in atmospheric methane concentrations and the underlying causes. We will utilize methane datasets from Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) retrieved methane concentration and three Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) methane emission datasets (in regions of North America, Canada, and Mexico) to compare AIRS methane growth with corresponding CMS regional methane emissions. Comparisons of AIRS methane growth rates and CMS methane emissions suggests wetland emissions may impact methane growth rate trends over North America. As the record for CMS methane data is extended, both datasets can be used in conjunction to better understand impacts on atmospheric methane trends. GES DISCs new anomaly tool can also be used on select datasets to further quantify trends in atmospheric greenhouse gases.

long-term data analysis↗
NASA NTRS2021

Using Satellite Data to Identify the Methane Emission Controls of South Sudan's Wetlands

The TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) provides observations of atmospheric methane (CH4) at an unprecedented combination of high spatial resolution and daily global coverage. Hu et al. (2018) reported unexpectedly large methane enhancements over South Sudan in these observations. Here we assess methane emissions from the wetlands of South Sudan using 2 years (December 2017–November 2019) of TROPOMI total column methane observations. We estimate annual wetland emissions of 7.4 ± 3.2 Tg yr−1, which agrees with the multiyear GOSAT inversions of Lunt et al. (2019) but is an order of magnitude larger than estimates from wetland process models. This disagreement may be explained by the underestimation (by up to 4 times) of inundation extent by the hydrological schemes used in those models. We investigate the seasonal cycle of the emissions and find the lowest emissions during the June–August season when the process models show the largest emissions. Using satellite-altimetry-based river water height measurements, we infer that this seasonal mismatch is likely due to a seasonal mismatch in inundation extent. In models, inundation extent is controlled by regional precipitation scaled to static wetland extent maps, whereas the actual inundation extent is driven by water inflow from rivers like the White Nile and the Sobat. We find the lowest emissions in the highest precipitation and lowest temperature season (June–August, JJA) when models estimate large emissions. In general, our emission estimates show better agreement in terms of both seasonal cycle and annual mean with model estimates that use a stronger temperature dependence. This suggests that temperature might be a stronger control for the South Sudan wetlands emissions than currently assumed by models. Our findings demonstrate the use of satellite instruments for quantifying emissions from inaccessible and uncertain tropical wetlands, providing clues for the improvement of process models and thereby improving our understanding of the currently uncertain contribution of wetlands to the global methane budget.

methane emission↗
NASA NTRS1994

Use of SAR in Regional Methane Exchange Studies

Significant sources of uncertainty in global trace gas budgets are due to lack of knowledge concerning the areal and temporal extent of source and sink areas. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is particularly suited to studies of northern ecosystems because of its all-weather operating capability which enables the acquisition of seasonal data. As key controls on methane exchange, the ability to differentiate major vegetation communities, inundation, and leaf area index (LAI) with satellite and airborne SAR data would increase the accuracy and precision of regional and seasonal estimates of methane exchange. The utility of SAR data for monitoring key controls on methane emissions from Arctic and boreal ecosystems is examined.

Morrissey, L. A.↗
NASA NTRS2015

The Rise of GNSS Reflectometry for Earth Remote Sensing

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) reflectometry, i.e. GNSS-R, is a novel remote-sensing technique first published in that uses GNSS signals reflected from the Earth's surface to infer its surface properties such as sea surface height (SSH), ocean winds, sea-ice coverage, vegetation, wetlands and soil moisture, to name a few. This communication discusses the scientific value of GNSS-R to (a) furthering our understanding of ocean mesoscale circulation toward scales finer than those that existing nadir altimeters can resolve, and (b) mapping vegetated wetlands, an emerging application that might open up new avenues to map and monitor the planet's wetlands for methane emission assessments. Such applications are expected to be demonstrated by the availability of data from GEROS-ISS, an ESA experiment currently in phase A, and CyGNSS [3], a NASA mission currently in development. In particular, the paper details the expected error characteristics and the role of filtering played in the assimilation of these data to reduce the altimetric error (when averaging many measurements).

wetland mapping↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Sunglint-aided Methane Retrieval: Using Sentinel-2 to Quantify Offshore Oil and Gas Emissions

The extraction, production, and transportation of oil and gas via activities such as intentional venting and fugitive emissions are leading contributors to anthropogenic methane emissions. Offshore operations comprise a significant percentage of all oil and gas operations, yet emission monitoring over the ocean is insufficient. Due to low surface reflectance over the ocean, remote sensing measurements offshore are limited. Therefore offshore contributions to the overall global methane budget are unknown. Regulators such as the Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) are unable to validate operator-reported methane emission estimates. The NASA DEVELOP Program partnered with BOEM, BSEE, and SkyTruth to identify potential offshore methane sources in the Gulf of Mexico. Drawing upon existing retrieval methods to detect and quantify onshore methane emissions (Varon et al., 2021), we selected sunglint scenes to detect methane plumes over the ocean in Sentinel-2 imagery. We detected two methane plumes at the Constitution complex in the Gulf of Mexico and off the coast of Pointe-Noire, Congo. If expanded, these methods could serve a vital role in validating operator reporting and quantifying climate impacts of offshore oil and gas operations - complementing those of next generation satellites.

Katherine Howell↗
NASA NTRS2026

SCOAPE-II: A 2024 Multiplatform Measurement Campaign off the US Gulf Coast to Assess Oil and Gas Emissions on the Outer Continental Shelf

Nine years ago, the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Agency with Air Quality (AQ) jurisdiction over the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) of the US Gulf Coast west of 87.5° W longitude, asked NASA to determine the feasibility of using satellite data to measure offshore emissions in a region of concentrated oil and natural gas (ONG) operations. To study this issue NASA and BOEM conducted the May 2019 Satellite Coastal and Oceanic Atmospheric Pollution Experiment (SCOAPE) cruise in the Gulf. SCOAPE addressed both technological and scientific issues related to measuring nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 , a common air pollutant), including contrasting near-shore and deepwater regimes. Given the April 2023 launch of the geostationary Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) AQ satellite, a 2024 SCOAPE-II was conducted in the Gulf with both ship and aircraft measurements. We present an overview of the SCOAPE-II campaign, analysis and validation of satellite-observed NO 2 , and evaluate measurements of methane from ship, aircraft, and satellite near ONG platforms. Our SCOAPE-II results are as follows: 1) Satellite NO 2 measurements (∼13:30 local time) from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) are more accurate than TEMPO’s hourly scans (8.6% vs. 23.6% mean absolute bias); a new version of TEMPO data is currently being processed; 2) ship and aircraft measurements captured dozens of NO 2 and methane plumes from ONG operations, showing that they are persistent emitters; 3) satellite measurements of methane failed to replicate ship and aircraft measurements, presenting ongoing challenges for operational emissions monitoring over the Gulf.

satellite validation↗
NASA NTRS2017

GES DISC Greenhouse Gas Data Sets and Associated Services

NASA Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC) archives and distributes rich collections of data on atmospheric greenhouse gases from multiple missions. Hosted data include those from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) mission (which has observed CO2, CH4, ozone, and water vapor since 2002); legacy water vapor and ozone retrievals from TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS); and Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) going back to the early 1980s. GES DISC also archives and supports data from seven projects of the Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) program that have ozone and water vapor records. Greenhouse gases data from the A-Train satellite constellation is also available: (1) Aura-Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) ozone, nitrous oxide, and water vapor since 2004; (2) Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) CO2 observations since 2009 from the Atmospheric CO2 Observations from Space (ACOS) task; and (3) Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) CO2 data since 2014. The most recent related data set that the GES DISC archives is methane flux for North America, as part of NASAs Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) project. This dataset contains estimates of methane emission in North America based on an inversion of the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model constrained by GOSAT observations (Turner et al., 2015). Along with data stewardship, an important focus area of the GES DISC is to enhance the usability of its data and broaden its user base. Users have unrestricted access to a new user-friendly search interface, which includes many services such as variable subsetting, format conversion, quality screening, and quick browse. The majority of the GES DISC data sets are also accessible through Open-source Project for a Network Data Access Protocol (OPeNDAP) and Web Coverage Service (WCS). The latter two services provide more options for specialized subsetting, format conversion, and image viewing. Additional data exploration, data preview, and preliminary analysis capabilities are available via NASA Giovanni, which obviates the need forusers to download the data (Acker and Leptoukh, 2007). Giovanni provides a bridge between the data and science and has been very successful in extending GES DISC data to educational users and to users with limited resources.

data ordering↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA DEVELOP’s Approach to Building Individual and Institutional Capacity to Use Earth Observations for Atmospheric Monitoring and Decision Making

NASA DEVELOP, an Applied Sciences’ Capacity Building program, introduces individuals and institutions to the applications of NASA Earth observation data in an effort to help inform decision making. The program employs early career professionals to conduct rapid feasibility studies tailored specific to partner needs. Each year, DEVELOP conducts 50-60 feasibility studies that highlight the capabilities of Earth observations for measuring and monitoring a wide range of environmental phenomena. For this presentation, example projects will be highlighted that focus on monitoring air quality and pollution, wildfire emissions, and greenhouse gasses such as methane. An overview of example projects, the user communities involved, satellite data used, and lessons learned will be shared.

Capacity Building↗
NASA NTRS2022

Gulf of Mexico Health and Air Quality: Using NASA Earth Observations to Identify Potential Methane Sources for Improved Monitoring of Offshore Oil & Gas Activity in the Gulf of Mexico

The extraction, production, and transportation of oil and gas is a leading contributor to anthropogenic methane emissions via activities such as flaring and venting. The Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management (BOEM) has air quality jurisdiction offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and drafts regulations for criteria pollutants, while the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) enforces these regulations. Additionally, the non-profit organization SkyTruth monitors natural resources, including methane. BOEM, BSEE, and SkyTruth have partnered with NASA DEVELOP to use Earth observations to identify potential offshore methane sources in the Gulf of Mexico and to validate reported flaring activity. This information will allow BOEM and BSEE to make informed regulations regarding air pollution. Here, we cross-referenced BOEM infrastructure data with Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) Visible Infrared Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Nightfire data to validate operator-reported flaring. Sentinel-5p TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) pollutant concentrations were used to validate VIIRS-detected flaring outside of the Gulf of Mexico where operator-reported data is unavailable. Using these methods, we identified the locations of offshore oil and gas infrastructure with known episodic flaring and venting in 2017 in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as offshore of South America and West Africa in 2021. Drawing upon retrieval methods used to detect onshore methane emissions, we proposed an analogous method utilizing sunglint to illuminate methane plumes over the ocean using Sentinel-2 Multispectral Imager (MSI) imagery. We detected two potential methane plumes – one at the Constitution complex in the Gulf of Mexico in July 2017 and one off the Coast of Lagos, West Africa, in July 2021.

Kate Howell↗
NASA NTRS2013

How Cities Breathe: Ground-Referenced, Airborne Hyperspectral Imaging Precursor Measurements To Space-Based Monitoring

Methane's (CH4) large global warming potential (Shindell et al., 2012) and likely increasing future emissions due to global warming feedbacks emphasize its importance to anthropogenic greenhouse warming (IPCC, 2007). Furthermore, CH4 regulation has far greater near-term climate change mitigation potential versus carbon dioxide CO2, the other major anthropogenic Greenhouse Gas (GHG) (Shindell et al., 2009). Uncertainties in CH4 budgets arise from the poor state of knowledge of CH4 sources - in part from a lack of sufficiently accurate assessments of the temporal and spatial emissions and controlling factors of highly variable anthropogenic and natural CH4 surface fluxes (IPCC, 2007) and the lack of global-scale (satellite) data at sufficiently high spatial resolution to resolve sources. Many important methane (and other trace gases) sources arise from urban and mega-urban landscapes where anthropogenic activities are centered - most of humanity lives in urban areas. Studying these complex landscape tapestries is challenged by a wide and varied range of activities at small spatial scale, and difficulty in obtaining up-to-date landuse data in the developed world - a key desire of policy makers towards development of effective regulations. In the developing world, challenges are multiplied with additional political access challenges. As high spatial resolution satellite and airborne data has become available, activity mapping applications have blossomed - i.e., Google maps; however, tap a minute fraction of remote sensing capabilities due to limited (three band) spectral information. Next generation approaches that incorporate high spatial resolution hyperspectral and ultraspectral data will allow detangling of the highly heterogeneous usage megacity patterns by providing diagnostic identification of chemical composition from solids (refs) to gases (refs). To properly enable these next generation technologies for megacity include atmospheric radiative transfer modeling the complex and often aerosol laden, humid, urban microclimates, atmospheric transport and profile monitoring, spatial resolution, temporal cycles (diurnal and seasonal which involve interactions with the surrounding environment diurnal and seasonal cycles) and representative measurement approaches given traffic realities. Promising approaches incorporate contemporaneous airborne remote sensing and in situ measurements, nocturnal surface surveys, with ground station measurement

Leifer, Ira↗
NASA NTRS1985

Methane emissions to the atmosphere through aquatic plants

The movement of methane (CH4) from anaerobic sediments through the leaves, stems, and flowers of aquatic plants and into the atmosphere was found to provide a significant pathway for the emission of CH4 from the aquatic substrates of flooded wetlands. Methane concentrations well above the surrounding ambient air levels were found in the mesophyll of 16 varies of aquatic plants and are attributed to transpiration, diffusion, and pressure-induced flow of gaseous CH4 from the roots when they are embedded in CH4-saturated anaerobic sediments. Methane emissions from the emergent parts of aquatic plants were measured using floating chamber techniques and by enclosing the plants in polyethylene bags of known volume. Concentration changes were monitored in the trapped air using syringes and gas chromatographic techniques. Vertical profiles of dissolved CH4 in sediment pore water surrounding the aquatic plants' rhizomes were obtained using an interstitial sampling technique. Methane emissions from the aquatic plants studied varied from 14.8 mg CH4/d to levels too low to be detectable. Rooted and unrooted freshwater aquatic plants were studied as well as saltwater and brackish water plants. Included in the experiment is detailed set of measurements on CH4 emissions from the common cattail (Typha latifolia). This paper illustrates that aquatic plants play an important gas exchange role in the C cycle between wetlands and the atmosphere.

Sebacher, D. I.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Shock tube measurements of specific reaction rates in the branched chain CH4-CO-O2 system

Rate constants of two elementary bimolecular reactions involved in the oxidation of methane have been determined by monitoring the exponential growth of CO flame band emission behind incident shocks in three suitably chosen gas mixtures. The data do not support a mechanism which invokes the four center process CH3 + O2 yields CH2O + OH for the reaction of methyl with oxygen.

Brabbs, T. A.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Detection of CH 4 Hotspots from NASA’s GEOS Composition Analysis System

Recent research indicates that 8 to 12% of the global oil and gas production methane emissions could be attributed to ultra-emitters, which result in high concentration ‘hotspots’ near point sources. Identifying these emissions in near real time provides useful information to the policy makers and private industry, who are working to reduce their impact. To meet this need, scientists are increasingly analyzing satellite data from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) instrument aboard ESA’s Sentinel 5-Precursor mission. While direct analysis of TROPOMI level 2 swath data has been successful in identifying some large emission events, identifying hotpots is challenging because of the imaging noise due to a variety of artifacts and limits in daily coverage. Here we explore possible methodologies to detect methane hotspots using a new, gap-filled, and temporally continuous methane product from NASA’s Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) Constituent Data Assimilation System (CoDAS), which assimilates column averaged methane mole fractions from the TROPOMI with capabilities to assimilate other remote sensing measurements. The CoDAS has been expanded from a heritage of stratospheric composition and carbon dioxide assimilation allowing for the support of regional modeling, validation with non-coincident operations, and merging variety of datasets. The current work mainly explores Observing System Simulation Experiments with methane GEOS simulations without assimilation to prepare the groundwork for further experiments with assimilated TROPOMI. First, known hotspots based on the known inventory are identified to demonstrate the capability of the system to point out emission hotspots. In the next step, a variety of machine learning techniques such as Self-Organizing Maps and Deep Learning are explored to automate detection of the plumes. Finally, a few approaches to quantify emissions from the identified hotspots are presented and are evaluated against the inventory. The effort is directed toward a future evaluation of the CoDAS based methane monitoring system’s ability to successfully detect and quantify hotspots.

Nikolay Balashov↗
NASA NTRS2022

XSP Methane Sensors Test and Evaluation Project “M-Step”

Methane sensor technology is employed in industry sectors from oil and gas to agriculture, landfills, and monitoring of natural emissions. The US oil and gas sector is extensive in scale, critical to fulfilling US energy needs, and deals with commodities presenting enormous challenges for personnel safety and the environment. Thus, it is imperative that they have accurate and responsive sensors to detect hazardous gases such as methane. US space launch systems will increasingly also use liquefied methane and liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is mostly methane, in quantities large and small, as main and auxiliary propulsion and power. Some of these systems will be reusable, which adds the unique challenge of processing a vehicle that has residual commodities and has returned to its launch site to be readied for its next launch. The methane sensors test and evaluation project (M-STEP) began within the context of a reusable launch system, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Experimental Spaceplane (XSP) program, which would have employed a high-pressure gaseous methane and gaseous oxygen reaction control system. Although the XSP partnership between Boeing and DARPA was terminated by Boeing in early 2020, DARPA and KSC have continued to collaborate in the area of gas sensors with the hydrogen sensor test and evaluation project (H-STEP) and with M-STEP. The NASA Launch Services program (LSP) invested in M-STEP in FY 2021 “to evaluate and understand the state-of-the-art in methane gas sensors”. M-STEP and the LSP effort was complementary, pushing in the same direction to understand US launch system stakeholder needs and approaches, requirements internal (NASA) and external, and commercially available or forthcoming methane sensing technologies, practices, and approaches. In addition, M-STEP (as with H-STEP) enhances KSC capabilities and understanding of these technologies, informing agency investments and further research in these areas.

Tracy L. Gibson↗