![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/1-pia26411-tanager-rendering.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>Developed by the agency\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the imaging spectrometer will provide actionable data to help reduce emissions that contribute to global warming.<\/em><\/p>\n Tanager-1, the Carbon Mapper Coalition\u2019s first satellite, which carries a state-of-the-art, NASA-designed greenhouse-gas-tracking instrument, is in Earth orbit after lifting off aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 11:56 a.m. PDT Friday, Aug. 16. Ground controllers successfully established communications with Tanager-1 at 2:45 p.m. PDT the same day.<\/p>\n The satellite will use imaging spectrometer technology developed at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California to measure methane and carbon dioxide point-source emissions, down to the level of individual facilities and equipment, on a global scale. Tanager-1 was developed as part of a philanthropically funded public-private coalition led by the nonprofit 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 equipped with a JPL-built imaging spectrometer at a later date.<\/p>\n \u201cThe imaging spectrometer technology aboard Tanager-1 is the product of four decades of development at NASA JPL and truly in a class of its own,\u201d said JPL Director Laurie Leshin. \u201cThe data that this public-private partnership provides on sources of greenhouse gas emissions will be precise and global, making it beneficial to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n Once in operation, the spacecraft will scan about 50,000 square miles (130,000 square kilometers) of Earth\u2019s surface per day. Carbon Mapper scientists will analyze data from Tanager-1 to identify gas plumes with the unique spectral signatures of methane and carbon dioxide \u2014 and pinpoint their sources. Plume data will be publicly available online at the Carbon Mapper data portal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Methane and carbon dioxide are the greenhouse gases that contribute most to climate change. About half of methane emissions worldwide result from human activities \u2014 primarily from the fossil fuel, agriculture, and waste management industries. Meanwhile, there is now 50% more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than there was in 1750, an increase largely due to the extraction and burning of coal, oil, and gas.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Carbon Mapper Coalition is a prime example of how organizations from different sectors are uniting around a common goal of addressing climate change,\u201d said Riley Duren, Carbon Mapper CEO. \u201cBy detecting, pinpointing, and quantifying super-emitters<\/a> and making this data accessible to decision-makers, we can drive significant action around the world to cut emissions now.\u201d<\/p>\n The imaging spectrometer aboard the satellite measures hundreds of wavelengths of light that are reflected by Earth\u2019s surface. Different compounds in the planet\u2019s atmosphere \u2014 including methane and carbon dioxide \u2014 absorb different wavelengths of light, leaving spectral \u201cfingerprints\u201d that the imaging spectrometer can identify. These infrared fingerprints can enable researchers to pinpoint and quantify strong greenhouse gas emissions, potentially accelerating mitigation efforts.<\/p>\n Tanager-1 is part of a broader effort to make methane and carbon dioxide data accessible and actionable. That effort includes using measurements provided by NASA\u2019s EMIT<\/a> (Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation), an imaging spectrometer developed by JPL and installed on the International Space Station.<\/p>\n Carbon Mapper is a nonprofit organization focused on facilitating timely action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Its mission is to fill gaps in the emerging global ecosystem of methane and carbon dioxide monitoring systems by delivering data at facility scale that is precise, timely, and accessible to empower science-based decision making and action. The organization is leading the development of the Carbon Mapper constellation of satellites supported by a public-private partnership composed of Planet Labs PBC, JPL, the California Air Resources Board, the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and RMI, with funding from High Tide Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, and other philanthropic donors.<\/p>\nMore About Carbon Mapper<\/strong><\/h3>\n