The complexities of urban environments—like variable winds off tall buildings or surfaces—significantly impair the ability to detect natural gas leaks from underground pipelines, a new study shows. SMU researchers found that detection probability can be reduced by 16 percentage points for methane gas leaks from main pipelines and by as much as 38 percentage points for service line leaks in urban areas, compared to rural settings.
Why city street surveys miss methane leaks, and what that means for safety
