![]() ![]() Scientists back on Earth will analyze that data using cloud-computing and A.I. The new satellite is also designed to track releases over time, to see whether they’re increasing or decreasing, and by how much. “It allows us to basically put on a pair of bifocals so we can see things both in the small scale, and the wider scale,” Dr. But it also has wide sweep - with a field of view of about 125 miles by 125 miles - allowing it to detect larger emitters, sometimes called “superemitters,” where other satellites might not be looking. scientists, allowing it to pick up on smaller emissions sources than other satellites. MethaneSAT can detect changes in gas concentrations as small as three parts per billion in the atmosphere, according to E.D.F. (Some commercial ventures also detect methane, but their data is proprietary.) MethaneSAT’s capabilities sit somewhere in the middle. Several satellites already monitor methane, but either they scan wider areas at lower resolutions, or they pinpoint specific targets without broader context. The washing-machine-sized satellite carries precision instruments, including a spectrometer that uses light reflected from Earth’s surface to identify and calculate the amount of methane in that slice of the atmosphere. Or they don’t welcome inspectors taking measurements. Some companies don’t invest enough in leak-detection technology. Scientists estimate that human-caused methane emissions are responsible for up to 30 percent of the global warming being experienced today.įiguring out where methane emissions are happening, how big they are and who’s responsible has been a challenge. (Luckily, methane doesn’t stay in the atmosphere for as long as carbon dioxide.) And in its first 20 years in the atmosphere, methane captures more than 80 times as much heat as does carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. When methane escapes into the atmosphere, it acts as a heavy blanket in the sky, trapping the sun’s heat and warming the world. And some operators simply release it into the air instead of investing in the infrastructure to capture all of it. It escapes from pipelines that carry the gas where it needs to go. Gas is far cleaner to burn than coal, but it has a big problem: It’s notoriously leaky. ![]() Methane, a colorless and odorless gas, is the main ingredient in natural gas, which is burned in power plants and factories around the world, as well as in homes (think: gas stoves). The satellite was launched into space Monday on a Space X transporter rocket. And it raised about $88 million from philanthropic donors, a shoestring budget given the scope of the project. ![]() assembled a team of about 70 scientists and engineers from academia, commercial aerospace and defense industries. “Everybody thought it was crazy,” said Steven Hamburg, the E.D.F.’s chief scientist, who led the project. As far as they could tell, no nonprofit had - only governments or private ventures. The scientists knew there was only one way to understand the bigger picture: Build a satellite to track methane at a global scale, something the group had never done before. What if that was happening around the world? ![]() Everywhere they looked - using planes, drones, ground measurements and even handheld devices - they found that gas was leaking at a far faster clip than the companies had disclosed. Six years ago, scientists at the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund were wrapping up a major research project to measure methane leaks from oil and gas sites across Texas. Source: 3-D model via MethaneSAT and Fair Worlds NASA EPIC ![]()
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