IMEO Methane Monitoring · UK public procurement notice

The IMEO require this data to continue their work on global methane alerts and validation. IMEO speficically require the vertical column densities of Methane data that GHGsat data provide which can then be utilised alongside data from other satellites. GHGsat is the only currently viable option for this data as they are the only high-resolution imagery that is suitable to pin-point location that can be utilised alongside their current processes and has regular effort visit times. Stating that: 'The particular advantage brought by the GHGSat data includes its lower detection limit compared to other satellite missions and its ability to obtain observations quickly'.

While the market for atmospheric methane monitoring via satellite has advanced rapidly-driven by a growing number of public and private missions-there remains considerable variation in spatial resolution, geographic coverage, and detection thresholds across providers. On review of the market and as stated by IMEO, GHGsat are currently the only Methane data provide that offer the technical requirements and data availability required by IMEO so that it can be incorporate into their MARS system.

Market review

Broadly, the available technologies fall into two categories: facility-scale point source imagers, such as GHGSat, which are capable of detecting and quantifying emissions from specific facilities; and area flux mappers, such as TROPOMI, which offer wide-area coverage and are better suited for identifying regional trends over time.

The International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) requires satellite systems that can be tasked to monitor specific locations and deliver data with sufficiently low detection limits to accurately identify both the source and location of methane leaks. As such, the IMEO request focuses exclusively on point source imagers, which align with IMEO's operational needs. Area flux mappers are already used by IMEO to provide broad overviews and to signpost where the point source satellites should be tasked.

There is only one current potential alternative to GHGSat, which launched its first satellite in August 2024. However, with limited satellites currently in orbit, it does not yet offer a revisit frequency short enough to meet the technical requirements for the IMEO MARS system and is therefore unsuitable as an alternative to GHGsat data.

GHGSat has both high methane sensitivity and high detection accuracy, which gives it a higher probability of detecting methane emissions in different scenarios. In summary, GHGSat has a lower detection threshold, enabling the observation of smaller emission fluxes, which is not currently available from any other methane emission provider on the market. For this reason, GHGsat is currently the only option available that can provide data to a suitable technical level for the MARS programme.

This represents a major advantage for MARS (IMEO's Methane Alert and Response Systems) when validating if emissions have ceased following notification, as GHGSat data increases our confidence that the emissions have ceased due to a mitigation action rather than the emissions source simply dropping below the detection limits of public satellites. In addition, the flexibility and high revisit frequency of the GHGSat satellites is a significant advantage for tracking specific leaks intensively and validating their emitting/mitigated status faster.