Biomass (satellite)

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Biomass
ESA Biomass Satellite seeing wood through trees.png
ESA Biomass satellite rendering
Mission type Earth observation satellite
Operator ESA
COSPAR ID 2025-090A OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
SATCAT no. 63774 OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Website https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/Biomass
Mission duration5 years (planned)
2 months, 4 days (in progress)
Spacecraft properties
Bus Astrobus
Manufacturer Airbus Defence and Space (UK)
Launch mass1,170 kilograms (2,580 lb)
Power1500 watts
Start of mission
Launch date29 April 2025, 06:15:00 UTC
Rocket Vega C
Launch site Kourou ELV
Contractor Arianespace
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Sun-synchronous
Altitude660 km
  EarthCARE
FLEX  

Biomass is an Earth observing satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA) launched in 2025. The mission is intended to provide the first comprehensive measurements of global forest biomass and is expected to significantly improve the understanding of carbon storage, forest health, and temporal changes of forest ecosystems. [1] It is meant to last for five years, monitoring at least eight growth cycles in the world’s forests. [2]

Contents

ESA-developed Earth observation missions ESA-developed Earth observation missions ESA19415147 (cropped).jpeg
ESA-developed Earth observation missions
Overview of ESA's Biomass Earth Explorer satellite Biomass-infographic.pdf
Overview of ESA's Biomass Earth Explorer satellite
An artist's impression of the Biomass satellite Vue d'artiste du projet de satellite Biomass 2022 Esa Copernicus.jpg
An artist's impression of the Biomass satellite
New Norcia Station showing all antennas. NNO-1 is in the centre, NNO-3 at bottom right, NNO 2 is on the ridge-line, and the Biomass calibration transponder is at the top of the hill NNO Morning2(16x9).jpg
New Norcia Station showing all antennas. NNO-1 is in the centre, NNO-3 at bottom right, NNO 2 is on the ridge-line, and the Biomass calibration transponder is at the top of the hill
Rolling Biomass to the cleanroom Rolling Biomass to the cleanroom ESA507406.jpg
Rolling Biomass to the cleanroom
Copernicus Sentinel-1 captured this radar image over French Guiana - home to Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, while Biomass was being prepared for liftoff from there. Earth from Space- French Guiana ESA508412.jpg
Copernicus Sentinel-1 captured this radar image over French Guiana – home to Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, while Biomass was being prepared for liftoff from there.

Background

The Biomass satellite is part of ESA's Living Planet Programme, which consists of Earth observation missions. [3] [4] Its initial launch date was set to 2020, but that was later delayed to 2025. [5]

The entire cost of the mission was placed at around 400 million euros. The main scientific instrument aboard Biomass is a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) operating at 435 MHz. [6] The satellite measures 10 x 12 x 20 m, weighs around 1.2 tonnes and orbits the Earth at an altitude of 666 km. [7] [8] [9] [10]

All devices for assembly of the satellite structure, including vertical transport equipment, assembly and disassembly of satellite panels, assembly and disassembly of the synthetic aperture radar are done by the Spanish company SENER. [9]

Radar

Biomass is equipped with a P-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR), built in Friedrichshafen, Germany [11] and a large 12-m deployable antenna supplied by L3Harris. [12] The Feed Array of the SAR antenna is provided by Thales Alenia Space, Italy. [13]

The radar is used to observe forests between 75° north and 56° south, but doesn't cover North and Central America, Europe, and parts of the Arctic to avoid interfering with the US Department of Defense space object tracking radars. [14] [15]

To calibrate the spacecraft's radar, ESA has installed a custom-built transponder (Biomass Calibration Transponder; BCT) at New Norcia Station in Australia. BCT is being used intensively during the spacecraft's six-month commissioning period and then will be used two times a year during regular operations. [16]

Scientific objectives

The main objective of the mission is to measure forest biomass in order to assess terrestrial carbon stocks and fluxes and better understand the planet's carbon cycle. [3] The Biomass mission will explore Earth's surface at the P-band wavelength, the first time this technique is used from orbit. This will allow it to provide accurate maps of tropical, temperate and boreal forest biomass that are not obtainable by ground measurement techniques. [11] [17] [18] The amount of biomass and forest height will be measured at a resolution of 200 m, and forest disturbances such as clear-cutting at a resolution of 50 m. [19] [20]

Its stated objectives are: [21]

  1. Reduce the large uncertainties in the carbon flux due to changes in land use
  2. Provide scientific support for international treaties, agreements and programs such as the UN's REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) program
  3. Improve understanding and predictions of landscape-scale carbon dynamics
  4. Provide observations to initialize and test the land element of Earth system models
  5. Provide key information for forest resources management and ecosystem services.

It is expected that the data sent back from the satellite will also contribute new information to other areas of climate science, like measuring the biomass of desert regions to find fossil water and new water sources in arid regions as well as contributing to observations of ice sheet dynamics, subsurface geology and forest topography. [11]

Timeline

Development (2013 to 2024)

Launch campaign (2025)

In-orbit commissioning (2025)

Examples of images produced from Biomass data:

See also

References

  1. "Biomass poised for liftoff to unveil forest secrets". esa.int. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  2. "World's Biomass to Be Measured With Satellite Constructed by Airbus Defence and Space". Bioenergy Insight Magazine. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  3. 1 2 "Biomass". ESA. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  4. "The Earth Explorer Biomass". ESA . Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  5. "Airbus-built Biomass forest measuring satellite shipped to Kourou". airbus.com. 21 February 2025. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  6. Arcioni, M.; Bensi, P.; Fehringer, M.; Fois, F.; Hélière, F.; Lin, C.; Scipal, K. (July 2014). "The Biomass mission, status of the satellite system". 2014 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium. pp. 1413–1416. doi:10.1109/IGARSS.2014.6946700. ISBN   978-1-4799-5775-0. S2CID   21525036.
  7. Amos, Jonathan (7 May 2013). "ESA Approves Biomass Satellite to Monitor Earth's Forests". BBC . Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  8. "Image: Biomass Earth Explorer satellite". Phys.org. 13 February 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  9. 1 2 Harebottle, Adrienne (11 May 2018). "Sener to Develop Biomass Satellite Assembly Devices for ESA". Via Satellite. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  10. "Jonathan's Space Report - Latest Issue". planet4589.org. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Airbus Defence and Space Signs Contract to Build Biomass – the European Space Agency's Forest Mission". airbus.com. 3 May 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  12. "100th Unfurlable Mesh Reflector". l3harris.com. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
  13. "Aerospace, BIOMASS space mission will have Italo-French "antennas"". ResearchItaly. 31 October 2017. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  14. "Mission Overview - Earth Online". earth.esa.int. Archived from the original on 18 February 2024. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  15. Marín, Daniel (26 May 2025). "Biomass, el satélite europeo para estudiar la biomasa incapaz de observar Europa". Eureka (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  16. "Biomass, an oversized football and the Australian outback". www.esa.int. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  17. Massotti, Luca; Arcioni, Marco; Ankersen, Pierluigi Silvestrin Finn; Casasco, Massimo (1 January 2013). "Modern Attitude Control and Co-design for the Biomass Satellite (Earth Explorer Core Mission 7)". IFAC Proceedings Volumes. 19th IFAC Symposium on Automatic Control in Aerospace. 46 (19): 405–410. doi: 10.3182/20130902-5-DE-2040.00036 . ISSN   1474-6670.
  18. Laurin, Gaia Vaglio; Pirotti, Francesco; Cellegari, Maria; Chen, Qi; Cuozzo, Giovanni; Lingua, Emanuele; Notarnicola, Claudia; Papale, Dario (2019). "Potential of ALOS2 and NDVI to Estimate Forest Above-Ground Biomass, and Comparison with Lidar-Derived Estimates". In Kumar, Lalit; Mutanga, Onisimo (eds.). Remote Sensing of Above Ground Biomass. Basel, Beijing, Wuhan, Barcelona, Belgrade: MDPI. p. 61. ISBN   9783039212095.
  19. "ESA: Biomass satellite to be launched in 2020". UN-SPIDER . 23 February 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  20. Scipal, K.; Arcioni, M.; Chave, J.; Dall, J.; Fois, F.; LeToan, T.; Lin, C.; Papathanassiou, K.; Quegan, S. (July 2010). "The BIOMASS mission — an ESA Earth Explorer candidate to measure the BIOMASS of the earth's forests" (PDF). 2010 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium. pp. 52–55. doi:10.1109/IGARSS.2010.5648979. ISBN   978-1-4244-9565-8. S2CID   10610055.
  21. Kramer, Herbert J. (8 December 2018). "Biomass (Biomass monitoring mission for Carbon Assessment)". eoportal.org. eoPortal - Earth Observation Directory & News. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  22. "Biomass - Earth Online". earth.esa.int. Archived from the original on 17 December 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
  23. de Selding, Peter B. (3 May 2016). "Airbus UK to build Europe's Biomass satellite, featuring first use of P-band radar". SpaceNews . Retrieved 20 September 2019.
  24. "Contract seals deal for Biomass satellite's ride into space". esa.int. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
  25. "Radio eye on tree-counting BIOMASS". technology.esa.int. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  26. "Radio eye on forest mission Biomass". www.esa.int. Retrieved 25 May 2025.
  27. 1 2 "Biomass heads for the shaker". esa.int. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
  28. "ESA's forest satellite robust for launch". esa.int. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
  29. "In Antarctica for a forest satellite mission?" . Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  30. "Biomass Antarctic campaign on track" . Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  31. "More flights over Antarctica for Biomass and a bit of cricket" . Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  32. "It's a wrap, a swim and an ice sculpture" . Retrieved 1 April 2025.
  33. "Forest mission on show". esa.int. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
  34. "Airbus-built Biomass forest measuring satellite shipped to Kourou". airbus.com. 21 February 2025. Retrieved 23 February 2025.
  35. 1 2 "ESA's pioneering Biomass satellite arrives at launch site". esa.int. Retrieved 10 March 2025.
  36. "Biomass out of the box". esa.int. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  37. "Biomass cleared for fuelling". esa.int. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
  38. "Arianespace to launch ESA's Biomass satellite on 29 April 2025, with Vega C". Arianespace . 25 March 2025. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  39. "Biomass fully loaded". esa.int. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
  40. The VAMPIRE (Vega Adapter for Multiple Payload Injection and Release) connects @esaearth.esa.int's Biomass and Vega-C.
  41. "Forest mission sealed within rocket fairing for liftoff". esa.int. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
  42. "Biomass on the launch pad". esa.int. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
  43. "Final preparations for Biomass operations". esa.int. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  44. "Watch Biomass launch live". esa.int. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
  45. Flight VV26 | Biomass | Vega C . Retrieved 29 April 2025 via youtube.com.
  46. "Biomass launched to count forest carbon". esa.int. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  47. "ESA unveils longest-ever dataset on forest biomass". www.esa.int. Retrieved 3 May 2025.
  48. 1 2 "Biomass completes a relay race of a LEOP". www.esa.int. Retrieved 15 May 2025.
  49. "Forest satellite's big antenna opens up". www.esa.int. Retrieved 7 May 2025.
  50. "Biomass satellite returns striking first images of forests and more". www.esa.int. Retrieved 23 June 2025.