An effective characterization of gas flaring is hampered by the lack of systematic, complete and reliable data on its magnitude and spatial distribution. In the last years, a few satellite methods have been developed to provide independent information on gas flaring activity at global, national and local scale. Among these, a MODIS-based method, aimed at the computation of gas flared volumes by an Italian plant, was proposed. In this work, a more general version of this approach, named RST-FLARE, has been developed to provide reliable information on flaring sites localization and gas emitted volumes over a long time period for the Niger Delta region, one of the top five gas flaring areas in the world. Achieved results showed a good level of accuracy, in terms of flaring sites localization (95% of spatial match) and volume estimates (mean bias between in 16% and 20%, at annual scale and 2⁻9% in the long period) when compared to independent data, provided both by other satellite techniques and national/international organizations. Outcomes of this work seem to indicate that RST-FLARE can be used to provide, at different geographic scales, quite accurate data on gas flaring, suitable for monitoring purposes for governments and local authorities.
Keywords: BTE; MODIS; RST-FLARE; flaring sites detection; gas flared volumes computation; gas flaring; remote sensing.