The American space agency NASA has launched an instrument to measure the world’s carbon and methane levels in an effort to help fight climate change.
The instrument is attached to a satellite called Tanager-1. It launched August 16 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Ground controllers reported they successfully established communications with the satellite shortly after launch.
A statement from NASA said the satellite is equipped with a gas-seeking instrument powered with “imaging spectrometer technology.” A spectrometer is an instrument used to study the chemical composition and structures of substances.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) developed the imaging spectrometer instrument. The joint project also involved other organizations, including Planet Labs PBC. The private company helped build the Tanager-1 satellite.
Tanager-1 is one of two satellites developed as part of the public-private partnership the Carbon Mapper Coalition. The other satellite has not yet been launched.
The coalition says it aims to support the collection of detailed data on methane and carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. The coalition hopes to use the data to drive reductions in methane and carbon pollution. Scientists have linked carbon and methane emissions to warming temperatures on Earth. Many climate experts blame most of the warming on pollution caused by human activities.
NASA says the instrument aboard Tanager-1 measures “hundreds of wavelengths of light that are reflected by Earth’s surface.” This method permits the instrument to find sources of carbon and methane based on the light wavelengths they show.
The process produces “fingerprints” that the imaging spectrometer can identify, NASA said. This data can be used to provide highly detailed information on where the world’s carbon and methane come from. The level of detail is so exact, it can even identify “individual facilities and equipment,” the space agency added.
Laurie Leshin is director of the JPL, which is based in Pasadena, California. She said in a statement the imaging spectrometer technology is the product of more than 40 years of development at NASA. Leshin said such detailed emissions data can help policymakers, governments and environmental organizations worldwide.
When fully operational, Tanager-1 will aim to capture data across 130,000 square kilometers of Earth’s surface each day. This will permit scientists to identify specific gas clouds releasing carbon dioxide and methane. NASA said the collected data will be publicly available online at the Carbon Mapper data portal.
Duren said in a statement the Carbon Mapper Coalition is a good example “of how organizations from different sectors are uniting around a common goal of addressing climate change.” He added that having the ability to exactly identify the sources of carbon and methane “can drive significant action around the world to cut emissions now.”
[August 25, 2024]