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>> JACOB: Greenhouse gases such as carbon
dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide trap heat
in the atmosphere,
which makes the Earth warm enough for us to
live on.
However, if concentrations of greenhouse gases
are too high,
Earth can become too warm resulting in a broad
range of impacts that affect the entire planet.
>> JACOB: Methane is a potent greenhouse gas
with a global warming potential that is approximately
25
times greater than carbon dioxide over a 100
year time period.
Between the energy, industrial processes,
agriculture, and waste sectors,
a large amount of methane emissions in the United
States come from the agriculture sector.
Within this sector,
the majority of methane emissions come from
the dairy industry.
This, combined with the fact that California
is the
leading dairy producer in the United States,
means that dairy farms play an important role
in the state's methane budget.
>> JACOB: Methane emission estimates are consistently
at odds with each other, suggesting that the
life cycle of methane
and the processes that produce methane are
not fully documented or understood.
Furthermore, the total number, location, size,
and manure management infrastructure of dairy
farms, the largest methane emission source
in California, is uncertain.
These uncertainties make it difficult to understand,
accurately estimate, and reduce emissions.
So the question is,
how much methane is being emitted from dairy
farms, and what management practices are contributing
most?
>> KELSEY: To better understand management
practices and methane emission sources at
dairy farms,
the California Health and Air Quality team
at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory partnered
with the California Environmental Protection
Agency,
Air Resources Board.
>> KELSEY: Important legislation regarding
air quality and monitoring of greenhouse gases
has been passed
in the state of California requiring the Air
Resources Board to monitor and estimate emissions
throughout the state.
Currently, the Air Resources Board emission
estimates rely on regional, state, and national
data.
Facilities throughout California
are required to report all greenhouse gases
to the Air Resources Board.
To estimate emissions,
they follow the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National
Greenhouse Gas Inventories.
>> ERIKA: This project produced datasets to
enhance the current decision making processes
used at the
Air Resources Board and their greenhouse gas
inventory.
Using imagery from Planet Lab's RapidEye
satellite constellation,
we created GIS datasets of dairy farms in
California's Central Valley.
In addition, we used greenhouse gas plume
data from
NASA's airborne imaging spectrometers AVIRIS-NG
and HyTES to understand emissions at dairy
farms.
>> ERIKA: Through this project, the Air Resources
Board has a better understanding of dairy
farms and their management
practices in California.
This project also helps build the Air Resources
Board's understanding of the various observation
strategies and data that they can use to improve
their greenhouse gas inventory.
