Integrating Point-Source Methane Emissions from Imaging Spectroscopy
Data into the Multi-scale Methane Analytic Framework (M2AF) Information
System
Abstract
The Surface Biology and Geology global imaging spectrometer is primarily
designed to observe the chemical fingerprint of the Earth’s surface.
However imaging spectroscopy across the visible to shortwave infrared
(VSWIR) can also provide important atmospheric observations of methane
point sources, highly concentrated emissions from energy, waste
management and livestock operations. Relating these point-source
observations to greenhouse gas inventories and coarser, regional methane
observations from sensors like the European Space Agency (ESA) TROPOMI
will contribute to reducing uncertainties in local, regional and global
carbon budgets. We present the Multi-scale Methane Analytic Framework
(M2AF) that facilitates disentangling confounding processes by
streamlining analysis of cross-scale, multi-sensor methane observations
across three key, overlapping spatial scales: 1) global to regional
scale, 2) regional to local scale, and 3) facility (point source scale).
M2AF is an information system that bridges methane research and applied
science by integrating tiered observations of methane from surface
measurements, airborne sensors and satellite. Reducing uncertainty in
methane fluxes with multi-scale analyses can improve carbon accounting
and attribution which is valuable to both formulation and verification
of mitigation actions. M2AF lays the foundation for extending existing
methane analysis systems beyond their current experimental states,
reducing latency and cost of methane data analysis and improving
accessibility by researchers and decision makers. M2AF leverages the
NASA Methane Source Finder (MSF), the NASA Science Data Analytics
Platform (SDAP), Amazon Web Services (AWS) and two supercomputers for
fast, on-demand analytics of cross-scale, integrated, quality-controlled
methane flux estimates.