Space-Based Remote Imaging Spectroscopy of the Aliso Canyon CH4 Superemitter

The Aliso Canyon gas storage facility near Porter Ranch, California, produced a large accidental CH4 release from October 2015 to February 2016. The Hyperion imaging spectrometer on board the EO-1 satellite successfully detected this event, achieving the first orbital attribution of CH4 to a single anthropogenic superemitter. Hyperion measured shortwave infrared signatures of CH4 near 2.3 microns at 0.01 micron spectral resolution and 30 meter spatial resolution. It detected the plume on three overpasses, mapping its magnitude and morphology. These orbital observations were consistent with measurements by airborne instruments. We evaluate Hyperion instrument performance, draw implications for future orbital instruments, and extrapolate the potential for a global survey of CH4 superemitters.