24 Nov 2025

Satellite-detected Permian methane leak was reported repaired by its operator

Sensors, imaging and electronic skinClimate and environment
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What was demonstrated

Carbon Mapper's Tanager-1 satellite detected a methane plume on 9 October 2024 from a leaking oil and gas gathering pipeline in the Texas Permian Basin. The paper gives an estimated instantaneous emission rate of 7100 ± 1100 kg CH4 per hour from that observation. Carbon Mapper notified federal and state agencies the next day, and the paper states that the operator reported the leak as voluntarily repaired. A later Tanager observation on 24 October 2024 detected no methane at that location. A contemporaneous AVIRIS-3 aircraft analysis of surveys on 1, 9 and 10 October found high emissions at the same location in all seven observations, with an average rate of 4200 ± 500 kg CH4 per hour over at least a 10-day interval.

Why it matters

This is one documented case in which a satellite detection was followed by an operator-reported repair and, on a later satellite pass, no plume. It is an example of orbital detection preceding a repair step, although the paper does not show that the detection caused the repair.

Caveats

  • The repair was reported by the operator. The paper describes the repair as operator-reported and does not describe independent verification of the repair itself. The absence of a plume rests on one later satellite pass.
  • The 7100 ± 1100 kg CH4 per hour figure is an instantaneous estimate from one observation. The 4200 ± 500 kg CH4 per hour figure is an average over at least 10 days from a different aircraft instrument, so the two estimates are not directly comparable.
  • The paper reports early evaluation of Tanager-1, which was launched in August 2024 and completed commissioning in January 2025. In its section on single-measurement precision and detection limits, the paper states that completion of additional empirical field testing will be necessary for confirmation.
  • This is a single case. The record does not show how often satellite alerts lead to repairs, or whether emissions stay down after a repair.

Technology profiles

Sources

  1. peer reviewed paper
    The Carbon Mapper emissions monitoring system
    Riley Duren, Daniel Cusworth, Alana Ayasse et al.. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 24 Nov 2025. DOI: 10.5194/amt-18-6933-2025.

Last reviewed 21 Oct 2026.