Tia Scarpelli: Using remote sensing to investigate landfill emissions and inform mitigation action

Abstract

Landfills and dumpsites are a major source of methane emissions in many jurisdictions spread across the world, so there is a need in the waste sector for robust monitoring frameworks that can scale globally but provide insights at the facility. Satellites are a key tool for understanding these complex emission sources. We will walk through use-cases of remote sensing data in the waste sector, including process-level insights to inform best practices and zooming out to global scale to identify mitigation opportunities.

Bio

Tia is a research scientist and the Waste Sector Lead for Carbon Mapper, a non-profit organization that is working to map and quantify large methane and carbon dioxide emissions sources globally with remote sensing satellites. In her research she investigates the causes of methane emissions at landfills and dumpsites. She works with varied stakeholders, ranging from government to industry, to understand how satellite data and insights from scientific research can support climate goals and inform mitigation actions.