NASA Satellite Spotted Methane Leak on Earth for the First Time

NASA has long recognized the capacity of its instruments to serve specific world-based purposes enabling advances that cannot be achieved by Earth-borne equipment. NASA uses its satellites to monitor weather, volcanic eruption even the possible spread of Zika virus. And recently, an instrument aboard a spacecraft observed methane emissions from a leaking facility on Earth.

The Hyperion spectrometer aboard NASA's Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) is deemed important because of its potential ability to measure greenhouses gasses from space. The observed methane leak was the first detected by one of NASA's equipment from space.

"This is the first time the methane emissions from a single facility have been observed from space," said scientist David R. Thompson, in a press release by NASA.

"Future instruments with much greater sensitivity on orbiting satellites can help resolve this question by surveying the biggest sources around the world, so that we can better understand and address this unknown factor in greenhouse gas emissions," Thompson added.

The observation was detailed in a paper to be published in the journal of Geophysical Research Letters. To prove the accuracy of the readings, the Hyperion instrument managed to detect the methane leak on three different "overpasses" from 2015 to 2016.

The research is in line with the Aliso Canyon methane release last winter and fall. The leak in Aliso Canyon has led to the release of more than 100,000 tons of methane into the atmosphere, according to report by Gizmag. Capable of damaging the atmosphere, the methane leak has alarmed the scientific community, which is why the sources of methane emissions are now being closely monitored. NASA's Hyperion spectrometer might just be the answer.

The observation also coincides with the findings of made by NASA's Airborne/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) onboard the NASA ER-2 aircraft, according to a report by Phys.Org.