The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is partnering with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), University of Arizona, Arizona State University and others to create a nonprofit organization, Carbon Mapper, that will deploy satellites to track methane and carbon dioxide emissions at both a global and local level. The information from this constellation of satellites will help improve the understanding of these emissions with the goal of enabling accelerated action.
As part of the initiative, CARB is helping develop a public portal to make the emissions data available for use by industry, governments, and private citizens to improve greenhouse gas accounting, expedite repair of leaks, support disaster response, and improve environmental resilience. “These satellites will help California identify and reduce methane emissions from industrial and energy sources, and also provides valuable data to help us manage our natural and working lands for climate resiliency,” says CARB Executive Officer Richard Corey. “CARB looks forward to providing a public platform for the greenhouse gas data and exploring how the land-use data can inform decisions on forest management, fire prevention and water quality.”
