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

Abstract

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.