周四，加利福尼亚州发射了第二颗用于监测强效气候污染物的卫星，该卫星从位于洛普克的范登堡太空军基地升空。总部位于帕萨迪纳的非营利组织 Carbon Mapper 与加州政府合作，现在可以更频繁地检测甲烷气体排放情况，从而更准确地了解这种无形气体的分布情况。“这意味着我们可以在更多地点、更频繁地进行观测，”加州空气资源委员会发言人林赛·巴克利在一份声明中表示。
California got its second satellite tuned to spot a powerful climate pollutant Thursday when it launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Lompoc. Pasadena-based nonprofit Carbon Mapper, which partners with the state, can now check twice as often for climate-heating methane plumes, improving the emerging picture of this invisible gas. "This means we can make observations at more locations and more frequently at existing locations," Lindsay Buckley, spokesperson for the California Air Resources Board, said in a statement.
与其他污染物不同，甲烷并非发动机排放的废气，而是从垃圾填埋场、石油和天然气设施以及奶牛场的粪便处理设施中泄漏出来的。巴克利补充说，监管机构将能够更快地发现这些泄漏点，并督促相关设施进行修复。许多其他州和国家也在使用 Carbon Mapper 的第一颗卫星 Tanager-1 发回的图像数据。甲烷在空气中存在的时间虽然只有二氧化碳的几分之一，但其吸收热量的能力却是二氧化碳的约 80 倍，因此亟需采取措施加以控制。
Unlike other pollutants, methane is not exhaust. Instead, it leaks, gushes or wafts from landfills, oil and gas equipment and manure pits at dairy operations. Regulators will be able to to find leaks and follow up faster to make sure operators have made repairs, Buckley added. Many other states and countries have been making use of the images Carbon Mapper's first satellite, Tanager-1, beams down. Methane traps heat at about 80 times the rate of carbon dioxide for the decade-plus that it lasts in the air. That makes it urgent to address.
在加利福尼亚州，政府要求到 2030 年将甲烷排放量减少到 1990 年水平的 60% 以下；其中，垃圾填埋场是甲烷污染的主要来源（占甲烷总排放量的约 41%）。Carbon Mapper 于 2024 年 8 月与卫星公司 Planet Labs 以及 NASA 喷气推进实验室合作，发射了第一颗用于监测甲烷的卫星 Tanager-1。该公司首席执行官莱利·杜伦曾在 NASA 工作了 30 年，他表示，他们的目标是最终实现对全球 90% 的甲烷排放量的实时监测。
In California, which is required to reduce methane emissions 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, landfills are responsible for about 41% of methane pollution. Carbon Mapper launched its first methane-tracking satellite, Tanager-1, in August 2024, in partnership with the satellite company Planet Labs and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Both went aboard SpaceX rockets. Carbon Mapper chief executive Riley Duren, who worked at NASA for 30 years, said the company aims to visualize 90 percent of methane emissions around the planet eventually.
像 Tanager-2 上这样的卫星传感器通过测量从地球表面反射回来的光波来检测甲烷气体。Carbon Mapper 的网站提供了全球甲烷排放数据的实时更新信息（数据更新周期为 30 天）。"如果你能让数据易于获取，并能以一种教会人们使用数据的方式与他们合作，那么你就能实现大幅减排，" Duren说。空气资源委员会去年春天开始与Carbon Mapper合作，以精确定位甲烷排放源。
Satellites sensors like the one on the new Tanager-2 can detect the invisible gas by measuring wavelengths of light bouncing off the earth's surface. Global methane plume data is available on 30-day lag on Carbon Mapper's website. "If you can make the data accessible, and you can work with people in a way that teaches them to use the data, then you can achieve large reductions in emissions," Duren said. The air board started working with Carbon Mapper last spring to pinpoint methane emissions.
卫星能在设施层面看到甲烷——精确到50米以内。该机构在48小时内收到图像，然后在发现甲烷逸散时向垃圾填埋场以及石油和天然气运营商发出通知。加州空气资源委员会表示，自2025年5月开始从第一颗甲烷卫星获取数据以来，已能够处理至少18处甲烷大规模泄漏点。Buckley提到，8月在克恩县的Midway-Sunset油气田发现了一处每小时918公斤的泄漏，在California Resources Corporation接到通知的当天就得到了修复。
The satellite can see methane at the facility level — exact to within 50 meters. The agency gets the images within 48 hours, then sends out notices to landfill and oil and gas operators when methane is seen escaping. CARB says that since it started getting the data in May 2025 from the first methane satellite, it's been able to address at least 18 methane gushers. Buckley noted a 918 kg per hour leak at the Midway-Sunset Oil and Gas field in Kern County in August that was fixed the same day California Resources Corporation was notified.
畜牧业运营不被列为违规对象。该行业的排放尚未受到直接监管，但其贡献了该州约26%的甲烷污染。有时尽管甲烷对气候有影响，但仍允许排放，例如作为维护的一部分，当储气罐上的压力释放阀放空时。根据州政府的数据看板显示，有时运营商已经知道泄漏，并在州空气机构联系他们时正在修复。但有时公司不知道泄漏的存在，会在得知后进行修复。
Livestock operations don't get cited. Emissions aren't directly regulated yet for the sector, which contributes about 26% of the state's methane pollution. Sometimes releases are allowed, despite the climate impact of methane, for example when a pressure relief valve is vented on a gas tank as part of maintenance. Sometimes the operators already know about the leaks and are fixing them when the state air agency contacts them, according to the state's dashboard. But sometimes the companies didn't know about the leak and make a repair.
她说，Buckley提到的修复的18处大型泄漏点防止了超过142,000公吨二氧化碳进入大气。这相当于让约32,000辆燃油车一年不上路。Carbon Mapper的目标是利用卫星星座，每年防止相当于10亿吨二氧化碳的排放。预计明年将再发射两颗卫星。除了加利福尼亚州，该公司还与其他11个州合作报告甲烷超级排放源，但Duren表示，加利福尼亚州是唯一一个通过发送通知来执行其法规的州。
The 18 large leaks Buckley mentioned fixing account for more than 142,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide prevented from entering the atmosphere, she said. That’s the equivalent of taking about 32,000 gas powered cars off the road for a year. Carbon Mapper's goal is to prevent the equivalent of a billion tons of carbon dioxide every year with a constellation of satellites. It expects to launch two more next year. In addition to California, the company partners with 11 other states to report methane super emitters, but Duren said California is the only state with a program that sends out notices to enforce its regulations.
他说，过去一年里，美国各地的石油和天然气设施共发生了66起泄漏事故，另有60起泄漏事件正在接受调查。由于用于计算维修措施影响的计算方法仍在研发中，Carbon Mapper平台尚未掌握垃圾填埋场的相关数据。Tanager-2卫星于一个雾蒙蒙的早晨11点30分发射升空；这颗卫星是Tanager-1的复制品，但运行轨道不同：Tanager-1每天大约在中午经过赤道，而Tanager-2则会在上午10点30分左右经过赤道。
He said in total there have been 66 fixes at oil and gas sites across U.S. in past year, and another 60 leaks under investigation. Carbon Mapper doesn't have similar numbers for landfills because methods to calculate the impacts of repairs are still being developed. The Tanager-2 took off around 11:30am on a foggy day. It's a replica of the Tanager-1, but is on a different orbit. The latter crosses the equator roughly at noon each day and the new one will cross around 10:30 am.
杜伦（Duren）表示，目前仅凭一颗卫星，加利福尼亚州每周只能进行大约三次甲烷浓度监测；“一旦我们完成整个卫星星座的建设（即部署四颗或更多卫星），我们就能够每天对同一地区进行多次监测了。”
Currently, with one satellite, California gets to make methane observations about three times a week, Duren said. "Once we build the constellation out, the four-plus satellites, we'll be able to make multiple observations a day of the same area," he said.