GovWire

The Biomass mission will provide crucial information about the state of our forests and how they are changing. The data will be used to further our knowledge of the role forests play in the carbon cycle.

Biomass will quantify the global carbon cycle which is essential to understanding many of the dramatic changes taking place in the Earth system, particularly those resulting from the burning of fossil fuel and land-use change.

As a result, Biomass observations will support the initiative for the reduction of emissions due to deforestation and forest degradation.

Biomass will have global coverage and produce one map every 6 months with unprecedented accuracy. It will reduce the current uncertainties in the amount of carbon stored in forests and how this changes with time, providing vital information to support decision making around climate change. Observations from this new mission will also lead to better insight into rates of habitat loss and the impact this may be having on biodiversity in the forest environment.

Biomass is also a part of the European Space Agencys (ESA) Earth Explorer missions which focuses on the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere and the Earths interior with the overall aim of learning more about the interactions between these components and the impact that human activity is having on natural Earth processes.

Biomass is due to launch in 2025 on a Vega-C rocket from Kourou in French Guiana. The mission is planned to be 5-years long.

How is the UK involved?

Biomass is being built in the UK by Airbus.

The UK has invested in the ESA Earth Observation Envelope Programme - EOEP-3, EOEP-4, and EOEP-5 programmes.

The lead scientist is Professor Sean Quegan based in the University of Sheffield, Airbus are leading the build, and other significant stakeholders in the mission are ESA, Nammo (propulsion), Astrotech (propulsion), and Enersys ABSL (batteries).