Midwave-infrared camera image of the Elgin Wellhead Platform (Total) off the coast of Scotland. Methane gas has been leaking from the wellhead of the platform for the last three days. The pictures were shot at 13.30 CET during a flight which had to keep a security distance of three nautical miles around and 4000ft above Elgin.
The camera detects specific absorption rates or proportions of atmospheric gases and visualize them in different color gradations, in this case pink (colors can be set freely, even black and white would be possible).
All transparent pink areas are gas. Sometimes “colors” overlap, but have different saturations hence different meanings. We can state where is gas and where is only a gas reflection gas from vapor. The reflection on the lower side of the sky cloud shows that the measuring is properly, because the gas cloud is in the center of the effect.