Chimaera is an interactive siting tool for geologic hydrogen testbeds in the United States. It is built on the USGS Professional Paper 1900 prospectivity dataset — the definitive public-domain geology assessment for native hydrogen — and adds four overlays that the USGS work does not provide: land access and mineral rights status, regulatory friction by state, infrastructure and offtake proximity, and philanthropic leverage signals.
The output is a Deployment Readiness Index (DRI) per 1 km² cell, designed to help fund staff, testbed operators, and researchers identify candidate evaluation sites — not drill targets.
Built by Ito Geospatial LLC.
Gelman, S.E., Hearon, J.S., and Ellis, G.S., 2025,
Prospectivity Mapping for Geologic Hydrogen:
U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1900.
https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1900
Gelman, S.E., Hearon, J.S., and Ellis, G.S., 2025,
Data release for Prospectivity Mapping for Geologic Hydrogen:
U.S. Geological Survey data release.
https://doi.org/10.5066/P13WCG5U
The PP1900 dataset includes 44 raster layers: 19 input maps across geology, geophysics, and geochemistry, and 7 integrated prospectivity maps. This tool currently displays the integrated composite. All PP1900 data are public domain (U.S. government work).
| Layer | Source | Weight (v1) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| USGS PP1900 Prospectivity | USGS Professional Paper 1900 | 40% | Live |
| Land Access Score | BLM SMA, PAD-US, BIA Tribal, state trust | 20% | Phase 1 |
| Regulatory Friction | State geoH₂ legal status, BLM 2920, NEPA proxies | 15% | Phase 2 |
| Infrastructure Proximity | EIA pipelines, existing wells, rail (BTS) | 10% | Phase 2 |
| Offtake Proximity | HIFLD facilities, H2Hubs, refineries, steel, aluminum | 10% | Phase 2 |
| Chimaera Leverage Bonus | RenPhil parcels, Chimaera target geographies, grant footprint | 5% | Phase 3 |
All sub-scores are normalized 0–1 before weighting. Tribal sovereign lands and PAD-US Status 1 areas (national parks, wilderness) are hard-masked and return a null DRI with an explanatory note. DRI weights are user-adjustable via sliders in Phase 3. Full methodology documentation coming in v0.2.
This tool does not estimate resource volumes. It does not identify drill targets. The DRI identifies candidate areas for testbed evaluation. Any site identified by this tool as high-DRI requires independent geological, regulatory, and stakeholder assessment before any subsurface activity.
Tribal lands are masked and never presented as "available." Nation-to-nation engagement is required for any activity on or near Tribal sovereign lands.