This satellite is creating the most accurate forest maps the world has ever seen

Forests hold between 70 and 90 percent of all the biomass on Earth, with the majority contained in tropical forests. These act as carbon sinks, storing it in their roots, trunks and branches. However, when trees are cut down or forests burn, that carbon is once again released into the atmosphere in the form of CO2.

Forests play a vital role in regulating the Earth’s climate but up until now there wasn’t enough data on exactly how much biomass there is to properly understand how forests are contributing to the global carbon cycle. A European Space Agency satellite, Biomass, aims to change that.

Biomass uses first-of-its-kind radar system in space

Biomass was launched in April this year from Kourou in French Guiana and has been orbiting the Earth once every 93 minutes collecting detailed images of the forests on every continent. It uses a novel wider length P-band radar which can penetrate trees’ foliage as well as deep into the soil from nearly 414 miles above the Earth.

This is giving scientist the most complete and detailed picture of the world’s forests yet, allowing them to weigh the Earth’s biomass. With these maps and data, free for researchers around the world to use, scientists will be able to better understand forest resources and how they are changing.

It is also letting them see the remains of ancient riverbeds and lakes hidden under deserts. “This will help understand the past climate and also help prospect fossil water resources in desert regions,” stated the ESA.

The ESA released the first stunning images in June of what they’ve been able to see with Biomass at the Living Space Symposium.

The mission has been given a lifespan of five years. However, many ESA missions have exceeded their scheduled operational use, meaning that it could most likely collect data well-beyond 2030.

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