Landfill operators need to understand the leak sources and concentration of methane throughout their facilities, especially with satellite systems identifying and reporting methane plumes. While aerial systems can identify large concentrations of gas, the only way to pinpoint the leak locations is to measure at the surface level before wind and other environmental factors intervene.

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For this reason, the US Environmental Protection Agency only accepts surface-level measurements for landfill emissions compliance reporting. The only allowable methods are Method 21 (walking a landfill with a handheld CH4 monitor) and OTM-51, utilizing unmanned aerial drones to traverse the landfill and collect ground-level methane samples.