Geospatial Insight returns to SPRINT to commercialise methane gas emissions detection system

Geospatial Insight will continue to collaborate with the University of Leicester on this new SPRINT project to explore how the application of multispectral satellite imagery can enable the detection of methane plumes.

High resolution multispectral imagery is becoming routinely available from a wide growing range of satellites. The University of Leicester will deliver expertise in processing this multispectral satellite imagery to identify methane plumes from point source sites such as oil and gas facilities and from leak-prone nodes along a pipeline route, such as pumping stations and pipe joints.

The project is funded by a grant from the £5 million SPRINT (SPace Research and Innovation Network for Technology) programme that provides unprecedented access to university space expertise and facilities. SPRINT helps businesses through the commercial exploitation of space data and technologies.

This second SPRINT project in collaboration with the University of Leicester follows an initial project to develop new methodologies for detecting methane gas emissions. The University of Leicester provided Geospatial Insight with Earth Observation (EO) data analysis of high-resolution satellite imagery.

The Earth Observation Science Group of the University of Leicester has extensive expertise in Earth Observation methods, instrumentation and applications. It is one of the leading groups worldwide on greenhouse gas remote sensing. The Group has access to state-of-the-art simulation tools including radiative transfer and spectral retrieval software, as well as EO datasets.