In the present study, a Semi-automated Empirical Methane Emission Model (SEMEM) has been developed and used for estimation of methane from wetlands using MODIS (MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data. The model has two key factors, namely temperature and productivity. Area extent of different wetlands has been estimated based on knowledge-based classifier using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, optical bands (1, 2 and 3) with thermal channel (31 and 32) data.
Land Surface Temperature has been generated using Split Window Method of first-order approximation. Based on the analysis of MODIS data, methane emission from wetlands has been estimated for India pertaining to the months of May and October 2005. Results show that emitted methane in May 2005 was 0.329 Tg with 29,308.27 km2 total methane-emitting area, whereas in October 2005 the total emitted methane was 0.466 Tg with 76,340.92 km2 methane-emitting area.