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Climate
Oct 25, 2022
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METHANE ‘SUPER-EMITTERS’ MAPPED BY NASA’S NEW EARTH SPACE MISSION

1-pia25592_emit_methane_permian.jpg
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 heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech


Built to help scientists understand how dust affects climate, the Earth Surface
Mineral Dust Source Investigation can also pinpoint emissions of the potent
greenhouse gas.

> Watch video of EMIT’s launch and “first light”

NASA’s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) mission is mapping
the prevalence of key minerals in the planet’s dust-producing deserts –
information that will advance our understanding of airborne dust’s effects on
climate. But EMIT has demonstrated another crucial capability: detecting the
presence of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.



In the data EMIT has collected since being installed on the International Space
Station in July, the science team has identified more than 50 “super-emitters”
in Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Southwestern United States.
Super-emitters are facilities, equipment, and other infrastructure, typically in
the fossil-fuel, waste, or agriculture sectors, that emit methane at high rates.



“Reining in methane emissions is key to limiting global warming. This exciting
new development will not only help researchers better pinpoint where methane
leaks are coming from, but also provide insight on how they can be addressed –
quickly,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The International Space Station
and NASA’s more than two dozen satellites and instruments in space have long
been invaluable in determining changes to the Earth’s climate. EMIT is proving
to be a critical tool in our toolbox to measure this potent greenhouse gas – and
stop it at the source.”

2-pia25592_emit_methane_turkmenistan_figure_a.jpg
East of Hazar, Turkmenistan, a port city on the Caspian Sea, 12 plumes of
methane stream westward. The plumes were detected by NASA’s Earth Surface
Mineral Dust Source Investigation mission and some of them stretch for more than
20 miles (32 kilometers).
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech


Methane absorbs infrared light in a unique pattern – called a spectral
fingerprint – that EMIT’s imaging spectrometer can discern with high accuracy
and precision. The instrument can also measure carbon dioxide.



The new observations stem from the broad coverage of the planet afforded by the
space station’s orbit, as well as from EMIT’s ability to scan swaths of Earth’s
surface dozens of miles wide while resolving areas as small as a soccer field.



“These results are exceptional, and they demonstrate the value of pairing
global-scale perspective with the resolution required to identify methane point
sources, down to the facility scale,” said David Thompson, EMIT’s instrument
scientist and a senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Southern California, which manages the mission. “It’s a unique capability that
will raise the bar on efforts to attribute methane sources and mitigate
emissions from human activities.”



Relative to carbon dioxide, methane makes up a fraction of human-caused
greenhouse-gas emissions, but it’s estimated to be 80 times more effective, ton
for ton, at trapping heat in the atmosphere in the 20 years after release.
Moreover, where carbon dioxide lingers for centuries, methane persists for about
a decade, meaning that if emissions are reduced, the atmosphere will respond in
a similar timeframe, leading to slower near-term warming. 

3-pia25592_emit_methane_iran_figure_b.jpg
A methane plume at least 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) long billows into the
atmosphere south of Tehran, Iran. The plume, detected by NASA’s Earth Surface
Mineral Dust Source Investigation mission, comes from a major landfill, where
methane is a byproduct of decomposition.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech


Identifying methane point sources can be a key step in the process. With
knowledge of the locations of big emitters, operators of facilities, equipment,
and infrastructure giving off the gas can quickly act to limit emissions.



EMIT’s methane observations came as scientists verified the accuracy of the
imaging spectrometer’s mineral data. 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.



“We have been eager to see how EMIT’s mineral data will improve climate
modeling,” said Kate Calvin, NASA’s chief scientist and senior climate advisor.
“This additional methane-detecting capability offers a remarkable opportunity to
measure and monitor greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.”



Detecting Methane Plumes



The mission’s study area coincides with known methane hotspots around the world,
enabling researchers to look for the gas in those regions to test the capability
of the imaging spectrometer.

e-pia25593_emit_methane_spectra.jpg
The cube (left) shows methane plumes (purple, orange, yellow) over Turkmenistan.
The rainbow colors are the spectral fingerprints from corresponding spots in the
front image. The blue line in the graph (right) shows the methane fingerprint
EMIT detected; the red line is the expected fingerprint based on an atmospheric
simulation.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech


“Some of the plumes EMIT detected are among the largest ever seen – unlike
anything that has ever been observed from space,” said Andrew Thorpe, a research
technologist at JPL leading the EMIT methane effort. “What we’ve found in a just
a short time already exceeds our expectations.”



For example, the instrument detected a plume about 2 miles (3.3 kilometers) long
southeast of Carlsbad, New Mexico, in the Permian Basin. One of the largest
oilfields in the world, the Permian spans parts of southeastern New Mexico and
western Texas.



In Turkmenistan, EMIT identified 12 plumes from oil and gas infrastructure east
of the Caspian Sea port city of Hazar. Blowing to the west, some plumes stretch
more than 20 miles (32 kilometers).



The team also identified a methane plume south of Tehran, Iran, at least 3 miles
(4.8 kilometers) long, from a major waste-processing complex. Methane is a
byproduct of decomposition, and landfills can be a major source.



Scientists estimate flow rates of about 40,300 pounds (18,300 kilograms) per
hour at the Permian site, 111,000 pounds (50,400 kilograms) per hour in total
for the Turkmenistan sources, and 18,700 pounds (8,500 kilograms) per hour at
the Iran site.



The Turkmenistan sources together have a similar flow rate to the 2015 Aliso
Canyon gas leak, which exceeded 110,000 pounds (50,000 kilograms) per hour at
times. The Los Angeles-area disaster was among the largest methane releases in
U.S. history.



With wide, repeated coverage from its vantage point on the space station, EMIT
will potentially find hundreds of super-emitters – some of them previously
spotted through air-, space-, or ground-based measurement, and others that were
unknown.



“As it continues to survey the planet, EMIT will observe places in which no one
thought to look for greenhouse-gas emitters before, and it will find plumes that
no one expects,” said Robert Green, EMIT’s principal investigator at JPL.



EMIT is the first of a new class of spaceborne imaging spectrometers to study
Earth. One example is Carbon Plume Mapper (CPM), an instrument in development at
JPL that’s designed to detect methane and carbon dioxide. JPL is working with a
nonprofit, Carbon Mapper, along with other partners, to launch two satellites
equipped with CPM in late 2023.

> EMIT media reel
> 
> EMIT fact sheet

More About the Mission



EMIT was selected from the Earth Venture Instrument-4 solicitation under the
Earth Science Division of NASA Science Mission Directorate and was developed at
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in
Pasadena, California. It launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon resupply spacecraft
from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 14, 2022. The instrument’s
data will be delivered to the NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive
Center (DAAC) for use by other researchers and the public.



The International Space Station hosts seven instruments for NASA Earth Science
that are providing novel information for understanding our changing planet.



To learn more about the mission, visit:



https://earth.jpl.nasa.gov/emit/

Andrew Wang / Jane J. Lee
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
626-379-6874 / 818-354-0307
andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov / jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov

2022-162

Last Updated: Oct 26, 2022
Editor: Naomi Hartono


TAGS:  CLIMATE, EARTH, JET PROPULSION LABORATORY, SPACE STATION RESEARCH AND
TECHNOLOGY,


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