Vista-LA Methane Source Map for Los Angeles Air Basin

Vista-LA is a GIS database mapping over 33,000 potential methane-emitting facilities and infrastructure across the South Coast Air Basin of California. NASA compiled this dataset from public agency records between 2012 and 2017 to address gaps in urban methane inventories. The database organizes entries into thirteen distinct infrastructure maps.

Use Cases

• Analyzing spatial distribution of potential methane sources like landfills and gas infrastructure.
• Validating atmospheric methane measurements against ground facility locations.
• Developing urban-scale gridded emission models for air quality management.
• Assessing infrastructure density and type as a proxy for emission hotspots.

Strengths

• Contains over 33,000 georeferenced entries for detailed spatial analysis.
• Integrates data from multiple local, state, and federal public sources for cross-validation.
• Classifies sources into thirteen distinct infrastructure maps for organized study.

Limitations

• Specific column names and data schema are not provided by any source.
• Conflicting last update dates exist between platforms (2017 vs. 2026), suggesting metadata inconsistency.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without clear terms.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Compiled from an assortment of publicly available data sources from local, state, and federal agencies.

Time Range

2012 to 2017

Freshness

2026-03-12 21:31:21.306631

Geography

South Coast Air Basin (SoCAB), California, USA, including urbanized portions of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties.