Simulating a MethaneAIR Controlled Release Trial using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Abstract

The identification and quantification of methane emission sources through remote sensing is a necessary technological innovation towards the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. MethaneSAT is a methane tracking satellite that targets point source and diffuse emissions in the oil and gas industry. MethaneAIR, MethaneSAT’s aircraft precursor, acted as a proof-of-concept through its controlled release trials. Due to systematic errors in the imaging spectrometer, such as the assumption of sub grid scale methane concentration homogeneity, the total methane mass in a plume is hypothesized to be underestimated with variation based on spatial resolution. In this paper, a workflow is developed for the simulation and vertical integration of a controlled release plume such that it may be tested and compared with spatial statistics to the MethaneAIR image of that plume. In the context of greenhouse gas emission quantification through satellite altimetry, it is paramount that the sensitivity and detectability of methane by imaging spectrometers is analyzed and quantified relative to comparable data. Computational fluid dynamics simulators can model plumes previously captured by these imaging spectrometers to further the applicability of controlled release data.