Plume Snitch
Satellites caught your methane leak. We're putting it on the internet — with maps, emission rates, and receipts.
Consumer-facing methane super-emitter accountability — cross-referencing satellite plume detections from Carbon Mapper, SRON/TROPOMI, MethaneSAT, and UNEP IMEO with EPA facility ownership data to publish automated, opinionated weekly dispatches that name the companies, facilities, and regions responsible for the planet's worst methane leaks. Think "naming and shaming with satellite receipts" — beautiful maps, facility scorecards, corporate leaderboards, and country rankings, all auto-generated from free public data.
Niche Explored
Satellite-detected methane super-emitters — consumer-facing accountability intelligence that names the facilities, companies, and countries responsible for the planet’s worst methane leaks, using free satellite data from multiple independent space-based sensors.
Existing Competition
- UCLA STOP Methane (Substack) — academic, publishes occasional rankings (Top 25 plumes), limited audience, not visual, no interactive maps or facility profiles. ~small subscriber base.
- superpollute (Substack) — occasional methane data viz, very niche, not automated, not accountability-focused.
- Carbon Mapper Portal — raw data portal with API. Technical, no editorial voice, no accountability framing. Designed for researchers, not consumers.
- MethaneSAT Portal — beautiful map but no editorial content, no facility scorecards, no storytelling. Pure data visualization tool.
- UNEP Eye on Methane / MARS — institutional, bureaucratic, alerts go to governments not the public. Beta map.
- InfluenceMap — policy-focused methane bulletins, corporate lobbying angle, not consumer-facing.
- Gizmodo / mainstream media — occasional articles (e.g., “Feds Downplaying Permian Basin Leaks” March 2026) but no systematic tracking.
GAP: No one is running a beautiful, opinionated, weekly data-journalism site that automatically pulls satellite plume detections, cross-references them with EPA facility data and corporate ownership, and publishes named-and-shamed facility report cards with maps, charts, and attitude. The data is free. The audience is massive. The site doesn’t exist.
Data Sources Found
- Carbon Mapper STAC API —
api.carbonmapper.org— free, open, plume-level methane + CO2 observations with coordinates, emission rates (kg/hr), sector attribution. STAC + REST endpoints. Updated frequently with Tanager-1 satellite + aircraft data. - SRON TROPOMI Methane Plume Maps —
sron.nl/methane-plume-maps— Machine-learning-detected plumes from Sentinel-5P TROPOMI. Global coverage, ~7km resolution. CSV/GeoJSON downloads. - Copernicus CAMS Methane Hotspot Explorer —
atmosphere.copernicus.eu— plume shape data with attribution, integrates TROPOMI. Free access. - MethaneSAT Data —
data.methanesat.org— Google Earth Engine + Cloud. Oil & gas basin-level methane intensity. Area + point source emissions. - EPA GHGRP RESTful API —
epa.gov/enviro/greenhouse-gas-restful-data-service— Facility-level GHG reporting, 8,000+ facilities, subpart-level methane data. Free REST endpoints. - EPA FLIGHT Tool —
ghgdata.epa.gov— Facility Level Information on GreenHouse gases. Searchable, downloadable. - UNEP IMEO Eye on Methane —
methanedata.unep.org— MARS alerts, plume map, validated emissions. Beta API. - NASA EMIT — ISS-mounted instrument detecting methane super-emitters. Data available through NASA Earthdata.
- Sentinel-5P Downloader (sentinel5dl) — Python library for direct Sentinel-5P product access. PyPI package.
- Global Methane Pledge tracker — Country commitments, progress tracking.
SEO Analysis
- Keywords: “methane leak near me”, “methane super emitters”, “methane satellite tracking”, “who pollutes methane”, “methane emissions by company”
- “methane leak” — high search volume, growing since 2022. Spikes with news events.
- “satellite methane detection” — growing market ($3.6B+ projected), search volume rising ~340%+ since 2023
- “PFAS near me” trend proved consumers want local pollution data — methane is the next frontier
- Content gap: no consumer site ranks for “methane emissions [company name]” or “methane leak [state/region]”
- Long-tail goldmine: “methane emissions Permian Basin”, “methane leak Pennsylvania”, “methane pollution California”
Communities
- r/environment (22M+ members), r/climate, r/energy
- Climate Twitter/X — massive engagement on satellite imagery of plumes
- Environmental justice communities — local pollution is deeply personal
- #ClimateAction, #MethaneEmissions hashtags
- Oil & gas industry workers who want accountability
- Journalist/researcher community that needs accessible data
Image/Graphic Feasibility
- Excellent. Satellite plume imagery is inherently visual and shareable.
- Auto-generate: heat maps, facility scorecards with gauges, country leaderboards with flags, time-series charts, geographic proximity maps
- Can overlay plume polygons on satellite base maps using Mapbox/Leaflet
- Infographic-style “worst offender” cards are highly shareable
- Color-coded severity scales (green → red) for emission rates
- Before/after satellite imagery comparisons
Sources
- https://api.carbonmapper.org/ — STAC API + REST docs
- https://api.carbonmapper.org/api/v1/docs — API documentation
- https://carbonmapper.org/data — data overview
- https://www.sron.nl/en/pillars/science/earth/methane/methane-plume-maps/ — SRON plumes
- https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/ghg-services/cams-methane-hotspot-explorer — Copernicus hotspots
- https://data.methanesat.org/ — MethaneSAT portal
- https://methanedata.unep.org/ — UNEP IMEO Eye on Methane
- https://www.epa.gov/enviro/greenhouse-gas-restful-data-service — EPA GHGRP API
- https://epa.gov/ghgreporting/ghg-reporting-program-data-sets — EPA datasets
- https://ghgdata.epa.gov/ghgp/main.do — FLIGHT tool
- https://sentinel5dl.emissions-api.org/home.html — Sentinel-5P downloader
- https://stopmethane.substack.com/ — UCLA STOP Methane
- https://gizmodo.com/feds-are-downplaying-methane-leaks-in-americas-biggest-oil-field-satellite-data-suggests-2000736269 — Gizmodo Permian Basin (March 2026)
- https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/26/2941/2026/ — MethaneSAT peer-reviewed paper (Feb 2026)