A new era of forest monitoring is quite literally taking off, ushering in what scientists are calling the ‘forest space age’. On April 29, ESA will launch its revolutionary Biomass mission, the first satellite to carry a P-band radar into space – technology that is set to transform how we understand forests and the carbon they store. Along with other space agencies’ instruments already in orbit or soon to be launched, there has never been so many ‘eyes in the sky’ focused on forests.
Yet, the work of people on the ground –often in the most remote and challenging forest regions – also remains essential.