The MethaneSAT web portal includes the location, time and date, and methane emission rates at three separate scales:

• Emissions per ~200 km x 200 km target
• Emissions across a wide region, which are represented on a gridded heat map (with grid cell sizes such as 4 km x 4 km or 5 km x 5 km). These are known as dispersed area emissions or dispersed sources.
• Emissions per distinct point source (methane emissions detected at very high levels that stand out from dispersed emissions– at rates from around 500 kg/hour).

It also includes the names of known oil and gas operators and the types of oil and gas infrastructure present, including:

• Pipelines
• Wells
• Crude oil refineries
• Gathering and processing facilities
• Injection and disposal facilities
• Natural gas compressor stations
• Natural gas flaring detections, based on VIIRS
• Offshore platforms
• Petroleum terminals
• Tank batteries
• Other station types

The portal includes data collected via aircraft between 2021 and 2023 and data collected by the satellite beginning in 2024. 

Distinct point sources may be attributable to specific operators or facilities. 

Dispersed emissions may be attributable in areas where there is a single operator or  a small number of operators owning assets across large geographies. 

In complex regions like the Permian Basin, where facilities are operated by different companies in close proximity to each other –  direct attribution is more difficult. 

The portal indicates operators and equipment types that are located within a 500 meter radius of detected emissions.

The MethaneSAT web portal includes information from an Oil and Gas Infrastructure Mapping (OGIM) database.

This global, spatially explicit, and granular database of oil and gas infrastructure, developed at Environmental Defense Fund supports the quantification and source characterization of oil and gas methane emissions. The database development is based on the acquisition, analysis, curation, integration, and quality-assurance, performed at EDF, of public-domain datasets reported by official government sources, industry, academic, and other non-government entities. The database is updated annually.

Visit this page for more information about how this data is collected, managed and updated.

MethaneSAT observes targets that are approximately 200 km x 200 km.

MethaneSAT data can be explored on two visual interfaces:

• The MethaneSAT web portal at data.methanesat.org
• The Google Earth Engine App at showcase.earthengine.app/view/methanesat

MethaneSAT data will be available for advanced analysis on  Google Earth Engine, a Google-owned platform that enables users to visualize and analyze geospatial data of our planet. Users may also download or ingest the data via Google Earth Engine’s API. Google Earth Engine fees may apply.

Because of its geographic scale and high precision, MethaneSAT can see all emissions, including both distinct point sources and dispersed emissions. This enables us to quickly and accurately produce policy relevant data and analysis, such as basin by basin comparisons. MethaneSAT is the only methane-detecting satellite that maps and quantifies emissions from dispersed sources, which can make up 60-70% of  an oil and gas basin’s methane footprint, at a high resolution 

See MethaneSAT’s resolution and how it compares to other satellites here. 

We plan to develop this capacity. Called “glint mode,” it will allow us to observe sun glint on the surface of water, gathering data about emissions near offshore oil and gas facilities.

Distinct point sources are the origin points of plumes that can be traced to a specific location. MethaneSAT is able to detect emissions from distinct point sources if they are emitting about 500 kg of methane per hour or more. MethaneAIR can detect point sources emitting about 200 kg of methane per hour or more. Detected emissions may be from any type of source or any industry.

To learn more about the methodologies EDF used to quantify emissions from point sources detected during our 2023 MethaneAIR campaign, see this paper. 

Large, distinct plumes of methane can be traced to a specific source, yet our instruments detect a significant amount of additional methane in the atmosphere. This methane may come from any type of source or any industry.

Dispersed sources are our best estimates of the sources of all the methane that our instruments observed, mapped onto grid cells a few kilometers across. Identifying these sources matters because they account for a significant amount of methane – added up, it’s often more methane than is emitted by large, identifiable sources.

These emissions heatmaps are subject to uncertainty. A heatmap from a single date is best considered alongside other evidence. For example, users are encouraged to examine heatmaps from multiple dates for emissions patterns, or consider a heatmap in light of land use (such as agricultural or oil and gas activity) or emissions data from other sources.

We regularly update the algorithms that calculate emission rates to increase accuracy and confidence: 

• Versions 0.5.0 to 0.7.10 average 4,000 maps to find the best estimate of emissions from each grid cell. This method is called CORE (Constrained and Optimized Retrieval of Emissions), and it accounts for factors such as topography and weather.
• Version 0.9.x improves how the model accounts for areas with very low emissions – so low that the emissions can’t be distinguished from background levels. These grid cells are now flagged with the description “below noise threshold.”

For more about uncertainties and the model versions, see our technical explanation [PDF].