Method and system for detecting, quantifying, and attributing gas emissions of industrial assets

1 . A method for monitoring gas emissions, the method being executed by a processor and comprising the steps of:

obtaining an image of a gas concentration within a first area of interest from an overhead image acquisition device;

detecting from the image of the gas concentration at least one gas plume of a synthetic gas emission;

quantifying an emission rate of the detected gas plume;

estimating an estimated point source of the detected gas plume; and

attributing the detected gas plume to an actual point source, wherein attributing the detected gas plume to the actual point source comprises obtaining an infrared image of a second area of interest including the estimated point source and analyzing the infrared image to detect a gas emission from an amount of variation in infrared light intensity within the infrared image.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising automatically generating a report of the detected gas plume, the emission rate, and the actual point source and transmitting the report to a user such that the user is provided with up-to-date information about regional or global synthetic gas emissions.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the report further comprises at least one of a gas composition, a date of the gas emission, an identification of a party responsible for the actual point source, and a geographic location of the actual point source.

4 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising automatically generating a graphical user interface indicating the detected gas plume, the emission rate, and the actual point source such that the graphical user interface provides up-to-date information about regional or global synthetic gas emissions.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the graphical user interface further indicates at least one of a gas composition, a date of the gas emission, an identification of a party responsible for the actual point source, and a geographic location of the actual point source.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein quantifying an emission rate of the detected gas plume comprises using at least one of a mass balance method, an integrated mass enhancement, and a cross-section method.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising obtaining meteorological data within the first area of interest corresponding to a time period during which the detected gas plume is estimated to be emitted, the meteorological data comprising a wind velocity and a wind direction for the time period, and quantifying the emission rate of the detected gas plume based on a displacement of the detected gas plume as a result of interaction of the detected gas plume with an atmosphere.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting the gas emission comprises detecting a gas emission having a concentration above a background threshold such that natural gas emissions and other gases in the atmosphere are not detected.

9 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause that computer to implement the method of claim 1 .

10 . A system for monitoring gas emissions, comprising:

a memory storing a gas concentration image of a first area of interest; and

a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and configured to:

detect from the gas concentration image at least one gas plume of a synthetic gas emission;

quantify an emission rate of the detected gas plume;

estimate an estimated point source of the detected gas plume;

obtain an infrared image of a second area of interest including the estimated point source;

analyze the infrared image to detect a gas emission from an amount of variation in infrared light intensity within the infrared image; and

attribute the detected gas plume to an actual point source based upon the detected gas emission.

11 . A method for monitoring gas emissions, the method being executed by a processor and comprising the steps of:

obtaining a gas concentration image of a first area of interest from an overhead image acquisition device;

detecting from the gas concentration image at least one gas plume of a synthetic gas emission;

quantifying an emission rate of the gas plume detected from the gas concentration image;

estimating an estimated point source of the gas plume detected from the gas concentration image;

obtaining another image of a second area of interest, the another image being one of an infrared image or an Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) image;

detecting from the another image of the second area of interest at least one gas plume of a synthetic gas emission; and

attributing the detected gas plume to an actual point source based upon the detection of gas plumes in the gas concentration image and the another image.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the second area of interest comprises a plurality of point sources of the gas plume, and wherein attributing the gas plume to the actual point source comprises obtaining geographic locations of the plurality of point sources and comparing a geographic location of the estimated point source to the geographic locations of the plurality to identify a closest geographic fit as the actual point source.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the another image is an infrared image, and wherein detecting the at least one gas plume from the another image comprises analyzing the infrared image to detect a gas emission from an amount of variation in infrared light intensity within the infrared image.

14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein each of the first area of interest and the second area of interest include a plurality of point sources, wherein the second area of interests includes fewer point sources than the first area of interest.

15 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause that computer to implement the method of claim 11 .