Biomass satellite is measuring trees from 666 km altitude
Cette publication existe aussi en Français
‘The goal is to understand how forests affect the climate – and how climate change affects forests’
On the 29th of April the ESA launched a very special satellite – Biomass. On board is a P-Band Synthetic aperture radar and its mission is to collect data on the changes of our forests. Forests are critical in the carbon reduction of our climate and the information gathered will give a good insights in that capacity.
The P band ranges from 225 MHz and 390 MHz – unusual long waves compared to the ‘normal’ satellites we know. The longer wavelength of the radar is capable to penetrate the canopy of the trees and map the total tree and calculate the ‘biomass’.
The project took some time. Lars Ulander, Professor of Radar Remote Sensing at Chalmers University of Technology, and a few colleagues submitted the proposal twenty years ago, but now the satellite is functional.
“Our idea was to use a very special type of radar to map the world’s forests from space. The goal was to understand how forests affect the climate – and how climate change affects forests,” says Lars Ulander.
The Biomass satellite operates on a 666 km altitude and is continuously producing global maps. With the data researchers can improve the models and support decision makers in implementing more effective climate action.
Follow the project on the ESA website
Source: Chalmers University
If you enjoyed this article, you will like the following ones: don't miss them by subscribing to :
