The European Space Agency presented its artificial satellite "Biomas" in the French city of Toulouse. The satellite was created at the request of Airbus Defence and Space in 2016 and will begin the formulation of a forest map for the entire world in April of this year to measure its ability to absorb carbon. The head of Earth observation, science, and research at Airbus Defence and Space, Mark Stikling, stated that "Biomas" will measure the tons of biomass per hectare of land, which will help better understand the climate balance for more accurate measurement and assessment of climate changes on Earth in the future.
Responsible for Europe’s monitoring program at the European Space Agency, Simonetta Cheli, emphasized that biomass will help better understand the role of forests in the carbon cycle. The artificial satellite "Biomas" will be able to create a complete map of the Earth's surface every nine months. It is expected that the analysis of global forest development in the coming five years of the mission will yield new data on climatic changes.