By Berk Kutay Gokmen
ISTANBUL (AA) - Japan will begin monitoring greenhouse gas emissions using spectrometers installed on commercial passenger flights, marking a global first as the country steps up efforts to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, Nikkei Asia reported Tuesday.
Japan’s aerospace agency, JAXA, and the country’s largest airline group, ANA Holdings, are working together to commercialize high-resolution atmospheric monitoring by using data collected during regular passenger flights.
The two partners said Tuesday that they have equipped a commercial ANA Boeing 737 with a JAXA-developed device capable of detecting atmospheric particles such as carbon dioxide through a cabin window.
A second unit is expected to be installed by March, with additional deployments planned across ANA’s fleet.
Spectrometers measure how different gases absorb sunlight at specific wavelengths, allowing for more efficient detection of emission concentrations than traditional mid-flight air sampling.
"It's a technology that allows us to see how atmospheric components behave, as if you were taking pictures looking down from an airplane," said Hiroshi Suto, JAXA’s associate senior chief officer of Earth Observation Missions, at a news briefing in Tokyo.
JAXA has monitored greenhouse gas emissions using its Ibuki satellite since 2009, and has collaborated with ANA since 2020 to develop in-cabin observation technology.
While satellite observations are conducted from about 600 kilometers (372 miles) above Earth, data collected from ANA flights operating at an altitude of roughly 10 kilometers allows for more detailed and localized monitoring.
Ayako Matsumoto, space business development manager at ANA Holdings, said the approach offers broader observational benefits.
"The ability to observe the entire surface area provides the advantage of enabling detailed measurements of emissions and forest absorption rates," she said.