NASA Launches Satellite to Monitor Methane Emissions

News Excerpt:

Recently, a satellite named Tanager-1, developed by a coalition of organizations including NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

More detail about News

  • This satellite is designed to detect significant sources of carbon dioxide and methane emissions.
  • The launch of Tanager-1 comes shortly after the launch of MethaneSat, another satellite dedicated to tracking and measuring methane emissions, which was launched in early March.

About Tanager-1

  • Tanager-1 employs advanced imaging spectrometer technology from Jet Propulsion Laboratory to monitor methane and carbon dioxide emissions.
  • It works by analyzing light reflected from Earth's surface across numerous wavelengths.
  • Different atmospheric compounds, including methane and carbon dioxide, absorb specific wavelengths of light, leaving unique spectral 'fingerprints' that the imaging spectrometer can detect.
  • These infrared signatures allow researchers to identify and measure significant greenhouse gas emissions, which could enhance efforts to mitigate climate change.
  • The satellite will provide detailed measurements of emissions at individual facilities and equipment on a global scale, covering 130,000 square kilometers of the Earth’s surface each day.
  • Scientists will use the data to detect gas plumes with distinct spectral signatures of methane and carbon dioxide and trace their sources.
  • This data will be made publicly accessible online.

Significance of Tracking Methane Emissions 

  • Methane, although invisible, is a potent greenhouse gas and the second largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide, responsible for approximately 30% of global heating since the Industrial Revolution.
  • According to the United Nations Environment Programme, methane is 80 times more effective at warming the atmosphere than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.
  • Additionally, methane contributes to the formation of ground-level ozone, a harmful gas that forms just above the Earth's surface.
  • A 2022 report indicates that exposure to ground-level ozone may be linked to one million premature deaths annually.
  • Reducing methane emissions is crucial, with fossil fuel operations being a major source, accounting for about 40% of all human-caused methane emissions.

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