SPECTRA: A Portal to Combine and Harness the Best Satellite Methane Emissions Data Available to Guide Operators on Their Decarbonization Journey

Abstract

Abstract GHGSat continues to be the only entity in the world operating satellites dedicated to high-resolution measurements of methane emissions. Every day, GHGSat makes measurements at hundreds of facilities around the world. To optimize the targeting of its satellite observations and turn its measurements into actionable insight, GHGSat developed in-house expertise in ingesting and analyzing other relevant and complementary streams of data such as public satellites and databases of information. In the Spring of 2021, GHGSat released SPECTRA, an ESRI ArcGIS-based portal to facilitate the navigation and interpretation of its high-resolution measurements and analytics layers. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how GHGSat proprietary data, in combination with an innovative analytical suite, can provide situational awareness on methane emissions to operators in the regions where they operate assets and provide opportunities to mitigate them. The data analytics package under SPECTRA incorporates data and algorithms capable of providing insights into the constantly evolving O&G infrastructure. By looking at all data available, from coarse resolution regional methane concentration data to high-resolution methane measurements at facilities, from flaring data to production databases, SPECTRA provides insight on possible precursors of emission events by examining trends and patterns in the data. This paper will present results of methane emissions plumes identified with GHSGat's constellation of satellites, as well as data examples gathered with other platforms such as Sentinel 5P and Sentinel 2. The compatibility and complementarity of the different satellite platforms will be discussed, as will the ability to use low-resolution enhancements to target GHGSat's high-resolution satellite observations to identify and characterize the source of the localized higher concentration. The ability to toggle various layers of information in SPECTRA will be explored.