See Earth’s Forests as Never Before in Biomass Satellite’s First Images
See the forests of the earth as never before in the first images of satellite biomass
New images of the Biomass mission of the European Space Agency show how the satellite uses an advanced radar to map carbon flows through the most precious and most distant ecosystems of our planet
This image has a section of the Bolivian tropical forest. Each color represents a distinct ecological characteristic detected by radar, including forests, water bodies, wetlands and meadows.
Only two months after its launch, the biomass satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA) already shows us the earth in a whole new light.
On June 23, ESA published the first images of the mission, which present its unique capacity to look through dense vegetation to study the forests of our planet and other ecosystems like never before. Using advanced radar technologies, the satellite is on a five -year mission to study the forests through the tentacular expanses of the globe, looking under their awnings to evaluate their total wooden biomass – sections, members, stems, etc. By measuring all this material and how he changes over time, scientists can better monitor deforestation trends and follow the flow of carbon through ecosystems to improve our understanding of the rapidly evolving climate of the earth. The satellite is still in its six-month commissioning phase, but now we have a taste of what is to come.
The image illustrated above displays a section of the Amazon forest in Bolivia, the Beni Serpente river. Each color represents a characteristic of different ecosystem: black for rivers and lakes, pink for wetlands and flooding plains, green for tropical and purple forests for meadows. The Global Institute Forest Review of the World Resource Institute ranks Bolivia among the first 10 countries with the most loss of tree coverage between 2001 and 2024. During this period, Bolivia lost the equivalent of 15% of the total forest cover which he had in 2000, largely to the encroachment of agricultural conspiracies and cattle ranchs. These images and their associated data can help researchers keep tabs carefully on deforestation and its impacts on local and global ecosystems.
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The image below highlights the power of the satellite by comparing its observations with those collected by a biomass predecessor, the mission of Copernic Sentinel-2 of ESA, in the same place. The new images represent a significant increase in details which is mainly due to the main biomass instrument: the synthetic opening radar in band p. The Radio Radio in Bandeaves P are longer than the others more generally used in such radar systems, allowing them to go through layers of foliage, soil and other materials to create precise three -dimensional cards of differently hidden landscape characteristics.
This image of the biomass satellite (down) contains a large amount of details not represented in the image of Copernicus sentinel-2 of the same location (high).
Due to engineering challenges as well as diplomatics, this is the first time that P -band radar has been used in observations of the orbital land – PR -RANDFRESSCE in B -band is generally reserved for American and European missile detection systems. (In order to ensure that he will not interfere with the radar monitoring systems of space objects from the United States Ministry of Defense, biomass will not observe the regions of the North and Central, Europe and certain regions of the Arctic.)
The following three images below show how much the P-band radar can go deep. They have topographical characteristics of tropical forests in Indonesia, the Sahara desert in Chad and the transantarctic mountains adjacent to the Nimrod glacier in Antarctica, respectively.
An image of biomass showing a segment of the volcanic tropical forest of Halmahera in Indonesia.
In the photo above is the tropical forest of mountainous halmahera in Indonesia, with a robust topography shaped by break-insters of the many volcanoes that have expressed themselves in the region. One of them, the active volcano Mount Gamalama, can be seen off the coast on the far left.
The radar of the biomass satellite can reach a depth as deep as five meters in the dry sand, demonstrated in this image showing the Tibesti mountain range located in the Sahara desert in the extreme north of Chad.
Although the main objective of the biomass satellite is to catalog forests, it will also study other environments.
Above is part of the Tibesti mountains located in the central desert of the Sahara in northern Chad. Capable of mapping the characteristics up to five meters under the dry sand, the satellite can reveal ancient geological details, such as river beds and dried lakes, now buried under the constantly evolving dunes of the Sahara. These data can help researchers understand the ecological changes in such regions – and could even help to find hidden pockets of precious groundwater in arid and distant deserts.
Biomass can also enter the ice, illustrated below, and collect information on the structure and movement of ice calculations which could be used to better understand what controls the slide of glaciers in the sea.
Satellite image of the ESA biomass of part of the antarctic transantaria mountains with the Nimrod glacier flowing into the Ross ice platform.
Below, another image presents a covered terrain of jungle in Gabon and shows in evidence the Ivindo river, which feeds the surrounding tropical forest. The color predominantly color of the image indicates dense plant growth – a sign of a healthy tropical forest.
Biomass captured this image on Gabon in Africa. By surrounding the Ivindo river and its tributaries, the image is mainly green, representing a dense forest.
The final image shown here, below, is the very first that the satellite has produced. It presents part of the Amazonian forest in Brazil, highlighting the topography of the region alongside characteristics such as rivers, wetlands and meadows.
Satellite image of biomass of the Amazon forest in northern Brazil. This is the very first image that biomass has returned. The dark green patch at the top right represents a densely wooded area.
Only a small part of the vast Amazon has been studied in depth and on the ground. This is largely due to its scale and with the associated difficulty in reaching some of its most remote regions. Innovative satellites and biomass could considerably increase our knowledge of these neglected and similar places in the world, helping researchers to better understand – and protect – our changing planet and its countless magnificent ecosystems.
