Remote sensing of greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector: Data synthesis and method development

Methane, the primary constituent of natural gas, is the second most significant anthropogenic greenhouse gas. Recent advancements in remote sensing technologies have yielded new datasets that address critical questions about methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. In this talk, I will present three interconnected projects. The first project provides an analysis of two datasets of aerially-detected methane point sources in the Permian Basin. By reconciling regional emission estimates based on the two datasets, we demonstrate the reliability of remote sensing for methane emission detection and quantification. The second project quantifies the expected duration of aerially-detected methane emission events. Accurate duration estimates are crucial for calculating emission volumes of snapshot measurements taken remotely and determining penalties for operators responsible for these emissions. The third project explores the use of hyperspectral data to quantify carbon dioxide emissions from flaring activities in the Bakken Basin, North Dakota. These projects collectively enhance our understanding of methane and carbon dioxide emissions from the oil and gas sector and aim to provide robust methodologies for the use of aerial datasets in methane emissions quantification and regulatory compliance.

Speaker: Yulia Chen, Stanford University

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