Mobile Methane Sensing Analytics for Emissions Reduction

Lead Proponent

University of Calgary

Project Background

The objective of this project was to create an analytical toolbox that assimilates and interprets mobile sensor data from ground vehicles, drones, or piloted aircraft in order to locate fugitive emission sources and estimate emission rates in near real time, to then facilitate emissions reductions.

Targeting ground-based and airborne platforms increased the flexibility and impact of the analytics: some emission scenarios required airborne measurements exclusively (e.g., tailings ponds, remote pipelines), while ground-based measurements were required in other situations (e.g., urban areas) due to airspace regulations, and in some cases a combination of measurements from both platforms were needed.

Results

The project developed and tested the ATLAS Emissions Toolbox, a research-grade software that incorporates four major data analytics tools which optimized survey strategies and converted mobile measurements into actionable information. By conducting controlled releases, the tools collected measurements of methane concentration and wind velocity from drone and truck-based systems. The tools included:

1. Pre-survey route planning: estimates the optimal flight path for a drone or piloted aircraft to detect fugitive methane emissions based on regional wind conditions.
2. Plume detection: identifies deviations in concentration associated with a methane plume.
3. Plume source localization: estimates the geographic location of fugitive emissions sources.
4. Screening-level plume quantification: provides a preliminary estimate of the methane flux from emission sources.