A new partnership between NOAA and United Airlines will soon help federal scientists keep better tabs on domestic greenhouse gas emissions.
The project, set to begin next year, will equip a single Boeing 737 with scientific instruments designed to monitor carbon dioxide, methane and other climate-warming gases. As the aircraft zigzags across the country, stopping in as many as five cities a day, it will collect valuable data on emissions over both rural and urban landscapes, scientists say.
That information can help scientists verify emissions measurements gathered in the same places by other methods, such as satellites or on-the-ground instruments. And it can help cities and land managers pinpoint locations where they may be underestimating their own emissions.
“It’s a real opportunity to go to where all the action is in terms of understanding the emissions,” said Colm Sweeney, associate director of science at NOAA’s global monitoring laboratory and lead scientist at the lab’s aircraft program. “We’re not trying to regulate any emissions — we’re just trying to understand what those emissions profiles look like.”
