Global Satellite Monitoring of Exothermic Industrial Activity via Infrared Emissions

Payne Institute Earth Observation Group Christopher Elvidge, Mikhail Zhizhin, Tamara Sparks, Tilottama Ghosh, Stephen Pon, Director Morgan Bazilian, Paul Sutton, and Steven Miller report on the first daily global monitoring program for natural gas flaring and industrial sites producing waste heat based on satellite observed infrared emissions. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) collects nightly global infrared data in spectral bands ranging from near infrared (NIR) to longwave infrared (LWIR), providing a unique capability to detect and characterize infrared emitters at night. The VIIRS nightfire (VNF) algorithm identifies infrared (IR) emitters with multiple spectral bands and calculates the temperature, source area, and radiant heat via Planck curve fitting and physical laws. VNF data are produced nightly and extend from 2012 to the present. September 28, 2023.