Researchers have successfully launched a new satellite that is designed to study the planet’s forests and “provide unprecedented insight” into how those regions impact the Earth’s carbon cycle, the European Space Agency announced on Tuesday.
The satellite, named Biomass, launched with a rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, New Guinea, and separated from the rocket less than an hour after launch, the ESA said in a news release. About 75 minutes after the launch, ESA satellite controllers received Biomass’ first signal, indicating that the satellite is working as expected in orbit.
Over the next few days, controllers will carry out the satellite’s “launch and early orbit” phase, making sure that all systems are working well, the ESA said, and the satellite will make a “series of intricate maneuvers” to deploy a nearly 40-foot-wide mesh reflector. That reflector will receive data from the world’s forests, the ESA said.
Forests on Earth collectively absorb and store about 8 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually, the ESA said. That regulates the planet’s temperature. Deforestation and degradation, especially in tropical regions, means that stored carbon is being released back into the atmosphere, the ESA said, which can contribute to climate change. There’s a lack of accurate data on how much carbon the planet’s estimated 1.5 trillion trees store and how much human activity can impact that storage, the ESA said.
To “weigh” the planet’s trees and determine their carbon dioxide capacity, Biomass will use a P-band synthetic aperture radar. It’s the first such piece of technology in space. The radar can penetrate forest canopies and measure woody biomass, including trunks, branches and stems, the ESA said. Most forest carbon is stored in these parts of the trees. Those measurements will act as a proxy for carbon storage, the ESA said.
ESA – S.Corvaja 
“With Biomass, we are poised to gain vital new data on how much carbon is stored in the world’s forests, helping to fill key gaps in our knowledge of the carbon cycle and, ultimately, Earth’s climate system,” said Simonetta Cheli, the ESA’s director of Earth observation programs.
Once the radar takes the measurements, the data will be received by the large mesh reflector. It will then be sent to the ESA’s mission control center.
The satellite is currently over the Amazon, one of several rainforests it will study, according to CBS News partner BBC News.
The satellite’s tools can be used in other environments, the ESA said, including mapping “subsurface geology in deserts, ice sheet structures, and forest floor topography.”