From Bolivian forests to Antarctic glaciers, here are the first images from the Biomass satellite
VIENNA – Over the next five years, it will help us map our planet’s tropical forests and other ecosystems, assess their health, predict their evolution, and measure their ability to absorb and store carbon dioxide, thereby mitigating the climate crisis. And it’s off to a very good start: the European Space Agency’s Biomass satellite , launched at the end of April aboard Avio’s Vega-C engine, is now entering the operational phase of its mission. After reaching its planned orbit, at an altitude of 666 kilometers, and unfurling its large 12-meter-diameter “umbrella,” the satellite – the seventh in ESA’s Earth Explorer series, dedicated to advanced observation of our planet – has begun taking and sending very high-resolution images of our planet to Earth. The first snapshots – seven, to be precise – were unveiled today in Vienna at the Living Planet Symposium 2025 , ESA's major event dedicated to Earth observation, climate action and sustainability.
From the Ivindo River in Gabon to the Brazilian Amazon forest, passing through the Indonesian atolls and the Transantarctic chain, the images show the incredible potential of Biomass' eyes to scrutinize our planet like no other satellite has ever been able to do. "Looking at these photographs," commented Simonetta Cheli , director of the agency's Earth Observation program, "it is clear that our satellite is behaving as it promised. We expect that this new mission will allow us to make a leap in our ability to understand the Earth's forests, thanks to the radar technology on board the satellite and the scientific excellence with which we will be able to take an unprecedented look at the carbon cycle, climate dynamics and the health of these precious ecosystems."
Biomass, an eye in the sky
The reasons for such enthusiasm are understandable. Expectations are very high for Biomass: it is in fact an extremely complex mission, whose development took over ten years and cost a total of around 400 million euros. The main objectives of the mission, as we anticipated, are three: the first is the determination of forest biomass, which will be measured with a resolution of 200 meters; the second is the measurement of forest height, another crucial piece of data, which combined with the first will allow us to reconstruct the three-dimensional structure of global forests and their carbon storage capacity; the third is the monitoring of vegetation disturbances and regrowth, which will allow us to identify areas subject to deforestation and monitor fossil regeneration processes over time. In addition, the satellite will also perform imaging of the subsurface geology of deserts, mapping of the topography beneath vegetation and measuring the speed of glaciers and polar ice caps.
The secret is called radar
Scanning tropical forests from over six hundred kilometers high is no easy feat. The peculiarity of this satellite is that, thanks to its sophisticated on-board radar, it will be able to “slice” the forests longitudinally, “penetrating” the treetops from above and detecting the structure of the trunk, a very difficult to measure and extremely valuable data, because it is precisely in the trunk that most of the biomass of the forests resides (75%, to be precise, while roots and leaves contain 24% and 1% respectively). But that's not all: to work at its best and allow images to be superimposed to create a three-dimensional map, this complex “camera” must shoot in consistently identical light conditions. For this reason, Biomass was placed in a geostationary orbit, by virtue of which the satellite flies over every point on the Earth's surface at the same solar time, with a slightly different angle each time. In this way, the images can be combined and give rise, precisely, to a three-dimensional scan.
The snapshots just presented, the agency assures, are just a taste of what is to come: “We are currently still in the commissioning phase of Biomass, and we are fine-tuning it to provide the highest quality data, which will allow scientists to accurately determine the amount of carbon stored in forests around the world,” explained Michael Fehringer , project manager for ESA. “We have been carefully monitoring the performance in orbit and are very pleased to report that everything is running smoothly and to present these spectacular images, which are just a small taste of what is to come.”
Bolivia, rivers and forestsThe image (top right) shows part of Bolivia, a country that has suffered major deforestation in recent years, mainly due to land clearing for agricultural expansion. The green shades represent rainforest, the red shades represent floodplains and forested wetlands, the blue-purple shades represent grasslands, and the black areas are rivers and lakes.
Both images are of the Bolivian forest. The top one was taken by Biomass, the bottom one by Copernicus Sentinel-2. The radar on board Biomass can penetrate the tree canopy and characterise the entire forest structure, while Sentinel-2 captures only the tops of the canopies. This difference allows scientists to quantify the amount of biomass in the forests much more precisely.
This is the first-ever satellite image, taken on May 22, 2025, of a portion of the Amazon rainforest in northern Brazil. The red and pink areas at the bottom of the image indicate wetlands, while the green regions at the top reveal more rugged topography and dense, continuous forest cover.
The image shows the Halmahera Rainforest in Indonesia, located in a mountainous terrain of volcanic origin. Near the northern coast is Mount Gamkonora, an active volcano. The image is approximately 120 kilometers long and 60 kilometers wide.
Flying over Gabon, Biomass captured this image of the Ivindo River, which is vital to the health of the rainforest. The predominant green in the image represents the dense forest surrounding the river; the topographical features of the region are clearly visible, showing the radar’s ability to “scan” the forest from its full height.
Although forests are its favorite subject, Biomass can photograph other things. In this image, part of the Sahara, in Chad, is visible, with the Tibesti mountain range. Biomass's radar should be able to penetrate dry sand up to five meters deep, which will be very useful for mapping and studying the geological features of the subsurface of deserts, to understand past climates and assess the presence of fossil water resources.
We move to the extreme south of the world: this image shows a portion of the Transantarctic chain, the set of mountains that cut across Antarctica obliquely and separate the Ross Ice Shelf from the vast Antarctic plateau on which the South Pole stands.
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