NASA Invented Software that Can Track the World’s Largest Methane Polluters from Space

The discovery is an unexpected bonus of a different mission.

This image shows a methane plume 2 miles (3 kilometers) long that NASA’s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation mission detected southeast of Carlsbad, New Mexico. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that is much more effective at trapping atmospheric heat than carbon dioxide. — Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Who doesn’t love a happy accident? Especially ones that result in discoveries, like penicillin, silly putty, or brandy. Well, NASA recently announced an unintended benefit of a program they created — identifying the largest methane polluters in the world.

Because of methane's lifespan in global warming, decreasing it would likely produce benefits we’d see firsthand within decades. Identifying the largest methane leaks is the first step toward slowing global warming and transitioning into living in harmony with the planet.

Original Intention

It might not seem like it, but dust likely has a larger-than-we-realize role regarding climate change — or, really, the environment in general. For instance, did you know that the dust from the Saharan desert crosses the Atlantic Ocean and fertilizes the plants in the Amazon rainforest?

Phosphorus-rich dust from the Saharan desert — which encompasses the northern third of the African continent — crosses the Atlantic Ocean and feeds the plants over 2 million square miles of Amazon rainforest in South America.

So, NASA created the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) mission so scientists could better understand airborne dust's role in global warming. According to NASA:

“Over its mission, EMIT will collect measurements of surface minerals in arid regions of Africa, Asia, North and South America, and Australia. The data will help researchers better understand airborne dust particles’ role in heating and cooling Earth’s atmosphere and surface.”

EMIT is a special imaging spectrometer instrument that measures visible and infrared light wavelengths. The spectrum of light waves across the instrument’s detector shows unique spectral signatures, which help scientists better understand the mineral composition across the planet’s surface.

The hope is that scientists can use the data from EMIT to assemble a new mineral map of Earth’s dust-producing regions. The map will then be used to improve the computer models experts use…