The imaging spectrometer, developed by the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is designed to provide actionable data to help reduce emissions that contribute to global warming.
Tanager-1, the Carbon Mapper Coalition’s first satellite to carry a cutting-edge NASA-developed greenhouse gas tracking instrument, is in Earth orbit after launching aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 11:56 a.m. PDT on Friday, August 16. Ground controllers were able to successfully establish communication with Tanager-1 at 2:45 p.m. PDT the same day.
The satellite will use imaging spectrometer technology developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California to measure methane and carbon dioxide emissions from point sources down to the level of individual facilities and equipment worldwide. Tanager-1 was developed as part of a philanthropically funded public-private coalition led by the nonprofit organization Carbon Mapper. Planet Labs PBC, which built Tanager-1, and JPL are both members of the Carbon Mapper Coalition and plan to launch a second Tanager satellite at a later date equipped with a JPL-built imaging spectrometer.
“The imaging spectrometer technology on board Tanager-1 is the product of four decades of development at NASA JPL and is truly in a class of its own,” said JPL Director Laurie Leshin. “The data this public-private partnership will provide on the sources of greenhouse gas emissions will be precise and global, benefiting everyone.”
Once operational, the probe will scan about 130,000 square kilometers of the Earth’s surface every day. Carbon Mapper scientists will analyze the data from Tanager-1 to identify gas clouds with the unique spectral signatures of methane and carbon dioxide – and locate their sources. The data on the clouds will be publicly available online on the Carbon Mapper data portal.
Methane and carbon dioxide are the greenhouse gases that contribute most to climate change. About half of global methane emissions are due to human activities – mainly fossil fuels, agriculture and waste management. There is now 50% more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than in 1750, an increase that is largely due to the extraction and combustion of coal, oil and gas.
“The Carbon Mapper Coalition is a prime example of how organizations from different sectors are coming together to achieve the common goal of combating climate change,” said Riley Duren, CEO of Carbon Mapper. “By tracking, locating and quantifying super emitters and making this data available to decision makers, we can spur meaningful action to reduce emissions around the world.”
The imaging spectrometer on board the satellite measures hundreds of wavelengths of light reflected from Earth’s surface. Different compounds in the planet’s atmosphere – including methane and carbon dioxide – absorb different wavelengths of light, leaving spectral “fingerprints” that the imaging spectrometer can identify. These infrared fingerprints can allow researchers to precisely locate and quantify strong greenhouse gas emissions, potentially accelerating mitigation efforts.
Tanager-1 is part of a larger effort to make methane and carbon dioxide data accessible and usable, using measurements from NASA’s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT), an imaging spectrometer developed by JPL and installed on the International Space Station.
Carbon Mapper is a nonprofit organization focused on enabling timely action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Its mission is to fill gaps in the emerging global ecosystem of methane and carbon dioxide monitoring systems by providing large-scale data that is accurate, timely, and accessible to enable science-based decisions and actions. The organization is leading the development of the Carbon Mapper satellite constellation, which is supported by a public-private partnership consisting of Planet Labs PBC, JPL, the California Air Resources Board, the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and RMI, with funding from the High Tide Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, and other philanthropic donors.
Andrew Wang / Jane J. Lee
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
626-379-6874 / 818-354-0307
[email protected] / [email protected]
Kelly Vaughn
Carbon Mapper, Pasadena, California.
970-401-0001
[email protected]
2024-109
