Rationale, historical developments and advances in remote sensing of gas flares

摘要

Gas flaring is one of the key processes used in major oil-producing countries to dispose of associated gas at oil production sites, processing plants, or refineries. It is a controversial process, which has raised global concerns, thus, generating research interests globally. Difficulties encountered in accessing official information on gas flaring prompted the development of alternative techniques for deriving vital flaring information from space. This review paper discussed the underlying principles of remote sensing of gas flares. In addition, historical developments in satellite flaring studies with various satellite imageries (AVHRR, DMSP-OLS, ATSR, Landsat, MODIS, Soumi-VIIRS and Sentinel-3 SLSTR) and recent advances were discussed. Advantages and limitations of the various techniques, as well as future directions and applications, were discussed to stimulate further research into this relatively nascent area of study.