Google Maps Methane Emissions Globally with New AI Model

Google and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) have developed an AI model called MAPL-EMIT that can track methane emissions globally from space. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, with a warming potential 30 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 100-year timeframe.

The model was trained on 3.6 million physics-simulated methane plumes and has been shown to detect 50% more plumes than human experts and identify over 23,000 additional plumes globally, including 24 out of 25 of the world's largest-emitting landfills.

The researchers made their global plume database available on Earth Engine alongside an app to visualize the data. The open-source models are also available on Kaggle and inference tools can be found on GitHub to support researchers, policymakers, and operators.