Potential of high-resolution multispectral optical missions for the monitoring of methane point emissions.
Javier Gorrono, Universitat Politècnica de València, jagorvie@upv.es (Presenter)
Elena Sánchez-García, Universitat Politècnica de València, elsncgar@upv.es
Luis Guanter, Universitat Politècnica de València, lguanter@fis.upv.es
Itziar Irakulis-Loitxate, Universitat Politècnica de València, iiraloi@doctor.upv.es
The detection and quantification of single methane plumes from space have recently been achieved using data from so-called multispectral optical missions, such as Copernicus’ Sentinel-2. The radiometers on-board those missions measure the backscattered solar radiance in the short-wave infrared (SWIR) spectral region where methane presents absorption features. This contribution will present an investigation of the potential for methane mapping of three operative multispectral optical missions: Sentinel-2, Landsat-8 and WorldView-3. First, a sensitivity analysis based on end-to-end simulations has been performed. The forward branch of the simulator generates top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance images for any given spectral reflectance scene, atmospheric conditions including methane plumes, and instrument spectral and radiometric responses. This allows us to consistently produce realistic multitemporal TOA radiance data for the three missions. Using these simulations, we have investigated the best retrieval approaches and have assessed the corresponding retrieval uncertainties. This analysis has included error sources such as measurement noise, uncertainties in the spectral response function, spectral and spatial mis-registration, and water vapour. This end-to-end simulation exercise has been completed with the processing of real data from oil and gas production areas in the world. Methane plumes detected from all three missions over those areas will be shown.
Poster: Poster_Gorrono__73_25.pdf
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 1.2a Results from current missions
Session Date: Monday (6/14) 9:45 AM