Satellite Insights into methane Super-Emitters: Regional emissions and yearly growth on Turkmenistan's west coast

Source：INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATION AND GEOINFORMATION DOI10.1016/j.jag.2025.104975

Author：He, ZH (He, Zhonghua) [1] ; Gong, FY (Gong, Fang-Ying) [2] , [3] ; Liang, M (Liang, Miao) [4] ; Gao, L (Gao, Ling) [5] ; Zhou, CY (Zhou, Chunyan) [6] ; He, TL (He, Tai-Long) [7] ; Zeng, ZC (Zeng, Zhao-Cheng) [8]

Corresponding Author：Gong Fangying，Lecturer and Master's Supervisor, School of Public Administration and Policy, Renmin University of China

1 Zhejiang Meteorol Bur, Zhejiang Climate Ctr, Hangzhou 310052, Peoples R China

2 Renmin Univ China, Sch Publ Adm & Policy, Beijing 100872, Peoples R China

3 Renmin Univ China, Big Data & Responsible Artificial Intelligence Nat, Beijing 100872, Peoples R China

4 China Meteorol Adm, Meteorol Observat Ctr, Beijing 100081, Peoples R China

5 China Meteorol Adm, Natl Satellite Meteorol Ctr, Beijing 100081, Peoples R China

6 Minist Ecol & Environm Peoples Republ China, Satellite Applicat Ctr Ecol & Environm, Beijing 100094, Peoples R China

7 Harvard Univ, Sch Engn & Appl Sci, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA

8 Peking Univ, Sch Earth & Space Sci, Beijing 100871, Peoples R China

Abstract：Methane (CH4) emissions from super-emitters on Turkmenistan make it a major global methane hotspot, yet regional emissions and temporal dynamics of these super-emitter sources remain poorly characterized. This study presents a joint analysis of CH4 point source emissions along Turkmenistan's west coast using multi-satellite hyperspectral observations from PRISMA and Advanced Hyperspectral Imagers (AHSIs) onboard Chinese satellites GF-5B, ZY-1E, and ZY-1F during 2020-2024. We identified 38 point sources with 256 plumes across 1078 satellite overpasses, revealing total regional intermittent emissions of 0.60 (+0.39/-0.29) Tga(-1). Individual plumes emission rates ranged from 0.37 +/- 0.10 to 34.13 +/- 11.98 th(-1), with 25 of 38 sources associated with inefficient flaring operations. A significant similar to 7 % annual increase in emissions from 2020 to 2023 corresponds with growth in natural gas production. This estimate of annual increase is consistent with that from multispectral satellites of Sentinel-2 and Landsat. Integration of multi-satellite hyperspectral data enhances detection capabilities, enabling finer plume delineation and improving emission quantification. Our findings show emissions consistent with EDGAR v8.0 inventories but nearly three times that of EDGAR v2024, revealing substantial inventory inconsistencies. These findings underscore the importance of high-resolution satellite monitoring for accurate emission inventories and methane mitigation.

Keywords：

Methane Super-Emitters；Turkmenistan；Hyperspectral satellites；Advanced Hyperspectral Imagers；PRISMA；Annual increase

Keywords Plus：POINT SOURCES；QUANTIFYING METHANE；GAS；OIL；SENTINEL-2；RESOLUTION；PLUMES；SCALE

Original Link：https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1569843225006223?pes=vor&utm_source=clarivate&getft_integrator=clarivate