SRON scientists discover dozens of methane plumes every week using the Dutch space instrument TROPOMI. To locate their sources, they then zoom in with other satellites. However, brief methane releases have typically ended before those satellites arrive at the scene. The team has now developed a new method that is fast enough to catch the largest of such emissions. Publication in Geophysical Research Letters.
Category: Aardwetenschappen
Duo of Satellites Detect Large Methane Emission from Ethiopian Volcano
SRON—as part of the European CAMS service—and GHGSat have detected a substantial methane emission from Mount Fentale, an active volcano in Ethiopia. The emission, estimated at 58 metric tonnes per hour, was observed on January 31 through a “tip and cue” approach between Europe’s Copernicus program’s Sentinel-5P TROPOMI satellite instrument and GHGSAT’s satellite constellation, coordinated by SRON and GHGSAT.
Dutch satellite instrument SPEXone produces aerosol world map
On February 8th 2024, NASA launched its PACE climate satellite with onboard the Dutch aerosol instrument SPEXone. A full year of observations now yields a world map of aerosols. It shows the distribution of fine and coarse aerosols and of particles that reflect or absorb sunlight. The latter respectively have cooling and warming effects on the climate. SPEXone was built by SRON and Airbus Netherlands, with support from TNO.
Annual carbon monoxide emissions measured from Europe’s 21 largest steel plants
The Dutch TROPOMI space instrument creates daily global maps of carbon monoxide (CO) in the atmosphere. Researchers from SRON and TNO have now measured CO emissions over a full year from the 21 largest European steel plants, including Tata Steel.
White paper: NL-US collaboration in climate research from space
In oktober 2024 kwamen wetenschappers uit Nederland en de Verenigde Staten bijeen op de Nederlandse ambassade in Washington om hun expertise te delen over broeikasgassen, reactieve gassen, wolken en aerosolen. Deze thema’s zijn belangrijk voor klimaatonderzoek. In een whitepaper formuleren ze acties die antwoord gaan geven op urgente klimaatvragen.
Pixels TROPOMI methane detector remain almost completely intact
Since its launch in 2017, the Dutch TROPOMI space instrument has been constantly impacted by cosmic rays. An analysis of the onboard short-wave infrared detector, tasked with detecting methane and carbon monoxide, shows that 98.7% of its pixels are still working properly. Spontaneous recovery of pixels contributes to this. Publication in Measurement Science and Technology.
SRON to detect methane plumes for the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service
SRON has been selected by the European Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) to provide satellite data analysis for its new monitoring service on methane emissions. CAMS provides atmospheric information to policymakers, businesses and citizens. It delivers real-time European air quality analyses and forecasts as well as observation-based emission estimates.
Climate models give different predictions on sulfate aerosol formation
The cooling effect of aerosols adds an uncertainty of almost one degree in climate models. Sulfate aerosols are one of the most impactful types. An analysis of several widely-used models now concludes that their predications on the creation of sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere differ almost as much as a factor of two. The PACE satellite will help to reveal which models are most accurate. Publication in Journal of Geophysical Research.
