Use of ATSR and SAR measurements for the monitoring and characterisation of night-time gas flaring from off-shore platforms: The North Sea test case

A method for the monitoring of night-time gas flaring of off-shore oil/gas extraction platforms using measurements of the Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) and the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is presented and discussed in detail. The positions of off-shore extraction sites are accurately estimated by using SAR data, while the flaring activity is estimated from night-time shortwave infrared (SWIR) radiance measured by ATSR. The North Sea area has been selected as test case and related flaring activity from 1991 to 2010 has been analysed at single site and at North Sea area scales. Results indicate a decline in the overall flaring activity during the time period considered in this work, although single sites can show positive flaring trends. The ATSR derived flaring time series has been compared to the crude oil production data provided by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), showing very good agreement in terms of trend and seasonal behaviour. We present a simple inversion scheme aimed at the evaluation of the flame parameters (temperature and size) from night-time shortwave, middle and thermal infrared ATSR measurements, and results are discussed in detail. Finally, the possibility to estimate flaring efficiency from satellite measurements and from detailed technical information on flaring devices is envisaged. The proposed approach can be easily extended to other areas in which gas flaring from off-shore oil and gas extraction are an important economic and environmental factor.