Biomass
Biomass is the first satellite that will study the world’s forests in 3-dimensions.
Biomass. Credit: Airbus
The Biomass mission will provide crucial information about the state of our forests and how they are changing. The data will be used to further our knowledge of the role forests play in the carbon cycle.
Biomass, which is being built in the UK (Airbus), will quantify the global carbon cycle which is essential to understanding many of the dramatic changes taking place in the Earth system, particularly those resulting from the burning of fossil fuel and land-use change.
As a result, Biomass observations will support the initiative for the reduction of emissions due to deforestation and forest degradation.
Key Facts:
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Biomass will have global coverage and produce one map every 6 months for 4 years with unprecedented accuracy.
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It will reduce the current uncertainties in the amount of carbon stored in forests and how this changes with time, providing vital information to support decision making around climate change.
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Observations from this new mission will also lead to better insight into rates of habitat loss and the impact this may be having on biodiversity in the forest environment.
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Biomass is also a part of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Earth Explorer missions which focuses on the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere and the Earth’s interior with the overall aim of learning more about the interactions between these components and the impact that human activity is having on natural Earth processes.
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Due to launch in 2023.
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UK has invested in the ESA Earth Observation Envelope Programme - EOEP-3, EOEP-4, and EOEP-5 programmes.
Stakeholders: The lead scientist is Prof Sean Quegan based in the Uni of Sheffield, Airbus; leading the build, ESA, Nammo (propulsion), Astrotech (propulsion), Enersys ABSL (batteries)