GEO-based hosted payloads to solve health and disaster prevention?

A newfound ability to detect emissions from copper mines could revive demand for hosted payloads. Multispectral sensors onboard the ESA’s TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) are now tracking these emissions daily from low Earth orbit, but a recent study from NCAR says such data should be captured hourly instead, since daily measurements limit our understanding of air quality patterns over time. While most Earth observation (EO) missions take place from LEO, these types of environmental payloads may be better suited to the persistent coverage available from GEO.

The Central African Copper Belt produces around two-thirds of the world’s copper and cobalt to create everything from mobile phones to commercial aviation engines, and even satellite parts. Nitrogen oxide is the main greenhouse gas emission being released from the Copperbelt and causes poor health outcomes for both people and the environment – currently there is little ability to track its proliferation, even via satellite. Exacerbating the situation further, Africa, South America, and Oceania are estimated to lose more than 31.5% - 52.4% of combined GDP repairing this climate-driven consequence over the next 25 years, despite contributing the least to global greenhouse gas emissions since 1981.

Hosted payloads—modules that attach to a satellite and share its power supply—can be a cost-efficient and quicker solution. Development of low form-factor hyperspectral sensors (which can map mineral signatures from space), are further paving the way for a resurgence, assuming they can prove a viable solution for health services and disaster prevention across the Global South through active climate monitoring.

While many nations in the Global South face geographic and economic hurdles, a geostationary solution for hourly data may be the most affordable option. NASA broke ground this year with its Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) mission, whose GEO vantage point enables hourly EO collection in North America. From GEO, just three hosted payloads for any emissions-focused program can enable global coverage – no LEO constellation required. Are GEO-hosted payloads poised to take over the limelight again? Or is this need already met by NASA/ESA data sharing without putting the cost burden on these countries?

SOURCE: https://news.ucar.edu/132918/monitoring-african-copper-and-cobalt-mining-emissions-space