Methane Satellites: Can Seeing Leaks Cut Emissions?
How does a methane satellite measurement become evidence about a source on the ground — and can that evidence lead to lower emissions?
This video follows reflected infrared sunlight, methane columns, plume attribution, wind-based emission estimates, observation gaps and independent validation. It examines the Chubut response, the Hassi Messaoud observations, Tanager-1 at Karachi, MethaneSAT’s loss, MEDUSA’s July 2026 protocol and MARS’s expansion to coal and waste.
A response to an alert is not automatically an emissions cut. No detected plume is not proof of zero emissions. The evidence becomes useful when operators and authorities investigate, act and check the outcome. Sources and dates are documented in the accompanying fact sheet.
Educational documentary. Not financial or investment advice.
In these topics
Chapters
- An invisible leak, a visible clue
- Why methane is worth finding
- From global maps to individual plumes
- Reading sunlight's fingerprint
- Which facility made the plume?
- Turning a column into tonnes per hour
- What the satellite misses
- Checking the measurement
- The sky is changing
- Who acts on an alert?
- Accountability needs a closed loop
Sources and credits
Photo credits (Wikimedia Commons)
- Chubut coast, Argentina — NASA photograph, 8 November 2020; geographic background only: NASA, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AISS-64_Chubut_Province%2C_Argentina.jpg
- Hassi Messaoud, Algeria — astronaut photograph, 12 October 2009; geographic background only, not the January 2020 leak facility: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AISS021-E-5811_-_View_of_Algeria.jpg
- Tanager Carbon Mapper imaging spectrometer at JPL, August 2023 (source description; September 2023 publication): NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory / NASA/JPL-Caltech, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AImaging_Spectrometer_Fully_Integrated_%28PIA26092%29.jpg
- Tanager imaging spectrometer entering thermal-vacuum chamber at JPL, July 2023 (source description; September 2023 publication): NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory / NASA/JPL-Caltech, Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AImaging_Spectrometer_Inside_Thermal_Vacuum_Chamber_%28PIA26098%29.jpg
Primary sources
- https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Envisat/Envisat_enables_first_global_check_of_regional_methane_emissions.
- https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Trio_of_Sentinel_satellites_map_methane_super-emitters.
- https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/17/765/2024/.
- https://climate.esa.int/en/supporting-the-paris-agreement/medusa/.
- https://www.unep.org/technical-highlight/satellite-alerts-spur-methane-cuts-room-progress-remains.
- https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/better-data-driving-action-methane-emissions-more-work-needed.
- https://www.unep.org/topics/energy/methane/methane-alert-and-response-system-mars.
- https://www.edf.org/media/methanesat-loses-contact-satellite.
- https://www.edf.org/methanesat.
- https://www.iea.org/reports/global-methane-tracker-2026/understanding-methane-emissions.
- https://science.nasa.gov/photojournal/tanager-1-first-methane-and-carbon-dioxide-plume-detections/.
- https://methanedata.unep.org/story-MARS-snapshot.
- https://methanedata.unep.org/frequently-asked-questions.
- https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-5P/Methane_and_ozone_data_products_from_Copernicus_Sentinel-5P.
- https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/11/5673/2018/.
- https://amt.copernicus.org/articles/19/5659/2026/.
Not regulated financial advice.