Edge AI cameras · Updated October 2026
Methane detection cameras and hyperspectral imaging
Methane has no color and no smell, so a leak shows up only to a camera that reads the infrared light the gas absorbs. This guide explains how hyperspectral and infrared cameras find methane, how they are deployed, and where a fixed camera at a site fits.
Quick answers
- Can a camera see methane? Yes, if it reads infrared: methane absorbs infrared light at its own wavelengths, and a hyperspectral or infrared camera records that absorption as a plume. More
- What is a hyperspectral camera? A camera that records a full spectrum of light in every pixel, so software can tell which substance is in front of it. More
- Where is methane in the spectrum? Hydrocarbons such as methane absorb at about 2,100 to 2,500 nm, far past the 400 nm where visible light starts. More
- How are methane cameras deployed? On planes, helicopters and drones for surveys, on satellites for wide areas, and on fixed mounts for continuous monitoring of one site. More
- Why do leaks matter so much? Over 20 years methane traps about 80 times the heat of carbon dioxide, and lost gas costs the industry an estimated $60 billion a year. More
- 135 Mtof methane emitted worldwide in 2022, by the IEA's estimate
- 80×the heat carbon dioxide traps over 20 years, ton for ton
- 14×more methane from Permian Basin gathering lines than officials estimated
- $60 Ba year in lost gas, one industry estimate for the energy sector
Why do methane leaks matter?
Methane is most of the raw natural gas that pipelines carry, and it leaks at every stage: production, processing, storage and distribution. The amounts are larger than most people expect.
The IEA estimates that close to 135 million metric tons of methane were emitted worldwide in 2022. Satellites have picked out "super-emitter" sites in Turkmenistan, Russia and the US. In 2022 they recorded the Raspadskaya coal mine in Russia releasing 95 metric tons an hour.
Single accidents add to that. The Aliso Canyon storage leak in California released nearly 100,000 metric tons in 2015, and the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosion released up to 400,000 metric tons, one of the largest on record.
Methane breaks down in seven to twelve years, much faster than carbon dioxide, but over 20 years it traps about 80 times as much heat. The IEA puts methane behind about 30% of the rise in global temperature since the industrial revolution. The gas that escapes is also product that is never sold: one industry estimate puts the loss at $60 billion a year, and operators with few pipelines must watch them continuously, because a leak can force a shutdown.
Why is methane hard to detect?
Many leaks from industry, farms and landfills go unreported because nobody sees them. In the Permian Basin, gathering pipelines leak 14 times more methane than officials estimate.
No color, no smell
Pure methane is invisible and odorless. A visible-light camera records nothing, and a person on site notices nothing until a fixed gas sensor happens to sit in the plume.
Small plumes that spread fast
Methane is lighter than air, so it rises and thins out quickly. In an image the plume covers only a few pixels and is hard to separate from the background.
False alarms from other gases
Other hydrocarbons and pollutants can look like methane to a simple sensor. Background clutter in the image adds more false positives.
Manual review does not scale
With conventional cameras an expert sifts through the footage by hand. That is slow across thousands of kilometers of pipe, and people miss things. This is why operators are moving to hyperspectral cameras with automatic detection.
What is a hyperspectral camera?
A hyperspectral camera records the full spectrum of light in every pixel, well past what the eye sees. Each chemical absorbs its own set of wavelengths, so the spectrum identifies what is in the pixel.
An ordinary color camera splits light into three bands: red, green and blue. A hyperspectral camera splits it into many narrow bands, from visible light into the infrared. The infrared part is the one that matters for gas.
A hyperspectral system for gas work reads from about 400 nm, where visible light starts, to about 2,500 nm. Hydrocarbons such as methane absorb in the 2,100 to 2,500 nm band at the far end of that range. When the camera sees a dip in exactly those wavelengths, the pixel contains a hydrocarbon.
That ability to name the substance is why hyperspectral cameras are used for remote sensing of hydrocarbons, from aircraft and from orbit, and why they are becoming the standard tool for finding and tracking methane plumes automatically.
How does a methane detection camera find a leak?
In three stages: the camera detects the absorption, a model analyzes the spectrum, and software draws the plume on a map. Machine learning does the work a person used to do by eye.
1. Detection
A methane plume absorbs infrared sunlight passing through it and leaves a spectral fingerprint. The camera records every pixel as a full spectrum, so the fingerprint is in the data even when the image looks empty.
2. Analysis
A trained model reads each spectrum from the visible range at about 400 nm up to 2,100 to 2,500 nm. Narrowing the band it looks at lets it separate methane from other hydrocarbons, even at low concentration.
3. Visualization
The detected plume is drawn on a live map. Combined with mapping software and location data, it shows the size of the plume, where it is heading and where it came from: the source of the leak.
How are methane detection cameras deployed?
Where the camera sits decides what it can cover and how often it looks. Surveys from the air and from orbit cover large areas; a fixed camera watches one site all the time.
Planes, helicopters and drones
Airborne cameras scan pipelines and well pads over wide areas and rough terrain. A survey shows the rate and direction a plume is moving and collects a lot of data in one flight.
Satellites
Spectral satellites scan whole regions, including deserts and oceans. Several can combine their views to strengthen a weak signal, pinpoint a source and send aircraft to look closer.
Fixed cameras at a site
A camera on a mast at a compressor station, valve yard or tank farm looks at the same equipment all day. It sees a leak when it starts, instead of at the next survey, and sends an alert rather than hours of video.
Where this applies at Maxlab
Tokay Pro is our Linux camera for fixed-site vision work. It runs on an NXP i.MX 8M Plus with a 2.3 TOPS neural processing unit, so the detection model runs in the camera and only results leave it. Three MIPI-CSI ports take up to three sensors at once: the standard 8 MP IMX219 for visible light, with a thermal or spectral module beside it. The sensor that sees methane depends on the band and range a project needs, and we choose it with you.
We design the rest around it as well: enclosure, power, firmware and the link to your monitoring system or to Rainforest IoT, our hosted device platform. Past projects are on our work page, and the services page covers how a custom camera goes from prototype to production.
- Compute
- i.MX 8M Plus, 2.3 TOPS NPU, Linux
- Sensors
- Up to 3 at once: visible, thermal, spectral
- Module rating
- Industrial grade, −40 °C to +85 °C
- Availability
- By quote, evaluation unit or batch
Planning a camera to watch a gas site
Tell us what you need to watch, how far away the camera can sit and how you want alerts delivered. We reply within 24 hours.
Or email [email protected] or book a 30-minute call.
Common questions
What is a methane detection camera?
A camera that shows methane, which the eye cannot see, by reading the infrared light the gas absorbs. Hyperspectral versions record a full spectrum in every pixel and use a trained model to confirm that the absorption is methane and not another gas.
Can an infrared or thermal camera detect methane leaks?
Only one built for it. A general thermal camera measures surface temperature and does not tell gases apart. A gas-imaging camera is filtered to the infrared wavelengths methane absorbs, so the plume shows up in the picture. A hyperspectral camera goes further and reads the whole spectrum, which lets software name the gas.
What type of camera is best for detecting gas leaks?
It depends on what you need to cover. Airborne hyperspectral cameras on planes, helicopters or drones survey long pipelines; satellites scan whole regions for large emitters; a fixed camera on a mast watches one compressor station or tank farm continuously and alerts when a leak starts.
What is optical gas imaging?
Optical gas imaging (OGI) means using an infrared camera to make a gas visible. Because methane absorbs infrared light at its own wavelengths, a leak appears as a moving cloud in the image, and an inspector or a model can trace it back to the fitting it comes from.
How does a hyperspectral camera tell methane from other hydrocarbons?
Each gas absorbs its own pattern of wavelengths. The camera records the spectrum in each pixel from about 400 nm up to the 2,100 to 2,500 nm band where hydrocarbons absorb, and the model narrows the band it checks until only methane matches. That cuts the false alarms other gases and pollutants cause in simpler sensors.
Can a camera measure how much methane is leaking?
It can estimate it. With mapping software and location data, the system measures the size of the plume and tracks the rate and direction it is moving, which gives an estimate of the leak and points to its source.
Can a methane camera monitor a site continuously?
Yes, when it is mounted at the site instead of flown over it. A fixed camera running its detection model on board, such as one built on Tokay Pro with a thermal or spectral sensor, checks the same equipment around the clock and sends an alert instead of streaming video.
How do satellites detect methane?
Satellites carry spectral instruments that scan wide areas, including deserts and oceans that aircraft rarely cover. Several satellites can combine their views to strengthen a weak methane signal and locate the source, then direct aircraft to the site for a closer look.
Why is methane so hard to detect without a special camera?
It has no color or smell, it is lighter than air and spreads quickly, and in an image a plume covers only a few pixels. Research on the Permian Basin found gathering lines leaking 14 times more methane than officials had estimated.
