Abstract

Selecting Tower Locations for Monitoring Methane Emissions using GIS
Track: Petroleum
Authors: Rebecca Winkel

When selecting tower locations to monitor methane levels a Midwestern university needed to avoid locations with strong methane sources. We overlaid proposed sites with oil and gas well locations and used buffers to count wells within a 5km radius. We identified the best locations as buffer zones with the fewest wells. This same approach can be used in other applications to identify optimal project locations. Though the steps are relatively straightforward, GIS technology is crucial for this type of analysis.