Web-based Tools to Improve Access to Emissions Information

This project will develop easy-to-use online tools to help people better understand how winter ozone forms and affects air quality. Researchers will build simplified models that show how weather, sunlight, and emissions influence ozone levels. These tools, along with related datasets and visualizations, will be hosted on a public web platform so scientists, policymakers, and community members can explore and learn from the information. By making complex air quality data more accessible, the project aims to support better understanding and decision-making around winter ozone events.
Seth Lyman and Arjun Kulathuvayal
Project End: December 2026
Funding: Utah Public Lands Initiative, Utah Legislature 

basin energy

Project Updates

Updated October 2026

  • Major Findings and Updates:
    • Carbon mapper data stream optimization: Using the API, basinenergy.info fetch emission data from CarbonMapper regularly (everyday midnight) for CH4 and CO2 emission rates within the bounding box of Uintah Basin. The data can be visualized with desired set of dates. The GUI looks like as shown below; 

      basin energy
    • Included snapshot of local weather info in index page. 
    • Updated the About, Services, and Portfolio pages to reflect the latest information, activities, and developments at Bingham Research Center.
    • Addressed recently identified PHP security vulnerabilities to enhance website security and reliability. 
    • Integrated a real-time local weather snapshot into the website's homepage. 
    • Realtime data from the Pandonia Global Network (PGN) ( a worldwide network of ground-based spectrometer systems that measure atmospheric trace gases and air quality) added to the basinenergy.info. We use the data from the instrument installed in Dinosaur National Monument. 
    • Bug fixing/optimization/database management. 

  • Future Perspectives:
    • Backend API for accessing emission data from basinenergy.info for researchers, educators and students is under development expecting to be online shortly.  
    • AI bot chat to explain the emission scenario of Uintah basin to users are planned. 
    • AI generated monthly newsletter about emission data and new trends to the basinenergy.info subscribers. 
  • Problems:
    • None to report.


More Information

 


Web-based Tools to Access to Emissions Information

For this project, we will develop a web-based interface that land managers can use to access measurement-based information about pollutant emissions from the oil and gas industry in the Uinta Basin.  We will involve our stakeholder group and others in project design, execution, and reporting to ensure the collected data meet their needs. Oil and gas companies, regulators, and others can then use this measurement-based, quantitative information to assess the level of pollution emitted by different facilities and equipment types and how those emissions change in response to voluntary and regulatory actions to reduce emissions.

Drawing from experience in launching numerous web-based tools as a group, we will create a web-based interactive interface that allows stakeholders to view, interact with, and download a host of relevant information regarding pollutant emissions from the Uinta Basin oil and gas industry, including those generated on public lands.  The interface will include:

  • User-controlled displays of interannual trends in methane, non-methane organics, and NOx emissions in the Uinta Basin.
  • Summary information from aircraft and satellite surveys of Uinta Basin methane emissions.
  • A user-driven, state-of-the-science chemical model that predicts the air quality outcome of changes to Uinta Basin oil and gas emissions.
  • Summaries of key oil and gas-related emission source types, derived from USU studies, industry data, and official emissions inventories.  The summaries will include the percent of total emissions accounted for by each source type, how those emissions have changed over time, and where possible, the locations of the emission sources.
  • Information about emissions control technologies currently being tested or adopted in the Uinta Basin, their effectiveness, and their cost.
  • Links to external information about Uinta Basin emissions.

This project will provide several decision-making tools for a variety of stakeholder groups and will involve them in the development of those tools. With this information, they will have increased confidence in the emissions-reduction potential of various actions and will be able to ascertain the impact of those actions over time, leading to better air quality and climate outcomes for our region.

We already have some information related to this project online (https://ubenergyexplorer.streamlit.app/).  We expect to have a working web interface with some functionality by mid-2026, and the project will be completed by the end of 2026. Experience from developing the air-quality and weather website, BasinWx, provides the research team skills in, e.g., testing website stability, running on a cloud computing service efficiently, deploying AI tools, etc.