Geophysical Research Letters Geophysical Research Letters 0094-8276 1944-8007 06 28 2016 43 12 10.1002/grl.v43.12 https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19448007/43/12 Space‐based remote imaging spectroscopy of the Aliso Canyon CH <sub>4</sub> superemitter D. R. Thompson Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA A. K. Thorpe Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1100-7550 C. Frankenberg Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA R. O. Green Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA R. Duren Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA L. Guanter Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences Potsdam Germany A. Hollstein Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences Potsdam Germany E. Middleton NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt Maryland USA L. Ong NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt Maryland USA S. Ungar EO‐1 Scientist Emeritus NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt Maryland USA; Senior Research Scientist, Universities Space Research Association Abstract

The Aliso Canyon gas storage facility near Porter Ranch, California, produced a large accidental CH 4 release from October 2015 to February 2016. The Hyperion imaging spectrometer on board the EO‐1 satellite successfully detected this event, achieving the first orbital attribution of CH 4 to a single anthropogenic superemitter. Hyperion measured shortwave infrared signatures of CH 4 near 2.3 μm at 0.01 μm spectral resolution and 30 m spatial resolution. It detected the plume on three overpasses, mapping its magnitude and morphology. These orbital observations were consistent with measurements by airborne instruments. We evaluate Hyperion instrument performance, draw implications for future orbital instruments, and extrapolate the potential for a global survey of CH 4 superemitters.

Key Points

The EO‐1 Hyperion spectrometer measured CH 4 from the Aliso Canyon release, achieving the first orbital detection of a CH 4 superemitter plume

Multiple airborne observations by the AVIRIS‐C imaging spectrometer corroborate the plume morphology and magnitude

Empirical precision agrees with analytical instrument performance models and suggests potential for orbital superemitter surveys

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