Integrated Estimation of Coal Mine Methane Emissions in China Using Satellite, Surface, and Underground Observations

Coal mining represents a predominant source of anthropogenic methane emissions, with China’s approximately 4,000 active mines driving a significant portion of global output from this sector. Accurately quantifying these emissions is therefore critical both for global climate mitigation and for informing targeted environmental governance in China’s key coal-producing regions.

In China, underground gas monitoring systems have long been deployed in coal mines for safety purposes, providing valuable baseline data for emission accounting. However, monitoring capabilities vary widely across mines: most track only ventilation systems, while a smaller number also collect data from gas extraction stations. Additionally, while some mines maintain long-term continuous monitoring records, others can supply data for only a few months. As a result, existing underground observations do not fully or consistently reflect the overall methane emissions from China’s coal mining sector.

Satellite observations offer an emerging technological approach for monitoring coal mine methane emissions. Instruments such as S5P/TROPOMI have been preliminarily applied to quantify emissions in coal-intensive regions of China, while point-source satellites like GF5, EMIT, and PRISMA have successfully identified distinct methane plumes from so-called “super-emitter” mines. Nevertheless, limitations in spatial resolution (e.g., from S5P/TROPOMI) and spectral resolution (from point-source satellites) constrain the ability of current satellite technology to support policy-relevant and management-level monitoring. To overcome these constraints, satellite-based retrievals must be integrated with and calibrated by underground and ground-based observational data.

Embracing a Satellite-Surface-Underground synergy research framework, the "Remote Sensing of Carbon Emissions and Air Quality" team at China University of Mining and Technology has conducted field observational experiments at over ten coal mines across China. These efforts have improved existing remote sensing methods for methane emissions. The team has developed China’s most comprehensive, manually verified geographic information database of coal mine emission facilities to date and established a high-resolution methane emission database for the coal mining industry in typical regions. This report will systematically present the team’s latest research progress in the aforementioned areas and outline plans for future work.