WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Using data from an instrument designed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the nonprofit Carbon Mapper has released the first methane and carbon dioxide detections from the Tanager-1 satellite. The detections highlight methane plumes in Pakistan and Texas, as well as a carbon dioxide plume in South Africa.
The data contributes to Carbon Mapper's goal to identify and measure greenhouse gas point-source emissions on a global scale and make that information accessible and actionable.
Enabled by Carbon Mapper and built by Planet Labs PBC, Tanager-1 launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on August 16 and has been collecting data to verify that its imaging spectrometer, which is based on technology developed at NASA JPL, is functioning properly. Both Planet Labs PBC and JPL are members of the philanthropically funded Carbon Mapper Coalition.
'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.'
The data used to produce the Pakistan image was collected over the city of Karachi on September 19 and shows a roughly 2.5-mile-long methane plume emanating from a landfill. Carbon Mapper's preliminary estimate of the source emissions rate is more than 2,600 pounds of methane released per hour.
The image collected that same day over Kendal, South Africa, displays a nearly 2-mile-long carbon dioxide plume coming from a coal-fired power plant. Carbon Mapper's preliminary estimate of the source emissions rate is roughly 1.3 million pounds of carbon dioxide per hour.
The Texas image, collected on September 24, reveals a methane plume to the south of the city of Midland, in the Permian Basin, one of the largest oilfields in the world. Carbon Mapper's preliminary estimate of the source emissions rate is nearly 900 pounds of methane per hour.
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