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[00:00.04]The American space agency NASA

[00:03.68]has launched an instrument

[00:06.04]to measure the world's carbon and methane levels

[00:10.60]in an effort to help fight climate change.

[00:14.56]The instrument is attached to a satellite

[00:18.76]called Tanager-1.

[00:21.40]It launched August 16 aboard

[00:25.44]a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's

[00:30.24]Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

[00:35.12]Ground controllers reported

[00:37.96]they successfully established communications

[00:41.76]with the satellite shortly after launch.

[00:45.60]A statement from NASA said

[00:48.76]the satellite is equipped

[00:51.16]with a gas-seeking instrument

[00:54.00]powered with "imaging spectrometer technology."

[00:58.44]A spectrometer is an instrument used

[01:02.60]to study the chemical composition

[01:05.52]and structures of substances.

[01:08.80]NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)

[01:14.04]developed the imaging spectrometer instrument.

[01:18.60]The joint project also involved other organizations,

[01:23.48]including Planet Labs PBC.

[01:27.36]The private company helped build

[01:30.20]the Tanager-1 satellite.

[01:32.72]Tanager-1 is one of two satellites developed

[01:38.04]as part of the public-private partnership

[01:41.68]the Carbon Mapper Coalition.

[01:44.44]The other satellite has not yet been launched.

[01:48.56]The coalition says it aims to support

[01:52.84]the collection of detailed data

[01:55.68]on methane and carbon dioxide emissions worldwide.

[02:01.44]The coalition hopes to use the data

[02:05.00]to drive reductions in methane and carbon pollution.

[02:10.16]Scientists have linked carbon and methane emissions

[02:15.28]to warming temperatures on Earth.

[02:18.28]Many climate experts blame most of the warming

[02:23.48]on pollution caused by human activities.

[02:27.68]NASA says the instrument aboard Tanager-1

[02:32.84]measures "hundreds of wavelengths of light

[02:36.76]that are reflected by Earth's surface."

[02:40.28]This method permits the instrument

[02:43.60]to find sources of carbon and methane

[02:47.36]based on the light wavelengths they show.

[02:51.28]The process produces "fingerprints"

[02:55.24]that the imaging spectrometer can identify, NASA said.

[03:00.80]This data can be used to provide

[03:04.32]highly detailed information

[03:06.76]on where the world's

[03:08.52]carbon and methane come from.

[03:11.96]The level of detail is so exact,

[03:15.00]it can even identify

[03:17.20]"individual facilities and equipment,"

[03:20.72]the space agency added.

[03:23.28]Laurie Leshin is director of the JPL,

[03:28.20]which is based in Pasadena, California.

[03:31.64]She said in a statement

[03:34.24]the imaging spectrometer technology

[03:37.88]is the product of more than 40 years

[03:40.84]of development at NASA.

[03:43.44]Leshin said such detailed emissions data

[03:48.28]can help policymakers, governments

[03:51.76]and environmental organizations worldwide.

[03:56.08]When fully operational,

[03:58.48]Tanager-1 will aim to capture data

[04:02.00]across 130,000 square kilometers

[04:07.20]of Earth's surface each day.

[04:10.64]This will permit scientists to identify

[04:15.52]specific gas clouds releasing

[04:18.64]carbon dioxide and methane.

[04:21.56]NASA said the collected data will be

[04:25.28]publicly available online

[04:27.96]at the Carbon Mapper data portal.

[04:31.88]NASA says about half of methane emissions worldwide

[04:37.24]are caused by human activities.

[04:40.24]The biggest polluters are called

[04:43.32]"super emitters,"

[04:44.96]said Carbon Mapper Coalition

[04:47.40]chief executive Riley Duren.

[04:50.52]He told the Reuters news agency that

[04:54.32]super emitters produce more than

[04:57.00]100 kilograms of methane per hour.

[05:01.48]This level of release

[05:03.76]could add up to 20 to 60 percent

[05:07.04]of an area's total emissions

[05:09.88]in some industries, Duren said.

[05:13.64]In addition, the agency noted,

[05:16.80]"There is now 50 percent more

[05:19.76]carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

[05:22.56]than there was in 1750,

[05:25.80]an increase largely due to the extraction

[05:29.56]and burning of coal, oil, and (natural) gas."

[05:34.88]Duren said in a statement

[05:37.88]the Carbon Mapper Coalition is a good example

[05:42.00]"of how organizations from different sectors

[05:45.76]are uniting around a common goal

[05:48.88]of addressing climate change."

[05:51.44]He added that having the ability

[05:55.08]to exactly identify the sources

[05:58.36]of carbon and methane

[06:00.36]"can drive significant action around the world

[06:04.52]to cut emissions now."

[06:07.16]The launch of Tanager-1 came after NASA's

[06:11.76]February deployment of the PACE satellite.

[06:16.16]It is designed to closely

[06:18.84]study the world's oceans and atmosphere.

[06:22.48]PACE stands for Plankton, Aerosol,

[06:26.72]Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem.

[06:29.68]The satellite will spend at least

[06:32.48]three years studying the environment

[06:35.80]from an orbit 676 kilometers

[06:40.16]above the Earth's surface.

[06:43.32]I'm Bryan Lynn.

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Words in This Story

emission – n. the act of sending something out such as a gas, heat, or light

reflect – n. to send back or bouncer off of something

facility – n. the place where a particular activity happens

emit – v. to send out gas, heat, light etc. into the air

extract – v. to take something out, especially by force

sector – n. one part of a country's economy

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