Remote Sensing and Methane Emissions

About the Speakers

Dan Cusworth received his B.S. in Applied Math and Atmospheric Sciences at UCLA and Ph.D. in Atmospheric Chemistry at Harvard University. He then joined NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and is now Carbon Project Scientist at Carbon Mapper.

Dan Cusworth is lead author on a Environmental Science and Technology journal article that identified more than 1,000 high emission point sources of methane in the Permian Basin. The study sheds new light on the degree of intermittency in methane emissions from oil and gas production in the Permian, with at least half likely attributable to malfunctioning oil equipment. This line of research directly supports Carbon Mapper’s mission of providing actionable data to decision makers in the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Dan’s research focuses on methane and carbon dioxide emissions using satellite and airborne remote sensing data spanning regional to local facility scale, and designing multi-tiered observing and analysis frameworks. As Carbon Project Scientist, Dan will create and coordinate Carbon Mapper’s research program with a broad range of scientific partners while engaging with these entities and end users to improve Carbon Mapper data products. Dan will lead the overall methane and CO2 science enterprise for Carbon Mapper, working with team members to devise observing strategies and providing technical guidance for Carbon Mapper’s operational data platform.

Ritech Gautam received his PhD degree in Earth System & Geoinformation Sciences from George Mason University, Virginia. He then joined the Climate and Radiation Laboratory of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center where he received the scientific leadership award. Next, he became an Assistant Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay in the Center of Studies in Resources Engineering as well as an affiliate faculty in the Interdisciplinary Program in Climate studies. His research area experience includes atmospheric aerosols and their climate effects, remote sensing of aerosols/clouds/snow, and spatio-temporal analysis of multisensor satellite observations.Now, he works in the Office of Chief Scientist where his current research focuses on remote sensing of methane and other pollutant emissions from the oil and gas sector.

Evan Sherwin received his PhD in Engineering and Public Policy and his MS, in Machine Learning, both from Carnegie Mellon University. He is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Energy and Resources Engineering at Stanford University.