Unreported methane leaks contribute significantly to global warming. Here's how satellites can detect these leaks and prevent wasting a precious resource.

Unreported methane leaks contribute significantly to global warming. Here's how satellites can detect these leaks and prevent wasting a precious resource.

In a significant stride towards combating climate change, Carbon Mapper, a nonprofit organisation led by Research Scientist Riley Duren at the University of Arizona, is planning a constellation of methane-monitoring satellites. These satellites are designed to provide high-precision, high-resolution detection and mapping of methane emissions worldwide.

The satellites, set to launch in 2024, will focus on oil, gas, and coal production basins; major urban areas with refineries, wastewater plants, and landfills; and major agriculture regions. By detecting even small methane sources, which contribute significantly to overall emissions, these satellites aim to pinpoint methane leaks at fine spatial scales.

One of the key advantages of Carbon Mapper’s satellites is their wide-area coverage with frequent revisits. They are designed to cover broad geographic areas and revisit target regions every few days, enabling near-continuous global monitoring and quicker identification of new or persistent leaks.

The satellites use spectroscopy to detect infrared fingerprints of methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Spectroscopy, a common technique used by satellites capable of methane detection, sees the world in almost 500 colours, including wavelengths beyond the visible spectrum into infrared. Sophisticated algorithms analyse these data while accounting for atmospheric conditions like clouds and pollution to accurately quantify emissions.

Carbon Mapper aims to supply detailed methane emissions data publicly, helping companies, governments, and advocates track emissions sources, verify reductions, and enforce accountability. The organisation's mission will join other methane-monitoring satellites such as MethaneSat, GHGSat, and hyperspectral commercial satellites, contributing to a global, multi-layered observation network that ensures continuous methane monitoring despite individual satellite losses.

Methane, the second-most common global-warming pollutant after carbon dioxide, is particularly concerning due to its potency. Methane's ability to warm the planet is nearly 30 times greater than carbon dioxide's over 100 years, and more than 80 times over 20 years. This makes methane leaks equivalent to venting profits into the atmosphere for the entities responsible.

Interestingly, many oil and gas companies, landfill operators, and large farms with methane digesters are motivated to find leaks because methane in those cases is valuable and can be captured and put to use. However, methane emissions from landfills and oil and gas operations are higher than previously realized, according to recent airborne and satellite surveys.

The U.S. government has been tightening regulations on methane leaks and wasteful venting, including from oil and gas wells on public lands. The monitoring data from Carbon Mapper satellites will guide leak detection and repair efforts, help warn nearby communities of risks, and contribute to assessments about whether policies are having their intended effect.

In conclusion, Carbon Mapper’s satellites will accelerate methane emissions detection, quantification, and mitigation efforts worldwide, addressing a critical gap in climate action by enabling fast, accurate, and transparent tracking of methane—a greenhouse gas over 80 times more potent than CO2 in the short term.

1. The space economy is set to expand with the development of a constellation of satellites by Carbon Mapper for space exploration, aimed at monitoring and mapping methane emissions.
2. Apart from oil, gas, and coal production basins, these satellites will also target major urban areas and agriculture regions for remote sensing of methane leaks.
3. Science and technology are joining hands to combat climate change through Carbon Mapper's satellites, which use spectroscopy for data collection.
4. The high-precision, high-resolution data from these satellites will be crucial for fighting environmental-science issues like climate-change and improving earth observation.
5. As we embrace a lifestyle focused on sustainability, these satellites could revolutionize the food-and-drink industry by identifying sources of methane emissions in global-cuisines production.
6. In the realm of fashion-and-beauty, we can expect advancements in data-and-cloud-computing and real-time travel updates with the advent of sophisticated algorithms powered by these satellites.
7. The monitoring of methane emissions will extend beyond oil and gas industries to cooking practices, as methane leaks from gas stoves could potentially be reduced with this technology.
8. The advent of these satellites opens up opportunities for adventure-travel to areas with significant methane emissions, allowing us to explore the world while contributing to climate action.
9. The upcoming launch of Carbon Mapper’s satellites in 2024 could also spur innovation in the smartphone industry, with potential applications for gadgets and applications in methane monitoring.
10. As car manufacturers focus on electric-vehicles and reducing emissions, the technology developed for Carbon Mapper's satellites could aid in the detection and repair of methane leaks associated with conventional cars.

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