article_snippet.sent: An instrument on a European Space Agency satellite measuring greenhouse gases showed a persistent atmospheric hot spot in the area between 2003 and 2009.
article_snippet.sent: The April study will focus on verifying the hotspot and determining the methane sources producing the exceptionally elevated methane concentrations.
article_snippet.sent: With the combined resources, The April study hope to quantify the entire region's overall methane emissions and pinpoint contributions from different sources.
article_snippet.sent: The April study will track changes over the course of the month-long effort and study how meteorology transports emissions through the entire region. '
article_snippet.sent: In the study published online today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, researchers used observations made by the European Space Agency's Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography
article_snippet.sent: (SCIAMACHY) instrument, which measured greenhouse gases from 2002 to 2012.
article_snippet.sent: The atmospheric hot spot persisted throughout the study period.
article_snippet.sent: A ground station in the Total Carbon Column Observing Network, operated by the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory, provided independent validation of the measurement.
article_snippet.sent: Frankenberg noted that the study demonstrates the unique role space-based measurements can play in monitoring greenhouse gases. '