Climate change is the most pressing threat to humanity, and understanding the sources of greenhouse gases (ghgs) such as CO2 and methane is critical to effectively tackling this problem

This federal Project Grant award of $175,000.00 was provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program (CFDA 11.021). The purpose of the award is to develop a novel, low-cost, internet-cloud-connected solar spectrometer network capable of measuring methane, CO2, and water vapor over wide geographic regions with little or no human intervention. The awardee, Butterfly Photonics, Inc., will leverage this funding to create small, solar-powered remote sensors that can be easily installed and centrally managed using cloud-based services. The data from this sensor network will be combined with atmospheric transport models to locate and quantify greenhouse gas concentrations across cities, fracking basins, and other areas of interest. This project aims to advance climate science understanding and support regulatory compliance related to greenhouse gas monitoring. The award period runs from August 1, 2024 to January 31, 2025.

Indeed, finding and fixing methane leaks, in particular, is widely viewed as one our best options for slowing global warming in the near term. While the technology for monitoring this critical greenhouse gas has certainly advanced over the past decade, there continues to exist an acute need for an approach that can monitor wide geographic regions reliably and at low-cost to both further our understanding of climate science and to ensure regulatory compliance in the coming years. In response to this need, butterfly photonics, INC. Proposes to develop a novel, low-cost, internet-cloudconnected solar spectrometer network capable of measuring methane, CO2, and water over wide geographic regions with little or no human intervention. The small, solar-powered remote sensors will be simple to install, and centrally managed and controlled using cloud-based services. The data from this network will be combined with state-of-the-art atmospheric transport models to locate and quantify greenhouse gas concentrations across entire cities, fracking basins, and other geographic regions of interest.