Rapid Fire
Launch of Tanager-1
- 02 Sep 2024
- 1 min read
Recently, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched the Tanager-1 satellite to detect major emitters of carbon dioxide and methane.
- Tanager-1 will use imaging spectrometer technology to measure wavelengths of light that are reflected by Earth’s surface.
- Methane and Carbon dioxide absorb different wavelengths of light, leaving spectral “fingerprints” that the imaging spectrometer can identify.
- It will be able to measure point-source emissions, down to the level of individual facilities and equipment, on a global scale.
- Earlier, NASA had launched MethaneSAT which tracks and measures methane emissions.
- Methane: Methane is a strong greenhouse gas and the second largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide. It is responsible for 30% of global heating.
- According to the United Nations Environment Programme, over a period of 20 years, it is 80 times more potent at warming than carbon dioxide.
- It also contributes to the formation of ground-level ozone, a colourless and highly irritating gas that forms just above the Earth’s surface.
