SPHEREx spots menagerie of brown dwarfs with atmospheric water and methane - Phys.org

Researchers at the University of Basel have investigated how fine particles in exhaust emissions from aircraft and marine engines change in the atmosphere. Their findings show that aircraft emissions in particular become more toxic over time. Fine particulate matter consists of tiny particles with diameters in the nanometer range. They are produced, for example, by fuel combustion, remain suspended in the air and can penetrate deep into the respiratory tract. There, they can trigger what is known as oxidative stress – a process that promotes inflammation and, in the long term, can lead to serious health problems such as respiratory or cardiovascular diseases. Scientists refer to this harmful property of the particles as their oxidative potential.

A creator with experience tracking methane at landfills is drawing attention to a less flashy climate measure: fixing leaks from oil, coal, and gas infrastructure. In a TikTok video, Alaina Wood (@thegarbagequeen) presented methane leak repairs at fossil fuel sites as a fast way to cut emissions.

Tracking invisible climate-warming gas from space used to be a long shot. That was until a team of scientists proved that orbit-based monitoring could work. In a study published on October 14 in Nature, researchers from the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability conducted the largest controlled test of space-based methane monitoring ever. They timed 481 controlled methane releases in Casa Grande, Arizona, matching them with overpasses from 11 different satellites.

Data availabilityGround-metered flow rate files, meteorology data files and cloud cover imagery from the cooperative phase 0 and all blind experimental phases are provided at https://doi.org/10.25740/QH001QT3946 (ref. 51). Spectral imagery from participating satellites was not collected by the experiment team and will not be made available directly through this study. However, these data can be acquired through public platforms or purchased from commercial platforms for many of the tested satellites, as described in Supplementary Information section 2.1. Source data are provided with this paper. Code availability The code to reproduce the figures in this paper is available at https://doi.org/10.25740/QH001QT3946 (ref. 51).

Researchers Adam Brandt, Josh Romo and Taylor Adams set up a meteorology station during preparations for controlled methane releases. Researchers have conducted the largest-ever controlled test of space-based methane monitoring, finding that dedicated methane sensors correctly detected nearly all methane plumes released on clear days. 14 in Nature, the results provide a benchmark for satellite systems increasingly used by regulators, environmental groups and companies to detect leaks and identify super-emitters of the planet-warming gas.