Satish Kumar and his graduate research team at UC Santa Barbara’s Vision Research Lab have led the charge in developing an AI-based methane detection tool called MethaneMapper .
This first-of-its-kind software can spot methane gas via complex algorithms. The algorithms analyze multiple visual spectrums of images taken from custom-built cameras 10,000 feet aboveground.
“We made a tool to detect methane because methane is a very dangerous gas when it comes to global warming,” Kumar said. “Thirty percent of global warming is caused by methane.”