The emissions were captured by environmental data company GHGSat’s high-resolution satellites, according to a company press release in February. In April, the company’s analysis confirmed that the emissions came from a livestock farm in California’s Joaquin Valley.
The satellites recorded five emissions, GHGSat says. If those emissions were sustained for just a year, enough gas would be released “to power 15,402 homes,” the company said.
Brody Wight, GHGSat’s sales director, told CNN this is the first time the company knows scientists have been able to use satellite imagery to pinpoint methane emissions from cattle farming. The company has three high-resolution satellites in orbit that it has previously used to measure emissions from open-pit coal mines. Each satellite is only the size of a microwave oven, says GHGSat.
“It’s really pushing the limits of what we can do,” Wight said. “What’s unique about us is that we can really get to the source” of emissions by focusing on specific feedlots.
Each satellite only flies over a given location for about 20 seconds, taking a quick “snapshot” of emissions, Wight said. Over time, regular monitoring with these satellites could create a “temporal picture” showing how emissions are changing over time, allowing farmers to test the effects of different diets on methane emissions from cows, for example.