AiRMAPS Goals

Objectives

The OAR and NESDIS strategy encompasses four principal research objectives:

1. Establish a current top-down best estimate of U.S. oil and gas methane and air pollutant emissions for future evaluations and trend analysis;
2. Demonstrate the use and value of a tiered, integrated greenhouse gas observing system consisting of light and heavy aircraft providing comprehensive airborne surveys, satellite- and aircraft-based remote sensing, and ground-based long- and short-term observations;
3. Evaluate civilian and commercial spaceborne remote sensing methods for the detection and quantification of methane and other pollutants from diverse source sectors with a wide dynamic range of emissions using a methodology consistent with current standards and definitions; and
4. Quantify greenhouse gas and co-emitted air pollutant emissions and impacts from the end use of oil and gas in urban testbed areas in support of evaluating and improving inventories (e.g. EPA Greenhouse Gas Inventory (GHGI) and NOAA-NIST Greenhouse Gas And Air Pollutants Emissions System (GRA²PES)).