Description
This report presents findings from EREF’s third controlled-release study evaluating methane measurement technologies at a closed landfill in Ontario, Canada. Conducted in May-June 2025, the study tested 21 participant teams across a range of platforms including trucks, drones, fixed sensor networks, walking surveys, aircraft, and satellites — the most expansive field evaluation to date.
The results mark a clear maturation point for several technologies. Truck-based tracer correlation remained the most reliable whole-site quantification method, while fixed-point continuous sensor systems showed dramatic improvement driven entirely by software and algorithm refinements rather than new hardware. Satellite detection achieved a first at the site, with one system successfully detecting controlled releases — though results were highly dependent on wind data and plume configuration. A newly tested aircraft-mounted hyperspectral imaging system showed striking spatial resolution, clearly imaging individual emission sources from the air.
Drone-based systems continued to demonstrate strong detection capability, with performance gains tied more to flight strategy and data interpretation than sensor hardware. Walking surveys improved when spacing and thresholds were tightened, but those gains came with significantly higher labor demands and elevated false positive rates.
Taken together, the 2025 results show that modern measurement technologies can deliver reliable landfill-scale emission data — and that algorithms, deployment strategy, and data analysis are often just as important as the technology itself.
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