Quantification of Gas Flaring from Satellite Imagery:A Comparison of Two Methods for SLSTR and BIROS Imagery

Gas flaring is an environmental problem of local, regional and global concerns. Gas flares emit pollutants and greenhouse gases, yet knowledge about the source strength is limited due to disparate reporting approaches in different geographies, whenever and wherever those are considered. Remote sensing has bridged the gap but uncertainties remain. There are numerous sensors which provide measurements over flaring-active regions in wavelengths that are suitable for the observation of gas flares and the retrieval of flaring activity. However, their use for operational monitoring has been limited. Besides several potential sensors, there are also different approaches to conduct the retrievals. In the current paper, we compare two retrieval approaches over an offshore flaring area during an extended period of time. Our results show that retrieved activities are consistent between methods although discrepancies may originate for individual flares at the highly temporal scale, which are traced back to the variable nature of flaring. The presented results are helpful for the estimation of flaring activity from different sources and will be useful in a future integration of diverse sensors and methodologies into a single monitoring scheme.</p

FireBIRD Mission Data for Gas Flaring Analysis

German Aerospace Center (DLR) initiated the FireBIRD mission for the purpose of fire analysis. Twin satellites, TET-1 and BIROS, provide data specialized in this field. This data can be used in gas flaring analysis. Gas flaring is a process of burning the associated gas obtained during crude-oil extraction. During this process, great amounts of greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere. In order to enable monitoring this process, reliable data is necessary. The paper provides an overview on existing thermal sensors which can be used in researching the subject of gas flares. The comparison discusses sensor features important to gas flaring studies. The FireBIRD mission is described and assessed for the purpose of this application. The data is compared to the existing database from the World Bank. FireBIRD proves to have potential for this application, and in some cases significant advantages over other sensors. Research in this direction will be continued in the project