![Image shows highly sensitive spectrometers aboard MethaneAIR jet](/sites/default/files/styles/440px_width_scale/public/2025-07/methaneair_20230527_nw_029.JPG?itok=nIqgMJ5L) Project Update # Advanced methane detection efforts resume over United States Published July 28, 2025 An aircraft equipped with highly-sensitive sensors similar to the MethaneSAT instrument will conduct new methane measurements across various U.S. oil and gas producing basins this summer and fall. A previous mission using the same technology collected and produced quantitative methane emissions data over regions that account for 70% of U.S. oil and gas production. Those [**flights revealed**](https://www.methanesat.org/project-updates/new-data-show-us-oil-and-gas-methane-emissions-over-four-times-higher-epa-estimates?ut_sid=09bf20a6-bd1b-4f7a-a76c-f857256d07b5&ut_pid=8fdf6e4d-a2dc-4a38-bee7-2b6e8834e020&conversion_pg=www.dev-54ta5gq-b522ybjlcjyh6.us-2.platformsh.site%2Fproject-updates%2Fadvanced-methane-detection-efforts-resume-over-united-states&landing_pg=www.dev-54ta5gq-b522ybjlcjyh6.us-2.platformsh.site%2Fproject-updates%2Fadvanced-methane-detection-efforts-resume-over-north-america&landing_pg_1st_visit=www.dev-54ta5gq-b522ybjlcjyh6.us-2.platformsh.site%2Fproject-updates%2Fadvanced-methane-detection-efforts-resume-over-north-america&source_1st_visit=direct%20(www.dev-54ta5gq-b522ybjlcjyh6.us-2.platformsh.site)&subsource_1st_visit=(blank)&custom_source=direct%20(www.dev-54ta5gq-b522ybjlcjyh6.us-2.platformsh.site)&custom_sub_source=(blank)&custom_transfer=1753132279321) that oil and gas methane emissions were four times higher than what was reported in official bottom-up inventories. ![map visualization](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/19361283/thumbnail) As with the MethaneSAT instrument, the aircraft will collect high-resolution methane data and our advanced data processing platform will quantify the data into emission rates at multiple spatial scales. We will be able to seamlessly visualize high-resolution dispersed area emission heatmaps across individual oil/gas regions, while also quantifying the total regional emissions and identifying discrete point sources. Using these measurements, we will produce methane intensity metrics in order to track the goals of methane mitigation targets set by industry. This enables comparisons of emissions across entire basins and from sub-basin hotspots, thus increasing understanding of broader emissions patterns, where production is cleaner or dirtier, and how emissions have been changing over time. ![Methane Plume Image Captured by MethaneAIR](/sites/default/files/styles/800px_width_scale/public/2025-07/MethaneAIR%20Concentration%20Plume.png?itok=hHfgpu3s) Large methane plumes detected by MethaneAIR from an oil and gas facility in North Texas in 2023. The MethaneAIR data will help fill some of the gaps created by the [**loss of the satellite**](https://www.methanesat.org/project-updates/methanesat-loses-contact-satellite?ut_sid=09bf20a6-bd1b-4f7a-a76c-f857256d07b5&ut_pid=8fdf6e4d-a2dc-4a38-bee7-2b6e8834e020&conversion_pg=www.dev-54ta5gq-b522ybjlcjyh6.us-2.platformsh.site%2Fproject-updates%2Fadvanced-methane-detection-efforts-resume-over-united-states&landing_pg=www.dev-54ta5gq-b522ybjlcjyh6.us-2.platformsh.site%2Fproject-updates%2Fadvanced-methane-detection-efforts-resume-over-north-america&landing_pg_1st_visit=www.dev-54ta5gq-b522ybjlcjyh6.us-2.platformsh.site%2Fproject-updates%2Fadvanced-methane-detection-efforts-resume-over-north-america&source_1st_visit=direct%20(www.dev-54ta5gq-b522ybjlcjyh6.us-2.platformsh.site)&subsource_1st_visit=(blank)&custom_source=direct%20(www.dev-54ta5gq-b522ybjlcjyh6.us-2.platformsh.site)&custom_sub_source=(blank)&custom_transfer=1753132329321) and provide high-resolution regional emissions datasets for benchmarking emission quantification. All of the data will be available through the MethaneSAT web portal and Google Earth Engine and Cloud. ## Related Resources [Assessment of methane emissions from US onshore oil and gas production using MethaneAIR measurements](https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-3008/) [Sectoral contributions of high-emitting methane point sources from major U.S. onshore oil and gas producing basins using airborne measurements from MethaneAIR](https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2024/egusphere-2024-3865/) [Remote sensing of methane point sources with the MethaneAIR airborne spectrometer](https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2024-3577/) ## Related Updates [ ![MethaneSAT heat map](/sites/default/files/styles/400x300_focal_point/public/2025-03/MethaneSATHeatMap.png?h=d7795820&itok=G8MkU6Br) ](/project-updates/new-data-reveal-previously-undetectable-methane-emissions) [## New data reveal previously undetectable methane emissions ](/project-updates/new-data-reveal-previously-undetectable-methane-emissions) [ ![MethaneSAT](/sites/default/files/styles/400x300_focal_point/public/2024-07/placeholder_home2.png?h=41636fe9&itok=mLMcyp02) ](/project-updates/new-data-show-us-oil-and-gas-methane-emissions-over-four-times-higher-epa-estimates) [## New data show U.S. oil and gas methane emissions over four times higher than EPA estimates ](/project-updates/new-data-show-us-oil-and-gas-methane-emissions-over-four-times-higher-epa-estimates) [ ![Jet](/sites/default/files/styles/400x300_focal_point/public/2024-07/MethaneAirJET.jpg?h=38acf462&itok=EBOSTwHz) ](/project-updates/meet-methaneair) [## Meet MethaneAIR ](/project-updates/meet-methaneair)