The European Space Agency (ESA) has released its most extensive satellite-based maps of above-ground forest carbon to date, covering nearly two decades and providing the clearest global picture yet of how forest carbon stocks have changed over time. The dataset, developed through ESA’s Climate Change Initiative, integrates data from multiple satellite missions and will be further enhanced by data from the upcoming Biomass mission.
The new dataset, version 6, offers higher resolutions ranging from 100m to 50km and tracks the carbon-rich woody parts of vegetation across the globe for different years between 2007 and 2022. It is tailored to support climate and carbon modelling, forest management, and national greenhouse-gas reporting activities as part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Paris Agreement.
The dataset has improved accuracy in biomass estimates, particularly in high-biomass regions, thanks to close international collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Refinements to the biomass retrieval algorithm have resulted in more consistent and reliable information across the world’s forest biomes, although it remains most accurate up to 400 tonnes of biomass per hectare.
The ESA Biomass mission is set to transform how we assess the planet’s forest carbon stores by penetrating thick forest canopies with its first spaceborne P-band radar. This pioneering satellite promises to drastically reduce uncertainties in forest carbon estimates, especially in tropical regions such as the Amazon, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Source: https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Space_for_our_climate/ESA_unveils_longest-ever_dataset_on_forest_biomass