ESA UNCLASSIFIED - For Official Use FM Seifert | 20/09/2018 | Slide 1

ESA’s Earth Explorers Missions

• Science driven programme• Mission selection proposed by a peer committee

“Advisory Committee for Earth Observation”• On average selects one mission every 2 years

ESA UNCLASSIFIED - For Official Use FM Seifert | 20/09/2018 | Slide 2

Earth Explorer BIOMASS

ü First P-band SAR in space

ü Full polarimetric (HH, HV, VV)

ü 6 MHz bandwidth

ü Level 1: 50 x 50 m2 resolution

ü Multi-pass interferometry with a three days repeat cycle

ü Two mission phases: - Tomography (year 1), - Interferometry (year 2-5)

BIOMASS is the 7th Earth Explorer• Biomass based on global

interferometric and polarimetricP-Band radar observations

• Essential to understand the Earth’s carbon cycle

• To be launched in 2022

BIOMASS products• Above ground forest biomass• Upper canopy height• Areas of forest clearing

ESA UNCLASSIFIED - For Official Use FM Seifert | 20/09/2018 | Slide 3

Forest biomass

Above-ground biomass(tons/hectare)

• 200 m resolution• 1 map every 7 months• global coverage of forested areas• accuracy of 20%,

or 10 t ha–1 for biomass < 50 t ha–1

Upper canopy height (meter)

• 200 m resolution • 1 map every 7 months• global coverage of forested areas• accuracy of 20-30%

Forest height

Areas of forest clearing (hectare)

• 50 m resolution• 1 map every 7 months• global coverage of forested areas• 90% classification accuracy

Disturbances

Biomass ProductsFirst P-band SAR in space Level 2/3 products to be delivered

ESA UNCLASSIFIED - For Official Use FM Seifert | 20/09/2018 | Slide 4

Variety of Retrieval Methods

PolInSAR(Polarimetric SAR Interferometry)

TomoSAR(SAR Tomography)

PolSAR(SAR Polarimetry)

First 14th months only

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Same sensor to deliver 3 pieces of independent information