Global identification of solid waste methane super emitters using hyperspectral satellites

Xin Zhang, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Javier Roger, Luis Guanter, Shubham Sharma, Srijana Lama, Paul Tol, Daniel J. Varon , Daniel H Cusworth, Kate Howell, Andrew Thorpe, Phillip G Brodrick, Ilse Aben 

Solid waste is the third largest source of anthropogenic methane and mitigating emissions is crucial for addressing climate change. We combine three high-resolution (30–60 m) hyperspectral satellite imagers (EMIT, EnMAP, and PRISMA) to quantify emissions from 38 strongly-emitting disposal sites across worldwide urban methane hotspots. The imagers give consistent emission estimates, with EMIT and EnMAP having better sensitivity than PRISMA. Total observed emissions add up to 230 ± 15 t h-1, representing 5% of reported global solid waste emissions. Our estimates exceed the facility-level Climate TRACE inventory by a factor of 1.8, while we only detect emissions from 9 of the inventory’s 20 highest-emitting sites, highlighting the importance of facility-level information. Furthermore, multi-month observations reveal emission patterns potentially linked to facility operations. We estimate that these instruments could detect up to 60% of global landfill emissions, critically expanding on satellite instruments designed for methane and supporting emission mitigation.