Methane satellites are progressing rapidly. These satellites range from wide-area instruments that observe regions with large pixels (e.g. TROPOMI instrument on Sentinel 5) to tasked satellites that can focus on facility-scale infrastructure or narrow strips at much higher resolution (e.g. satellites from GHGSat™, CarbonMapper™, and MethaneSAT™).

Characterizing the performance of these systems is challenging. Since each satellite passes over a given location only once in several days given orbital dynamics and cloud cover, a single testing program may take months to acquire the hundreds of data points needed to characterize a solution.

METEC 2.0 will develop a test location that can remain in operation for 9+ months, with the continuous gas supply required for long-duration testing programs. The METEC team is exploring midstream locations which have sufficient gas supply for testing and are suitable for the remote control required for months of testing. Release capabilities will be designed to be moved occasionally to new locations.

Test protocols, release capabilities, and test programs will be designed in conjunction with host facilities, satellite developers, and a broad stakeholder group. Contact Ezra Levin ([email protected]) to be included in the design discussions.