ESA Launches Biomass Satellite to Study Forests and Climate Change

A new satellite, designed to study the planet's forests, has been successfully launched. The European Space Agency announced the launch, highlighting the satellite's purpose of providing unprecedented insight into how forests impact the Earth's carbon cycle.

The satellite, named Biomass, was launched from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, New Guinea. It separated from the rocket shortly after launch, and satellite controllers received its first signal, confirming its proper functioning in orbit. Over the coming days, controllers will ensure all systems are operational and deploy a large mesh reflector.

The primary goal of Biomass is to gather data on the world's forests. Forests play a crucial role in regulating the planet's temperature by absorbing and storing a significant amount of carbon dioxide annually. However, deforestation and degradation release this stored carbon, contributing to climate change. Currently, there is a lack of precise data on the carbon storage capacity of the planet's trees and the impact of human activities.

To address this, Biomass will utilize a P-band synthetic aperture radar, a first-of-its-kind technology in space. This radar will penetrate forest canopies and measure woody biomass, including trunks, branches, and stems. These measurements will serve as a proxy for carbon storage.

The data collected by the radar will be received by the mesh reflector and transmitted to the ESA's mission control center. The satellite is currently over the Amazon rainforest, one of several rainforests it will study.

The satellite's technology also has applications beyond forest studies, including mapping subsurface geology in deserts, ice sheet structures, and forest floor topography.