For GHGSat, the news that it had been added as Copernicus Contributing Mission partner fulfils two goals, providing Earth observation data that will benefit humanity, which was one of the primary goals in creating the company, and adding another revenue source.
GHGSat’s satellite data on methane emissions will be used by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) for more accurate global air pollution and greenhouse gas monitoring.
The high-resolution data will complement data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, allowing for detailed identification of methane emission sources.
In a news release, GHGSat said that “Under the partnership, CAMS will utilize GHGSAT’s high-resolution data, capable of tracing methane emissions directly to individual industrial facilities, alongside TROPOMI data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, in a ‘tip and cue’ approach. While TROPOMI excels at detecting large-scale emissions over broad areas, GHGSAT’s satellites will provide detailed follow-up measurements to pinpoint the exact sources of methane. This complementary approach will allow unprecedented insights into emission patterns and sources at a global scale.”
Copernicus offers its data openly, and Contributing Missions like GHGSAT play an important part in the developing new technology and the earth observation sector. GHGSat told SpaceQ there are about 10 commercial suppliers that supply data.
The funding for the Copernicus program comes from the European Commission which in turn is managed by the European Space Agency (ESA).
GHGSat signed its first data agreement in 2019 with ESA in the form of a memorandum of intent that included the Canadian Space Agency and provided 5% of the GHGSat-C1 satellite imaging capacity for free.
Carles Debart, Director of Business Development – Europe at GHGSAT said, “After many years of supporting the European Space Agency with high-resolution methane emissions data through the Third Party Mission program, providing invaluable insights to the research community and enabling the understanding of anthropogenic methane emissions, GHGSAT is proud to take a step further and contribute operationally to the Copernicus program as a CCM. Through both programs, ESA has demonstrated leadership in harnessing commercial earth observation data for the benefit of all.”
Richard Engelen, Deputy Director of CAMS, added, “The inclusion of GHGSAT’s data in our monitoring systems is a major step forward for CAMS. Precise, facility-level data on methane emissions will complement our existing capabilities, allowing us to better understand and mitigate the impact of greenhouse gases on the atmosphere. This is a perfect example of the ability of Copernicus Contributing Missions to augment the power of Sentinel data.”
