The Earth’s climate is changing because of man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide and methane are the two main contributors to this enhanced greenhouse effect. Where are those gases emitted? Where do they go from there? How will these processes of emission and absorption be influenced in a changing climate? What is the role of various types of aerosols? Here you find maps with satellite data and software packages to help answer these questions.
TROPOMI aboard Sentinel-5p can be used to detect large methane emission plumes everywhere around the world. These plumes are automatically detected using the machine-learning setup described in Schuit et al. (2023, ACPD preprint). The weekly world maps show approximate source locations based on single TROPOMI plumes as well as initial source rate estimates based on an automated mass balance method.
SRON is continuously monitoring its space instruments to ensure their health and the delivery of solid data.
SRON has about 200 employees. They form a melting pot of top (instrument) scientists, engineers, and other professionals of various nationalities and ages who inspire each other to realize outstanding performances at a top level. Problems faced by scientists challenge sensor developers to construct increasingly more sensitive technology. Together with mechanical and electronic engineers they ultimately develop a scientific space instrument with an exceptional level of performance under the extreme conditions of space. The scientific breakthroughs made with such devices in turn inspire new research and new technology. This approach has enabled SRON to develop into a national expertise institute of international repute.
The Dutch space instrument TROPOMI onboard Sentinel-5P automatically detects large methane emission plumes across the globe. The machine-learning technology for this is described in Schuit et al. (2023). The world maps show approximate source locations based on single TROPOMI plumes and initial source rate estimates calculated using an automated mass balance method. The number of detections fluctuates from week to week because of varying emissions, cloud cover, and viewing geometry. Plumes have only been subject to initial verification. Precise quantification and final interpretation require more extensive evaluation. The detections exclude larger-scale enhancements such as seen over the Permian Basin or over wetland areas.
If you use these detections for your research or other purposes, please let us know. We are happy to collaborate with anybody interested in these detections. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. When referencing the data, please credit the product generation to the SRON team (earth.sron.nl/methane-emissions/) and cite the Schuit et al. (2023) publication; Copernicus (modified) Sentinel-5p data have been used.
There were no reliable detections before November 27 as there was an issue with the VIIRS-based cloud product that TROPOMI uses.
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