Investigation of Impact to Climate Change of Metan Emission of Underground Mines and Thermal Power Plants Using Sentinel-5p TROPOMI Satellite Data from GEE Platform

Abstract. Emissions from mines are important, but have not been sufficiently characterised to date. Air pollutant emissions from underground mine, and gases from industrial plant sites where large quantities of coal are stored, adversely affect the environment and human health and contribute to climate change. In this study, the emission distribution structure of atmosphere free methane gas from three ventilation systems of the underground production area within the borders of Kilimli district of Zonguldak Hard Coal Basin located in the Northwest region of Turkey and methane outflows in coal storage areas from five thermal power plants in the basin were analysed with Sentinel-5p TROPOMI satellite sensor data from Google Earth Engine (GEE) Platform for the years 2019–2023. For the conversion of TROPOMI sensor values in Mol/m² unit to gas outlet flow rate values in m³/min unit, CH₄ flow rate measurement data from the sensors at the emission outlet points of the Turkish Hard Coal Authority (TTK) were used. R² = 0.5601 and r = 0.75 correlation values were obtained from 13 common observations with a linear regression model. At the underground emission exit points, 5-year average flow rate values of 2.71 m³/min at Arslan Garden (ASB), 2.77 m³/min at exit point 140 and 2.79 m³/min at exit point 52 were calculated with the transformed TROPOMI data. Accordingly, it was determined that an average of 4,346 Million m³ of methane gas was released into the atmosphere annually and 21,730 Million m³ of methane gas was released in a total of five years.