- Jan 28, 2009 5:57 PM EST
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The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency recently made history by launching the first satellite to monitor and measure greenhouse gases from space. The satellite is aptly named Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite or GOSAT (also known as IBUKI, based on its full Japanese name) and was launched in Tanegashima island in southern Japan. GOSAT has the capacity to measure greenhouse gases on almost the entire surface of the earth. And since this is the first time a satellite was dispatched for this particular purpose, large areas of the globe on which emission data is non-existent can now be monitored.
The satellite uses a high precision sensor to be able to measure the greenhouse gases and obtain the data that will be made available every three days and distributed to scientists for free. The data will then be used for further studies of greenhouse gases and ultimately, to help combat global warming. GOSAT was launched by JAXA in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific under their Memorandum of Understanding which includes working together for disaster risk reduction and the environment.