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ESA /Applications /Observing the Earth /FutureEO /Biomass
There is biomass – the organic woody material, Biomass – the satellite mission, and ESA’s Climate Change Initiative Biomass Project. With such similar names, it can understandably get a bit confusing – so how are they connected?
Biomass, the organic material, refers here to the woody parts of vegetation, tree trunks, branches and leaves. Importantly, scientists are interested in ‘above-ground’ biomass, which can be measured from space, unlike the roots and other material underground.
Above-ground biomass plays a crucial role in the climate system. It acts as both a source and a sink of carbon in the global carbon cycle, directly influencing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere – and therefore climate change.
Current maps of above-ground biomass have been based largely on data from missions such as Europe’s Copernicus Sentinel-1 which carries C-band synthetic aperture radar, and Japan’s ALOS L-band synthetic aperture radar missions. Spaceborne lidar such as NASA's GEDI and ICESat missions also provide additional detail relating to forest height and structure.
ESA’s Biomass satellite, however, brings something new to the table. It is the first satellite to carry a P-band synthetic aperture radar, operating at a wavelength of around 70 cm.
This longer wavelength allows the radar to penetrate dense forest canopies – especially those in tropical regions – and gather detailed information about tree trunks, branches, and stems, where most of the forest’s carbon is stored.
This capability is critical because C-band and L-band synthetic aperture, while providing good information across boreal and temperate forest are less effectiveness in tropical forests. These regions not only hold the majority of global above-ground biomass, but are also where uncertainty in biomass estimates is highest.
By using P-band radar, the Biomass mission is expected to significantly improve the accuracy of above-ground biomass measurements, particularly in the Tropics, enhancing our understanding of the global carbon cycle.
Through itsClimate Change Initiative, ESA develops a suite of long-term satellite data records of key components of the climate system, known as Essential Climate Variables. Scientists use records of these variables to study climate drivers, interactions and feedbacks, as well as reservoirs, tipping points and fluxes of energy, water and carbon.
Above ground biomass 2020
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These climate-quality datasets are a major contribution to the evidence base used to understand climate change and to predict the future, which drives international action.
The Climate Change InitiativeBiomass Projectprovides a transparent, consistent picture of the state of the world’s forests and assessment of annual biomass change over time. This information is used to understand both carbon cycle and forest dynamics and, when combined with climate models, contribute to improved prediction of future climate change.
In addition, the dataset contributes to national and stakeholder reporting to the UN Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) programme and to national greenhouse gas and land use inventories, which form a key input to the UN Global Stocktake, processes that assess progress towards the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Paris Agreement goals.
Based on past and current satellite missions, the Climate Change Initiative Biomass Project has, so far, developed global maps to estimate above-ground biomass and its change over the period 2007–2022.
To ensure the record can be extended towards the 30-year record length sought by the climate community, the retrieval algorithm has been designed to include data from future Earth observation missions, including ESA’s Biomass.
In short, the Biomass mission will not only help extend the current record of above-ground biomass, but also introduce new information to evaluate, validate and support the development of carbon cycle and climate models to improve projections of future climate.
