GHGSat Unveils Satellite Imagery Of Greenhouse Gas From Industrial Facility

Recently, GHGSat unveiled sample imagery from its demonstration satellite, Claire. GHGSat has detected emissions of methane, an important greenhouse gas, from a hydroelectric facility under construction in Africa. GHGSat is making sample imagery and data for this facility available for evaluation by qualified parties.

Claire captures an array of over 200,000 atmospheric measurements around an industrial facility in a few seconds. These measurements are processed to produce imagery showing a "heat map" of greenhouse gas concentrations from the facility.

Using weather data and the retrieved array of greenhouse gas concentrations, GHGSat can estimate the rate at which an industrial facility releases greenhouse gases into the air. Flooding of hydroelectric reservoirs in tropical regions causes organic matter to decompose, often producing methane, which is then emitted into the air as water is released from the reservoir. The amount of methane emitted typically decreases over time, and varies with the amount of water released from the reservoir. GHGSat will collect local data in the coming weeks to further validate its measurements, and perform additional satellite measurements of the facility to monitor emissions rates over time.

"GHGSat has been reviewing measurements of various facilities with customers for several months. Today's unveiling is intended to facilitate collaboration with and evaluation by qualified parties such as academic and government institutions," said Stéphane Germain, President and CEO of GHGSat. "We are excited by the unique insights Claire's data can provide, and want to raise awareness of GHGSat's services around the world."

GHGSat will present technical details of its imagery and system at several upcoming international conferences. For more information,visit www.ghgsat.com.