Just like how we use AI to detect sidewalks, street signs and road names in satellite imagery to display helpful information in Google Maps, we’ll also use AI to identify oil and gas infrastructure, like oil storage containers, in our imagery. Then, we’ll combine it with EDF’s information about oil and gas infrastructure to locate where the emissions are coming from.

To help researchers and organizations, these insights will be available later this year on MethaneSAT’s website and accessible through Google Earth Engine, our planetary-scale environmental monitoring platform. By making MethaneSAT datasets available on Earth Engine, which has over 100,000 monthly active users, it’s easier for users to detect trends and understand correlations between human activities and environmental impact. For example, Earth Engine users can combine methane data with other datasets — like land cover, forests, water, ecosystems, regional borders and more — to do things like track methane emissions in a given area over time.