Gas flaring activity and black carbon emissions in 2017 derived from the Sentinel-3A Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer

Abstract

Abstract. Gas flares are a regionally and globally significant source of atmospheric pollutants. They can be detected by satellite remote sensing. We calculate the global flared gas volume and black carbon emissions in 2017 by applying (1) a previously developed hot spot detection and characterisation algorithm to all observations of the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) instrument on board the Copernicus satellite Sentinel-3A and (2) newly developed filters for identifying gas flares and corrections for calculating both flared gas volumes (billion cubic metres, BCM) and black carbon (BC) emissions (g). The filter to discriminate gas flares from other hot spots uses the observed hot spot characteristics in terms of temperature and persistence. A regression function is used to correct for the variability of detection opportunities. A total of 6232 flaring sites are identified worldwide. The best estimates of the annual flared gas volume and the BC emissions are 129 BCM with a confidence interval of [35, 419 BCM] and 73 Gg with a confidence interval of [20, 239 Gg], respectively. Comparison of our activity (i.e. BCM) results with those of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Nightfire data set and SWIR-based calculations show general agreement but distinct differences in several details. The calculation of black carbon emissions using our gas flaring data set with a newly developed dynamic assignment of emission factors lie in the range of recently published black carbon inventories, albeit towards the lower end. The data presented here can therefore be used e.g. in atmospheric dispersion simulations. The advantage of using our algorithm with Sentinel-3 data lies in the previously demonstrated ability to detect and quantify small flares, the long-term data availability from the Copernicus programme, and the increased detection opportunity of global gas flare monitoring when used in conjunction with the VIIRS instruments. The flaring activity and related black carbon emissions are available as “GFlaringS3” on the Emissions of atmospheric Compounds and Compilation of Ancillary Data (ECCAD) website (https://doi.org/10.25326/19, Caseiro and Kaiser, 2019).

Measuring Gas Flaring in Russia with Multispectral VIIRS Nightfire

“…1 Including gas condensate production. 2 For reference, SLSTR Nightfire product estimate for Russia, 2017 is 18.1 BCM [13].…”

“…Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug data are presented in Figure S4 and Table S4 1 Including gas condensate production. 2 For reference, SLSTR Nightfire product estimate for Russia, 2017 is 18.1 BCM [13].…”

“…In 2016, the same authors published the first global survey of gas flaring [6]. Other globalscale remote sensing products capable of detecting and estimating the radiative output of the gas flares include short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) adaptation of fire radiative power (FRP) estimates based on the Active Fire Products wildfire detection method [12] and Nightfire adaptation for the Sentinel-3A SLSTR sensor [13], although no continuous annual national scale and point-specific gas flaring volume estimates have been presented in both at the time of writing. Reviews of remote sensing in gas flare detection and monitoring have been published recently [14,15].…”

“…VIIRS Nightfire data were also applied to evaluate gas flaring in Texas and North Dakota [19][20][21][22]. VIIRS Nightfire data were used to assess the impact of gas flaring reduction possibilities on meeting Paris Climate Agreement emission reduction goals [23], and potential global gas flaring black carbon emission levels were calculated using SLSTR Nightfire adaptation [13]. Elvidge et al examined VIIRS Nightfire detection limits with the introduction of the VIIRS M11 SWIR band for night-time observations [24].…”

The Effect of Natural Gas Flaring on Air Pollution and its contribution to Climate Change in Basra City

“…Fig. (7) Anomaly of annual co2 emission due to gas flaringFigure(8) shows the annual increase in globally averaged atmospheric Methane, and there are other gases released into the atmosphere as a result of burning natural gas, including hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide, and the gas flaring adds to the atmosphere black carbon BC[25].…”