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