Biomass has been successfully launched by a Vega-C rocket, from the Kourou space port, Tuesday April 29, 2025. This satellite, built by Airbus for the European Space Agency (ESA), can therefore Start its forest surveillance missionfor an altitude of 666 kilometers. Its objective is to quantify biomass, that is to say organic matter rich in carbon contained in the forests of the planet.
“Biomass will provide scientists and climatologists unpublished data on the state of world forests, thus improving the understanding of the climate cycle. The satellite is now in orbit and ready to deliver its precious data,” said Alain Fauré, head of space systems at Airbus Defense and Space.
An exceptional radar
The satellite even embarks The first spatial strip radar Pwhich will provide precise cards of the biomass of tropical, temperate and boreal forests. Indeed, said radar can penetrate the forest cutlery up to 40 meters deep and cross the foliage, and therefore see biomass housed in branches and trunks.
“Biomass is an innovative mission in the sense that we use a radar, not to make the image, but to extract from its signal a biophysical data”, adds Thierry Koleck, biomass project manager at CNES. Indeed, for years, engineers and scientists have worked on algorithms allowing Convert the radar signal into relevant data. A real challenge, especially since the signal can be impacted by many external parameters such as wind, humidity or even trees.
-Biomass is equipped with a large 12 -meter satellite antenna. © Airbus
Beyond the forests
In addition, the quality of the information provided by Biomass and the cards produced by the satellite is optimized by the Geo-Tree International Networkwhose aim is to create a real forest inventory and especially a global and homogeneous database. “There has been a solid scientific community around this mission. In the world but also in France,” says Thierry Koleck.
Beyond this world fervor around forest mapping, the biomass satellite can be the subject of other uses. Thanks to his famous P -band radar, he could for example reveal what hides under the glacor under the sand. A real technological gem at the service of science.
>> Read also: Toulouse: a European satellite will map forests and their carbon absorption
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