NASA has partnered with other federal government officials to launch a new Greenhouse Gas Center.
Scientists intend to use the center to share data on emissions and their impact on the climate and environment. On Monday, NASA announced it partnered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology to create the new center.
The new Greenhouse Gas Center will compile data cataloged by each government entity, including information on “greenhouse gas emissions from human activities,” natural emissions, and space and aircraft data on “large” methane emission events.
“A goal of the U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center is to accelerate the collaborative use of Earth science data,” said Argyro Kavvada, center program manager at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., according to NASA. “We’re working to get the right data into the hands of people who can use it to manage and track greenhouse gas emissions.”
The dataset will also feature information gathered by NASA’s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation mission aboard the International Space Station. The mission uses technology to measure methane emissions by visible and infrared light.
NASA administrator Bill Nelson and EPA administrator Michael Regan unveiled the new center at the 28th annual United Nations Climate Conference in Dubai.
“NASA data is essential to making the changes needed on the ground to protect our climate. The U.S. Greenhouse Gas Center is another way … to make critical data available to more people — from scientists running data analyses to government officials making decisions on climate policy to members of the public who want to understand how climate change will affect them,” claimed Nelson, per NASA. “We’re bringing space to Earth to benefit communities across the country.”