Seeing Through the Clouds
Published on: Jul 30, 2025
Data Dispatch Series
Data Dispatches highlight insights and information from the Carbon Mapper data portal. Transparency is critical in advancing global efforts to mitigate methane, and Carbon Mapper is committed to delivering accessible methane and CO2 data that can be used by policymakers, regulators, operators, and civil society to guide science-based actions to reduce emissions.
What we see with methane emissions and cloud cover
Tanager-1’s 30-meter spatial resolution enables the detection of methane plumes in perpetually cloudy regions. Emissions detections from Planet’s satellite, which was launched in August 2024, reveal emissions in areas that historically were difficult to observe.
In this example of a cloudy image in Venezuela (panel A), Carbon Mapper detected a methane plume from an oil and gas facility with a roughly 120-meter separation from the nearest cloud (panel B). A PlanetScope 5-meter resolution visible image of the same area in February 2025 with no clouds, clearly shows the oil and gas facility (panel C).
Graphic shows Tanager-1 capabilities of seeing between the clouds to detect methane emissions and provide a clearer picture of methane in areas that are traditionally more challenging to monitor via satellite. This plume (panel B) was detected on Feb. 28, 2025 at Municipio Maturín, Monagas,Venezuela and can be found on our data portal. Plume ID: tan20250228t151038c00s4001-A
This scene below from Monterrey, Mexico, shows a large plume of methane stemming from a landfill that was spotted between a roughly 500-meter gap between clouds. Carbon Mapper’s preliminary estimate of the source methane emissions is 2,550 kilograms of methane per hour.
Left - the Tanager scene shows a cloudy sky with a plume detected between gaps in the clouds. Right - the Carbon Mapper plume shows methane emissions stemming from a landfill. The preliminary methane emissions estimate is approximately 2,546 kilograms of methane per hour. The plume, detected on Sep. 19, 2024 near Monterrey, Mexico, can be found on our data portal. Plume ID: tan20240919t173204c00s4001-C
Why seeing methane in cloudy regions matters
Cloud cover has historically presented a challenge for methane remote sensing satellites. Clouds act as a barrier between a satellite’s instrument (which uses reflected light to ‘see’ methane and CO2) and emissions stemming from facilities or pieces of equipment closer to the ground. For satellite instruments that observe at coarse spatial resolution (e.g., scale of several kilometers), the presence of any clouds within the spatial observing footprint renders that satellite measurement mostly unusable. This means that many emissions have gone undetected for months or years, especially in global regions that experience persistent cloud cover, such as the equator, South America, Southeast Asia, Russia, and parts of the United States.
This is a problem because methane emissions are going unseen and unaddressed in regions of high consequence.
According to the Global Methane Assessment published by the United Nations, methane emissions from oil and gas extraction, processing, and transport are highest in West Asia (~18 metric tons per year); emissions from livestock are highest in Latin America (~27 metric tons per year), followed by South Asia (~22 metric tons per year); and emissions from the waste sector are more evenly distributed around the world.
The ability for satellites to see methane around clouds through fine spatial resolution is also important as we assess how to effectively identify, track, and mitigate emissions in areas projected to have the highest growth in future emissions. For example, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), China, India, and Southeast Asia have seen the largest regional increases in total annual energy sector methane emissions over the past two decades, and this trend is expected to continue.
The fossil fuel sector in Central and South America, particularly oil and gas facilities in Venezuela, will likely continue to increase their methane footprint due to high upstream methane intensities.
With greater visibility into the exact sources of global emissions and the ways they are changing over time across industries and regions, leaders in the public and private sectors can design and implement methane management solutions to significantly cut emissions.
Learn more
- Visit the Carbon Mapper data portal to browse all data.
- Visit our latest Data Dispatch that highlights other exciting Tanager-1 capabilities, and how Carbon Mapper’s data is providing greater global emissions transparency.