Gas Flaring Is Likely Underestimated by Satellites due to Undetected Small Flares.

ABSTRACT: Global upstream oil and gas flaring was estimated at 148 billion m³ in 2023 based on satellite observations by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument. Accurate monitoring is critical, as both lit and unlit flares release greenhouse gases and pose health risks. However, we show that VIIRS substantially underestimates flaring in Canada, with implications for other regions. Analyzing over 65,000 annualized industry flare reports (>5000 sites per year) in western Canada over more than a decade (2012-2023), we found that VIIRS consistently estimated lower flaring volumes than industry data. In 2023, for example, industry reported 2.2-times more flaring than VIIRS estimated, across more than 14-times as many sites. Most of this discrepancy (76%) was due to un

SUBMITTER: Seymour SP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12529944 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature