What is this to do that the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation launched July 22 is not able to do? - How is EDF justifying spending money on more monitoring rather than on resolving the known emitters & problem sites?

Thank you for bringing attention to methane emission reduction itself. This gets at how MethaneSAT, and space-based monitoring in general, fits into the larger picture.

To start with the detection side of your question, there's a strong need for more space-based methane monitoring capacity. Key instruments include TROPOMI (wide-angle, moderate-precision), GHGSat (high-precision, point-source), and now EMIT (wide-angle, high-precision), and with these we're still detecting previously-unknown emission sources. Space-based detection needs to mature its capacity to the point where new emissions are rapidly detected, monitored frequently, and result in actionable data that's made available within days of measurement. MethaneSAT will help fill this need, as will the upcoming NASA/JPL Carbon Mapper constellation.

To compare MethaneSAT and EMIT, first I want to highlight that every new instrument complements the others. Our team is thrilled with EMIT's arrival, and I'm impressed by its technical capability. While similar in some regards, MethaneSAT's high-precision instrument will still have a field of view about 3x wider than EMIT's (~200km to 72km, iirc). EMIT's mission is also broader than just methane monitoring.

But it's not all about the measurements themselves. Our scientists and engineers are building a system to fully automate analysis that's historically been somewhat manual and error-prone, and to deliver more than just the standard methane concentration maps. We're on the cutting edge here, as far as I know. It's an exciting place to be.

Now for the part about using data to drive real methane emission reductions.

As monitoring capacity improves, efforts are underway to make it actionable on a global scale. This is now being led by the UNEP's International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO), launched last year. We're still in the early days, yet the investments made in the last couple years hold promise.

EDF is uniquely situated to contribute here too. We have a decades-long track record of effective engagement with government and private industry, and a well-staffed/funded advocacy arm whose job it will be to get MethaneSAT's data to decision makers in a position to reduce emissions.

Because you're right, that's what matters most.