1. Multisatellite Imaging of a Gas Well Blowout Enables Quantification of Total Methane Emissions.
- Author
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Cusworth, Daniel H., Duren, Riley M., Thorpe, Andrew K., Pandey, Sudhanshu, Maasakkers, Joannes D., Aben, Ilse, Jervis, Dylan, Varon, Daniel J., Jacob, Daniel J., Randles, Cynthia A., Gautam, Ritesh, Omara, Mark, Schade, Gunnar W., Dennison, Philip E., Frankenberg, Christian, Gordon, Deborah, Lopinto, Ettore, and Miller, Charles E.
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METHANE , *COMBUSTION efficiency , *GAS dynamics , *GAS wells , *REMOTE sensing , *MICROSATELLITE repeats , *AUTOMOBILE emissions - Abstract
Incidents involving loss of control of oil/gas wells can result in large but variable emissions whose impact on the global methane budget is currently unknown. On November 1, 2019, a gas well blowout was reported in the Eagle Ford Shale. By combining satellite observations at different spatial and temporal scales, we quantified emissions 10 times during the 20‐day event. Our multisatellite synthesis captures both the short‐term dynamics and total integrated emissions of the blowout. Such detailed event characterization was previously not possible from space and difficult to do with surface measurements. We present 30‐m methane and carbon dioxide plumes from the PRISMA satellite, which let us estimate flare combustion efficiency (87%). Integrating emissions across all satellites, we estimate 4,800 ± 980 metric tons lost methane. Blowouts occur across the globe and multisatellite observations can help to determine their pervasiveness, enable corrective action, and quantify their contribution to global methane budgets. Plain Language Summary: Well control loss at oil/gas wells (e.g., blowouts) can lead to methane emission releases that are difficult to quantify from the surface. New advances in satellite remote sensing can effectively capture emission dynamics when information from multiple satellites is combined. A gas well blowout was reported on November 1, 2019 in East Texas, and we were able to provide 10 distinct emission estimates during the 20‐day event by combining information from multiple satellites. This information synthesis allowed us to assess variability and better quantify the total methane released to the atmosphere. Blowouts occur across the globe during oil/gas production, and multisatellite observations can help to determine their pervasiveness, enable prompt corrective action, and quantify their contribution to national and global methane budgets. Key Points: We capture methane emission dynamics of a gas well blowout by combining observations from several satellitesThe PRISMA satellite is capable of retrieving both CO2 and CH4 emissions during flare combustion, allowing for an efficiency estimateSatellite emission estimates are validated against a bottom‐up oil/gas methane emission model [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
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