This doesn't actually map methane leaks. It finds oilfield equipment and infrastructure and guesses how much it might leak and how that leak might diffuse. There's not like a special sensor to see methane from the satellite like I had originally guessed
"Maguire said the same AI technology that Google used to detect trees, crosswalks, and intersections from satellite imagery would be applied to oil and gas infrastructure. The map would be overlaid with data from MethaneSAT to shed light on the type of machinery most susceptible to leaks."
> It finds oilfield equipment and infrastructure and guesses how much it might leak and how that leak might diffuse.
MethaneSAT has sensors for methane [1]. So the guess work is in detecting an oilfield, the actual methane levels are no more guess work than a thermometer.
"Maguire said the same AI technology that Google used to detect trees, crosswalks, and intersections from satellite imagery would be applied to oil and gas infrastructure. The map would be overlaid with data from MethaneSAT to shed light on the type of machinery most susceptible to leaks."