The Lab.

Play engages a different kind of thinking and helps ideas stick. Change the assumptions, move the controls, and see what follows.

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EXPERIMENT 01 / DISPERSION / SYNTHETIC MEASUREMENT

How does wind turn emissions into measurements?

Place sources and monitors, change the wind and plume spread, then collect synthetic observations from an inspectable Gaussian plume model.

EVIDENCE LABELILLUSTRATIVE TEACHING MODELRead the model notes

INTERACTIVE / ILLUSTRATIVE DISPERSION MODEL

Methane Field Lab

Place sources and monitors, steer the wind, then collect synthetic observations from a model you can inspect.

COMPUTING IN YOUR BROWSER

Source flux

S1 emission flux24 kg CH₄/h

Wind + dispersion

Wind from 270° WWind speed 3.0 m/sDiffusion / plume spread 1.00×

Multiplies both lateral σ_y and vertical σ_z spread. It is an illustrative dispersion control, not a molecular diffusion coefficient.

Snapshot observation

Snapshot technology

SourcesContinuous monitors

Move S1

125 m east · 210 m north

Drag on the field. Keyboard: focus the field and use the arrow keys.

Total simulated flux24 kg/h

Monitors intercepting plume1 / 2

Fixed heatmap scale0–12 ppm

600 × 400 m simulated field■ source · ● monitor · • snapshot sample

Drag any source or monitor to move it. Keyboard: select an object, focus the field, and use the arrow keys.

CONTINUOUS NETWORK

What the monitors observe

Concentration is measured; emission rate is inferred through the assumed plume model.

Monitor	CH₄ enhancement	Plume status	Model-implied combined flux
M1	2.87 ppm	Intercepted	23.7 kg/h
M2	0.000 ppm	Outside modeled plume	Not estimable

LIVE CONTINUOUS MONITORS

Record the monitor network

PAUSED0 / 120 OBSERVATIONS8 READINGS / SECOND1 POINT = 5 SIMULATED SECONDS

M1 waiting M2 waiting

Press Play to begin collecting simultaneous observations from every continuous monitor.

Every update advances a seeded, mean-reverting random walk in wind direction and speed around your selected conditions, then re-evaluates the steady-state plume and adds seeded Gaussian monitor noise. The chart keeps the latest 120 observations and drops the oldest point as each new one arrives. It is a teaching stream, not a puff model, atmospheric forecast, or validated monitor specification.

SYNTHETIC OBSERVATION

Take a measurement snapshot

Drone transect: illustrative 0.15 ppm detection limit and 0.08 ppm baseline Gaussian noise. These are teaching assumptions, not vendor specifications.

Choose a technology and take a snapshot to generate synthetic data.

Teaching model only. It assumes continuous point releases, flat unobstructed terrain, a neutral-stability dispersion baseline with a user-controlled spread multiplier, constant wind, and no chemistry, buoyancy, deposition, or building effects. A real inversion requires calibrated instruments, defensible meteorology, uncertainty propagation, and validation against controlled releases.

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