On 22nd Dec 2016, China launched a global carbon dioxide monitoring satellite to understand climate change.
This is after it lifted nearly a week-long red alert for the worst smog that engulfed about 40 cities in the country.
The 620-kg satellite TanSat was put into orbit by Long March-2D rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China's Gobi Desert on 22nd Dec morning.
This was the 243rd mission of the Long March series rockets.
Besides TanSat, the rocket also carried a high-resolution micro-nano satellite and two spectrum micro-nano satellites for agricultural and forestry monitoring.
China is the third country after Japan and the US to monitor greenhouse gases through its own satellite.
The satellite was sent into a sun synchronous orbit about 700 kms above the earth and will monitor the concentration, distribution and flow of CO2)in the atmosphere.
The satellite will help understanding climate change and provide China's policy makers with independent data.
On a three-year mission, TanSat will thoroughly examine global carbon dioxide levels every 16 days, accurate to at least 4 ppm (parts per million), the report said.
The new satellite will enable China to obtain emissions data first-hand and share it with researchers worldwide, Yin said.
The satellite can trace the sources of greenhouse gases and help evaluate whether countries are fulfilling their commitments.
This will impact climate change, carbon reduction and in negotiations with a bigger say on carbon trading.
Beijing lifted the red alert for air pollution as cold air dispersed the smog that has affected the city since Dec 17 which drew strong criticism from public as it disrupted the normal life.
Since December 17 emergency measures such as even-odd car restrictions will end and classes will resume at schools, official media reports said.
China's CO
2 emissions are to peak around 2030, with emissions per unit of GDP cut by 60 per cent of 2005 levels by the same date.
TanSat- TanSat, Tan being the Chinese word for Carbon, is China’s first mission dedicated to Carbon Dioxide detection.
- It has a payload of two instruments to track the atmospheric CO2 concentration and variability.
- Funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the TanSat project was initiated in January 2011.
- The 500-Kilogram TanSat spacecraft has the main objective of measuring the atmospheric column-averaged CO2 dry air mole fraction with a precision better than four parts per million.
