A unique European Space Agency satellite called Biomass was launched on April 29 to help understand what is happening in many different areas of the world, including how much carbon is stored in forests and other vegetation.
During the Living Planet Symposium in Vienna, Austria on June 23, the first images taken from the satellite with its P-band synthetic aperture radar were revealed.
The radar tool measures the biomass of forests beneath the trees' canopy, making it easier to measure a forest's biomass and carbon content. It also measures subtle terrain and vegetation differences, exposes the contours of volcanoes, and reveals structures such as ancient riverbeds and geologic formations up to five meters (or about 16.4 feet) below the surface.
It penetrates below glacier ice to determine the dynamics and stability of ice sheets, which helps scientists understand future sea-level rise in our warming world.
The satellite's mission is designed for five years. According to a June 23rd article written by Daisy Dobrijevic in space.com, "Biomass will provide consistent, global coverage of Earth's forested regions, contributing vital data for climate models, conservation efforts, and carbon accounting."
Michael Fehringer, ESA's Biomass Project Manager, called the images revealed during the symposium spectacular. "As is routine," he said in a statement, "we're still in the commissioning phase, fine-tuning the satellite to ensure it delivers the highest quality data for scientists to accurately determine how much carbon is stored in the world's forests."
Pictures of tropical forests and the free-flowing, undammed Beni River in Bolivia show different colors that highlight ecosystems, including green for rainforest, red for forested wetlands and floodplains, and blue-purple for grasslands.
In the northern Amazon rainforest in Brazil, images showed red and pink tones that indicated forested wetlands and floodplains. Green tones showed dense forests.
Images of Halmahera's volcanic rainforests in Indonesia captured the complex topography shaped by volcanic forces. Images in Gabon of the forests and the Invindo River revealed the river and its tributaries in a green background that represents unbroken rainforest.
The colorful images unlock all kinds of details that help scientists understand the state of the planet's health and its forests.
To see some of the images generated by the Biomass satellite, go https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/nothing-short-of-spectacular-esas-biomass-satellite-releases-1st-views-of-earth-from-orbit-photos