How Does Gas Mapping LiDAR™ Work?

Gas Mapping LiDAR™ (GML)

Gas Mapping LiDAR™ (GML) is Bridger Photonics’ proprietary aerial methane detection technology. It combines laser-based sensors with advanced data processing to detect, locate, and quantify methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure, all from the air.

Unlike traditional inspection methods, Gas Mapping LiDAR delivers geospatial data with quantified emission rates, enabling fast, accurate surveys across entire basins or regions. It’s built specifically to support leak detection, compliance reporting, and emissions reduction strategies.

Why It Matters

Methane is invisible to the naked eye, but it’s a critical target for emissions management and regulatory compliance. Gas Mapping LiDAR turns methane leaks into measurable, mappable data that oil and gas operators can act on.

Benefits include:

Wide-area scans completed up to 10 times faster than ground crews
Quantified emission rates to support compliance and ESG reporting
Geo-located results for efficient repair planning
Consistent, repeatable results for tracking mitigation progress

By combining advanced LiDAR hardware with proprietary data analytics, Bridger’s Gas Mapping LiDAR helps operators reduce emissions, improve operational efficiency, and meet evolving regulatory requirements.

How It Works (Brief Technical)

Gas Mapping LiDAR uses aircraft-mounted LiDAR sensors that emit laser pulses toward the ground. As the laser travels through the air, methane plumes absorb specific wavelengths of light. The system detects this absorption and calculates methane concentrations along the flight path.

Here’s what the process looks like:

The aircraft flies a pre-planned route over oil and gas infrastructure
The LiDAR system emits rapid pulses of light and measures the return signal
Methane concentrations are calculated based on absorption patterns
Proprietary algorithms localize the leak source and quantify the emission rate
The result is a high-resolution, geo-tagged emissions map for each site

Key Applications in Oil and Gas

Detecting and quantifying fugitive methane emissions
Surveying entire oil and gas basins efficiently
Supporting LDAR, OGMP, OOOOb, and other regulatory programs
Setting and tracking ESG goals
Prioritizing and validating leak repairs
Streamlining compliance and audit preparation

Related: Aerial Methane Detection, Methane Quantification, Localization, Fugitive Emissions

FAQs

Q: What makes Gas Mapping LiDAR different from other methane detecting systems?

A: Bridger’s system is purpose-built for methane detection. It combines ultra-sensitive LiDAR hardware with proprietary data analytics to deliver quantified emissions data at basin scale, something off-the-shelf LiDAR systems can’t do.
Q: How accurate is Gas Mapping LiDAR?

A: It can locate leaks within meters (about 6 feet) and quantify emissions as low as a few kilograms per hour, depending on conditions. Bridger’s system is calibrated and validated to meet strict performance standards, and it’s trusted by 9 of the top 10 U.S. natural gas producers.
Q: Does Gas Mapping LiDAR meet EPA reporting requirements?

A: Yes. It provides the quantified data and documentation needed to support compliance with U.S. EPA methane regulations, including Subpart OOOOb.
Q: How quickly can surveys be completed?

A: A single flight can cover hundreds of sites in a day, enabling full-basin scans in a fraction of the time required by ground-based methods.
Q: What kind of output do operators receive?

A: Clients receive a report with geo-tagged emissions data, leak size, and site-level summaries that can be used to guide repairs and document progress.