부산대학교 도서관

The ability to detect and quantify methane emissions from offshore platforms is of considerable interest to provide actionable feedback to industrial operators. While satellites offer a distinctive advantage for remote sensing of offshore platforms which may otherwise be difficult to reach, offshore measurements of methane from satellite instruments in the shortwave-infrared are challenging due to the low levels of diffuse sunlight reflected from water surfaces. Here, we use the GHGSat satellite constellation in a sun glint configuration to detect and quantify methane emissions from offshore targets around the world. We present a variety of examples of offshore methane plumes, including the largest single emission at (84,000±24,000) kg h-1 observed by GHGSat from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline leak in 2022 and the smallest offshore emission measured from space at (180±130) kg h-1 in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition, we provide an overview of the constellation's offshore measurement capabilities. We measure a median column precision of 2.1% of the background methane column density and estimate a detection limit, from analytical modelling and orbital simulations, that varies between 160 kg h-1 and 600 kg h-1 depending on the latitude and season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]