Space mission to 'weigh' forests moves closer to launch

A pioneering space mission to "weigh" the earth's forests, whose 3D images can be used in future as a reference point by nations negotiating treaties to better manage forests, has moved a step closer to its launch following the signing of a contract to build the technology.
The BIOMASS mission, led by Professor Shaun Quegan from the University of Sheffield's School of Mathematics and Statistics, will use a revolutionary radar system to create a 3D map of the world's forests in order to improve our understanding of how carbon is cycled through the earth system.
The mission's data will strengthen research into climate change and may be used as a reference point by nations negotiating treaties to better manage forests across the planet.

Airbus UK will lead the construction of the satellite that will carry the radar system in space. This system will measure the amount of woody biomass -- mainly contained in trunks and large branches -- in the world's forests, together with their height.
BIOMASS, which was proposed by Professor Quegan will be launched in 2021 as the seventh mission in the European Space Agency's (ESA) Earth Explorer programme.
The Earth Explorer programme aims to study the whole Earth system: the interactions between the Earth's atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere and the planet's interior as well as the impact that human activity is having on the Earth's natural processes.

"This mission will give us unprecedented insight into the structure of forests across the world and how changes in forests, both losses from deforestation and gains due to regrowth and reforestation, are affecting the amount of carbon dioxide going into our atmosphere," Professor Quegan said.

"The study will essentially weigh forests - it will tell us their weight and height, and we will be able to see how they are changing over time. Understanding how the amount of living material -- biomass -- in our global forests changes over time is necessary for improving present and future assessments of the global carbon cycle, and therefore our climate," he said.

Currently, most estimates of biomass come from ground-based measurements. But because these measurements are scarce, particularly in the tropics, the models give radically different projections of the future carbon cycle and, therefore, how the climate might change.
The BIOMASS mission will help overcome this problem, by providing frequent, accurate and consistent biomass measurements, helping to validate and improve current earth system models.
As well as giving unparalleled and accurate insight into forest biomass, this mission will provide information on ice-sheet motion, the earth's upper atmosphere and subsurface geology in arid regions.