First Satellite Greenhouse Gas Plumes Identified with NASA-Designed Instrument

First Satellite Greenhouse Gas Plumes Identified with NASA-Designed Instrument
by Clarence Oxford
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Oct 11, 2024

Data collected by the Tanager-1 satellite, using technology designed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), has led to the first detections of methane and carbon dioxide emissions. The nonprofit Carbon Mapper released these findings, showing methane plumes in Pakistan and Texas, and a carbon dioxide plume in South Africa.

Carbon Mapper's goal is to pinpoint greenhouse gas emissions from sources worldwide and provide data that can be used to mitigate these emissions.

Tanager-1, which was launched from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on Aug. 16, was built by Planet Labs PBC and is part of the Carbon Mapper Coalition. The satellite is equipped with an imaging spectrometer based on NASA JPL technology.

"The first greenhouse gas images from Tanager-1 are exciting and are a compelling sign of things to come," said James Graf, director for Earth Science and Technology at JPL. "The satellite plays a crucial role in detecting and measuring methane and carbon dioxide emissions. The mission is a giant step forward in addressing greenhouse gas emissions."

One of the key observations includes a methane plume over Karachi, Pakistan, on Sept. 19, stretching 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) from a landfill. Carbon Mapper estimated an emission rate of more than 2,600 pounds (1,200 kilograms) of methane per hour.

On the same day, over Kendal, South Africa, Tanager-1 captured a 2-mile-long (3-kilometer-long) carbon dioxide plume originating from a coal power plant, with an estimated emission rate of 1.3 million pounds (600,000 kilograms) of carbon dioxide per hour.

In Texas, a methane plume was detected on Sept. 24 near Midland in the Permian Basin, a major oil-producing region. The emission rate was nearly 900 pounds (400 kilograms) of methane per hour, according to Carbon Mapper's estimates.

NASA JPL has a long history of developing imaging spectrometers, beginning in the 1980s with the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS), and more recently, the EMIT spectrometer, installed on the International Space Station in 2022.

The Tanager-1 imaging spectrometer is a descendant of these technologies, measuring hundreds of light wavelengths reflected from Earth. Each chemical compound has a unique spectral fingerprint that the instrument can detect, allowing researchers to identify and measure emissions down to individual facilities.