The device will help significantly in locating greenhouse hotspots.

Just as military technologies have trickled down for civilian use, NASA’s Jet propulsion Lab’s Open Path Laser Spectrometer (OPLS) which designed a high tech methane detector to detect for gases on Mars has put on a new mantle and is being used here on this blue planet.

Given that greenhouse gases are currently at their 30 year high, as per the United Nations, its creators are using it to detect atmospheric gases, having strapped it to a standard quadcopter.

A team of JPL researchers along with researchers from UC Merced’s Mechatronics, Embedded Systems and Automation (MESA) have performed initial flight tests to sniff out atmospheric gases in late February.

The tests involve flying the sensor rigged quadcopter close to methane containers to gauge the device’s accuracy. NASA’s technology is so damn good that even from the sky, its methane meters are more accurate than current generation handheld meters used by inspectors in the industry.

“These tests mark the latest chapter in the development of what we believe will eventually be a universal methane monitoring system for detecting fugitive natural-gas emissions and contributing to studies of climate change,” said Lance Christensen, OPLS principal investigator at JPL, in a statement.

If the system gets the thumbs up from regulators, it could materially reduce the amount of time, energy and money needed to inspect the United State’s 300,000 odd miles of natural gas pipelines, hog and cattle farms, wastewater treatment facilities and such greenhouse gas hotspots.