Automated AI-supported methane plume detection from satellite and aircraft images

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

GHGSat is a Canadian company and a world leader in monitoring greenhouse gas emissions in high resolution from space. It is a pioneer in the detection of methane using satellites. GHGSat's products and services provide useful and actionable emissions information to industry, governments and regulators around the world. The satellites and the airborne system of GHGSat continuously send a large quantity of images to the ground which must be analyzed individually by specialized operators with the objective of identifying areas of methane emissions. Methane is a greenhouse gas whose impact is 84 times greater than CO2. GHGSat currently operates three (3) satellites and one airborne system. In the coming years, several other satellites will be in operation as well as several airborne systems. The number of images received will therefore increase significantly as these new equipments comes into service. GHGSat main need for the project is a tool to support its operators in identifying the regions of potential methane emissions, while eliminating the other regions. To improve its reliability, the tool would integrate into its analysis information such as cloud cover, wind, sun reflection data, the positioning of industrial sites and the presence of past emissions. INO's digital vision experts will be involved in the project to identify regions of interest. Subsequently, the École Polytechnique de Montréal will use artificial intelligence to increase the reliability of detection decisions. The project aims for a Technology Readiness Level five (TRL 5). The support tool will be integrated into GHGSat operations process in order to optimize images processing time and get a better use of the operators' expertise for the difficult cases. In addition, GHGSat hopes to be able to reduce its image processing time. GHGSat's patented satellite imagery technology is unique in the world. The benefits of such a project will have a direct impact on maintaining our position as a world leader and on our operations. Optimized operations, consistency of analysis, faster delivery to customers and better control of emissions will ultimately result in a favorable and direct impact on the environment.