Satellite monitoring has become the main tool for the global fight against climate change, because it allows you to independently record carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) and methane (CH4). The most effective model for detecting sources of pollution today is the synergy of state macromonitoring and private microscanning, where the main instruments are the Japanese state satellite Ibuki GW (GOSAT-GW) and the commercial GHGSat microsatellite constellation.
These two systems act as a pair of "spotlight" and "microscope", providing accurate identification of point sources of greenhouse gases.
Ibuki GW's companion (Global Observing SATellite for Greenhouse gases and Water cycle), launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in June 2025 year, is the latest apparatus for global mapping.
Wide coverage: The main instrument of the satellite – the TANSO-3 spectrometer is capable of scanning the Earth's atmosphere with continuous bands of width 900 kilometers. This eliminated it “blind spots”, which had satellites of previous generations.
New indicator (NO2): In addition to accurately measuring average concentrations (CO2) and (CH4), the apparatus added nitrogen dioxide to the monitoring (NO2). Because (NO2) released during the burning of fossil fuels together with carbon dioxide, it serves as a clear marker of specifically anthropogenic ones (human) emissions from factories or thermal power plants.
Function: He notices large-scale anomalies and regional ones “clouds” greenhouse gases, signaling the presence of large sources of pollution in a specific area.
The Canadian company GHGSat operates its own fleet of commercial cubesats, which perform high-resolution point monitoring.
Unique detailing: The satellites are equipped with Fabry-Perot interferometers (WAF-P), which have a spatial resolution of up to 25 meters in the field of view of 12x12 km.
Identification of a specific culprit: Thanks to this clarity, GHGSat is able to distinguish gas plumes, coming from a specific industrial building – separate oil rig, open tank hatch, a non-working torch at an industrial site or a sector of a municipal landfill.
Express analytics: Satellites provide data to interested companies and government agencies (in particular within the framework of contracts with NASA) with a latency of 48 hours, which allows operators to promptly detect and eliminate methane leaks.
This data is used by the UN as part of the Methane Alert and Response System (MARS), which officially informs governments and companies about detected incidents for immediate infrastructure repairs.
Source: https://sorasoku.com