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\t\t\t\t\t\t02\/05\/2025<\/span> As the new Biomass satellite settles into life in orbit following its launch on 29 April, ESA has released its most extensive satellite-based maps of above-ground forest carbon to date. Spanning nearly two decades, the dataset offers the clearest global picture yet of how forest carbon stocks have changed over time.<\/p>\n Developed through ESA\u2019s Climate Change Initiative, this new long-term record integrates data from multiple satellite missions \u2013 and will soon be further enhanced by data from the Biomass mission itself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It tracks the carbon-rich woody parts of vegetation, mainly trunks and branches, across the globe for different years between 2007 and 2022, at resolutions ranging from 100 m to 50 km.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Importantly, it is tailored to support climate and carbon modelling, forest management, and national greenhouse-gas reporting activities as part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n ESA\u2019s Frank Martin Seifert, noted, \u201cThe new release, version 6, is a pivotal moment for climate science as it provides an unprecedented level of consistency and timeliness in the provision of above-ground biomass estimates globally.<\/p>\n \u201cThis empowers researchers and policymakers alike to track carbon dynamics with the temporal precision necessary for meaningful climate action.\u201d<\/p>\n Trees play a vital role in the global carbon cycle, storing large amounts of carbon as biomass. While this carbon stock increases as forests grow, it can be rapidly released back into the atmosphere through deforestation and wildfires \u2013 contributing significantly to rising carbon dioxide levels and, therefore, driving climate change.<\/p>\n The dataset draws from different Earth-observing satellites including ESA\u2019s Envisat and Europe\u2019s Copernicus Sentinel-1, Japan\u2019s ALOS PALSAR, and NASA\u2019s ICESat and GEDI lidar missions.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Thanks to close international collaboration, particularly with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, this latest release significantly improves on the accuracy of biomass estimates and corrects long-standing underestimates in high-biomass regions.<\/p>\n Refinements to the biomass retrieval algorithm have resulted in a dataset that delivers more consistent and reliable information across the world\u2019s forest biomes \u2013 though it remains most accurate up to 400 tonnes of biomass per hectare.<\/p>\n Richard Lucas of Aberystwyth University, who leads ESA\u2019s Climate Change Initiative Biomass Project, said, \u201cThe new dataset provides a much more accurate representation of global forest biomass, particularly in regions where earlier versions underestimated high-density forests.\u201d<\/p>\n However, Prof. Lucas added that challenges remain in capturing the most carbon-rich ecosystems.<\/p>\n \u201cDetecting biomass densities above 400 tonnes per hectare is considerably more difficult because the relatively short wavelengths of current radar sensors don\u2019t fully penetrate or interact with the larger woody components of dense tropical forests.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Maurizio Santoro, from Gamma Remote Sensing in Switzerland, added, \u201cWhen assessed against independent reference data from all over the world, the new maps are of higher quality.<\/p>\n \u201cNevertheless, better characterisation of the states and dynamics of carbon stored in vegetation is still necessary, which will be facilitated by ingesting additional satellite data from past missions, and from future satellites.\u201d<\/p>\n Enter ESA\u2019s Biomass mission, which is set to transform how we assess the planet\u2019s forest carbon stores.<\/p>\n Equipped with the first spaceborne P-band radar, which has a wavelength of around 70 cm, this pioneering satellite will be capable of penetrating thick forest canopies to measure the carbon locked in even the densest vegetation.<\/p>\n It promises to drastically reduce uncertainties in forest carbon estimates, especially in tropical regions such as the Amazon, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cWe hope and anticipate that data from the Biomass mission, once available, will be able to extend the record of biomass stored in the world\u2019s forests, with this reducing uncertainties in the global carbon cycle and its contribution to climate change,\u201d added Prof. Lucas.<\/p>\n The ESA Climate Change Initiative Biomass Dataset Version 6 is free and open:\u00a0access here.<\/p>\n Read more:\u00a0How Biomass the mission will be used in the Climate Change Initiative Biomass Project.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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