Identifying and quantifying greenhouse gas emissions with the AVIRIS-3 airborne imaging spectrometer

Remotely sensed data from imaging spectrometers can identify both methane (CH 4 ) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) enhancements, subsequently enabling the quantification and direct sectoral attribution necessary to better constrain greenhouse gas emissions and inform mitigation strategies at local, regional, and national scales. We validate the ability of the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer 3 (AVIRIS-3), a NASA imaging spectrometer, to detect greenhouse gas enhancements from an airborne platform for the first time. Multiple CH 4 controlled release experiments demonstrate that AVIRIS-3 can detect emissions at variable emission rates ( < 4 – 10 kg CH 4 /h) and multiple flight altitudes (e.g., both 2500 ft and 27,000 ft above ground level). Finally, we highlight a coincident acquisition of a CH 4 plume from both AVIRIS-3 and the Earth surface Mineral dust source InvesTigation (EMIT) imaging spectrometer, located onboard the International Space Station. The AVIRIS-3 instrument design provides several key improvements over earlier generations of airborne imaging spectrometers that enable detailed and precise greenhouse gas mapping from a range of emission sectors. • We highlight AVIRIS-3’s capability for detecting multi-sector greenhouse gas emissions. • Controlled release experiments validate our retrieval and quantification algorithms. • Airborne spectrometers support multi-sensor greenhouse gas observational systems.