Articles | Volume 12, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5655-2019
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5655-2019
Research article
 | 
24 Oct 2019
Research article |  | 24 Oct 2019

Potential of next-generation imaging spectrometers to detect and quantify methane point sources from space

Daniel H. Cusworth, Daniel J. Jacob, Daniel J. Varon, Christopher Chan Miller, Xiong Liu, Kelly Chance, Andrew K. Thorpe, Riley M. Duren, Charles E. Miller, David R. Thompson, Christian Frankenberg, Luis Guanter, and Cynthia A. Randles

Related authors

Using new geospatial data and 2020 fossil fuel methane emissions for the Global Fuel Exploitation Inventory (GFEI) v3
Tia R. Scarpelli, Elfie Roy, Daniel J. Jacob, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Ryan D. Tate, and Daniel H. Cusworth
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-552,https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2024-552, 2025
Preprint under review for ESSD
Short summary
Performance and sensitivity of column-wise and pixel-wise methane retrievals for imaging spectrometers
Alana K. Ayasse, Daniel Cusworth, Kelly O'Neill, Justin Fisk, Andrew K. Thorpe, and Riley Duren
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 6065–6074, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-6065-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-6065-2023, 2023
Short summary
Two years of satellite-based carbon dioxide emission quantification at the world's largest coal-fired power plants
Daniel H. Cusworth, Andrew K. Thorpe, Charles E. Miller, Alana K. Ayasse, Ralph Jiorle, Riley M. Duren, Ray Nassar, Jon-Paul Mastrogiacomo, and Robert R. Nelson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14577–14591, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14577-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14577-2023, 2023
Short summary
Automated detection and monitoring of methane super-emitters using satellite data
Berend J. Schuit, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Pieter Bijl, Gourav Mahapatra, Anne-Wil van den Berg, Sudhanshu Pandey, Alba Lorente, Tobias Borsdorff, Sander Houweling, Daniel J. Varon, Jason McKeever, Dylan Jervis, Marianne Girard, Itziar Irakulis-Loitxate, Javier Gorroño, Luis Guanter, Daniel H. Cusworth, and Ilse Aben
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9071–9098, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9071-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9071-2023, 2023
Short summary
Quantifying methane emissions from the global scale down to point sources using satellite observations of atmospheric methane
Daniel J. Jacob, Daniel J. Varon, Daniel H. Cusworth, Philip E. Dennison, Christian Frankenberg, Ritesh Gautam, Luis Guanter, John Kelley, Jason McKeever, Lesley E. Ott, Benjamin Poulter, Zhen Qu, Andrew K. Thorpe, John R. Worden, and Riley M. Duren
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9617–9646, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9617-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9617-2022, 2022
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Gases | Technique: Remote Sensing | Topic: Data Processing and Information Retrieval
Predictions of failed satellite retrieval of air quality using machine learning
Edward Malina, Jure Brence, Jennifer Adams, Jovan Tanevski, Sašo Džeroski, Valentin Kantchev, and Kevin W. Bowman
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1689–1715, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1689-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1689-2025, 2025
Short summary
Deep transfer learning method for seasonal TROPOMI XCH4 albedo correction
Alexander C. Bradley, Barbara Dix, Fergus Mackenzie, J. Pepijn Veefkind, and Joost A. de Gouw
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1675–1687, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1675-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1675-2025, 2025
Short summary
Global retrieval of TROPOMI tropospheric HCHO and NO2 columns with improved consistency based on the updated Peking University OMI NO2 algorithm
Yuhang Zhang, Huan Yu, Isabelle De Smedt, Jintai Lin, Nicolas Theys, Michel Van Roozendael, Gaia Pinardi, Steven Compernolle, Ruijing Ni, Fangxuan Ren, Sijie Wang, Lulu Chen, Jos Van Geffen, Mengyao Liu, Alexander M. Cede, Martin Tiefengraber, Alexis Merlaud, Martina M. Friedrich, Andreas Richter, Ankie Piters, Vinod Kumar, Vinayak Sinha, Thomas Wagner, Yongjoo Choi, Hisahiro Takashima, Yugo Kanaya, Hitoshi Irie, Robert Spurr, Wenfu Sun, and Lorenzo Fabris
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1561–1589, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1561-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1561-2025, 2025
Short summary
Quantitative estimate of several sources of uncertainty in drone-based methane emission measurements
Tannaz H. Mohammadloo, Matthew Jones, Bas van de Kerkhof, Kyle Dawson, Brendan J. Smith, Stephen Conley, Abigail Corbett, and Rutger IJzermans
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1301–1324, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1301-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1301-2025, 2025
Short summary
Implementation and application of an improved phase spectrum determination scheme for Fourier transform spectrometry
Frank Hase, Paolo Castracane, Angelika Dehn, Omaira Elena García, David W. T. Griffith, Lukas Heizmann, Nicholas B. Jones, Tomi Karppinen, Rigel Kivi, Martine de Mazière, Justus Notholt, and Mahesh Kumar Sha
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1257–1267, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1257-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1257-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Allen, D. T., Torres, V. M., Thomas, J., Sullivan, D. W., Harrison, M., Hendler, A., Herndon, S. C., Kolb, C. E., Fraser, M. P., Hill, A. D., Lamb, B. K., Miskimins, J., Sawyer, R. F., and Seinfeld, J. H.: Measurements of methane emissions at natural gas production sites in the United States, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 110, 17768–17773, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1304880110, 2013. 
Ayasse, A. K., Thorpe, A. K., Roberts, D. A., Funk, C. C., Dennison, P. E., Frankenberg, C., Steffke, A., and Aubrey, A. D.: Evaluating the effects of surface properties on methane retrievals using a synthetic airborne visible/infrared imaging spectrometer next generation (AVIRIS-NG) image, Remote Sens. Environ., 215, 386–397, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2018.06.018, 2018. 
Benjamin, S. G., Weygandt, S. S., Brown, J. M., Hu, M., Alexander, C. R., Smirnova, T. G., Olson, J. B., James, E. P., Dowell, D. C., Grell, G. A., Lin, H., Peckham, S. E., Smith, T. L., Moninger, W. R., Kenyon, J. S., and Manikin, G. S.: A North American Hourly Assimilation and Model Forecast Cycle: The Rapid Refresh, Mon. Weather Rev., 144, 1669–1694, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-15-0242.1, 2016. 
Bergamaschi, P., Frankenberg, C., Meirink, J. F., Krol, M., Villani, M. G., Houweling, S., Dentener, F., Dlugokencky, E. J., Miller, J. B., Gatti, L. V., Engel, A., and Levin, I.: Inverse modeling of global and regional CH4 emissions using SCIAMACHY satellite retrievals, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 114, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD012287, 2009.  
Berk, A., Anderson, G. P., Acharya, P. K., Bernstein, L. S., Muratov, L., Lee, J., Fox, M., Adler-Golden, S. M., Chetwynd Jr, J. H., Hoke, M. L., Lockwood, R. B., Gardner, J. A., Cooley, T. W., Borel, C. C., Lewis, P. E., and Shettle, E. P.: MODTRAN5: 2006 update, in: Algorithms and Technologies for Multispectral, Hyperspectral, and Ultraspectral Imagery XII, Vol. 6233, International Society for Optics and Photonics, 508–515, 2006. 
Download
Short summary
We examine the potential for global detection of methane plumes from individual point sources with the new generation of spaceborne imaging spectrometers scheduled for launch in 2019–2025. We perform methane retrievals on simulated scenes with varying surfaces and atmospheric methane concentrations. Our results suggest that imaging spectrometers in space could play a transformative role in the future for quantifying methane emissions from point sources on a global scale.
Share