European Space Agency’s Biomass Satellite Begins Game-Changing Mission to Track Forest Carbon

The European Space Agency’s Biomass satellite has successfully completed its commissioning phase and is now operational, providing unprecedented access to valuable data that could transform our understanding of forest dynamics and their impact on the global carbon cycle.

Launched in April 2025, Biomass is the first satellite equipped with a P-band synthetic aperture radar, allowing it to penetrate dense forest canopies to accurately measure woody biomass contained within trees, including trunks and major branches where the bulk of forest carbon is sequestered. These measurements are crucial for assessing carbon storage, which is a central aim of the mission. Following its launch and deployment in orbit, the Biomass team spent several months on meticulous calibration and adjustment to ensure the satellite could deliver the highest quality data.

Having successfully navigated the commissioning stage, the satellite is set to embark on its primary mission goals, with its data now available for unrestricted public use. Klaus Scipal, the ESA Biomass Mission Manager, expressed appreciation for the collaborative effort that has brought the project to this point, highlighting the hard work invested by teams across ESA, industry, and the scientific community. Scipal emphasized that this transition marks a shift from potential to practical application of the satellite’s capabilities.

Biomass will initially undertake a global tomographic coverage phase, expected to take around 18 months, to map forest structure. This phase will be followed by multiple nine-month periods of interferometric coverage to monitor changes in forest conditions over time.

Early results from Biomass include promising imagery that illustrates estimated forest carbon content across regions including Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic. Maciej Soja, a senior researcher at Wageningen Environmental Research, acknowledged the initial findings as highly promising, suggesting that forthcoming data would enhance understanding of climate change and improve forest management strategies, especially in developing regions.

In addition to ongoing scientific engagement at a workshop focusing on advanced radar techniques in Slovenia, ESA has also conducted an extensive airborne campaign to support Biomass calibration. This initiative involved flights tailored to align with satellite overpasses, collecting simultaneous radar observations to bolster the accuracy of satellite data.

Tania Casal, ESA’s Campaign Scientist, highlighted the significance of this coordination, noting the insights gained from pairing airborne and satellite radar data. These efforts will strengthen the confidence in Biomass measurements and demonstrate the advantages for countries actively engaged in forest conservation.

The Director of ESA’s Earth Observation Programmes, Simonetta Cheli, emphasized that the transition to operational status represents a key milestone for the Biomass mission. Cheli also acknowledged the challenges faced by scientists and policymakers in acquiring accurate global data on forest carbon stocks and their fluctuations. The information from Biomass is anticipated to greatly assist in clarifying estimates of forest carbon stocks and dynamics, which are critical in light of climate change and human land-use activities.