1 00:00:02,602 --> 00:00:05,638 One of the things that I love looking at is Siberia, 2 00:00:05,638 --> 00:00:09,676 a place I've never been, this vast, vast forest covering, 3 00:00:09,676 --> 00:00:14,681 you know, so much of of that boreal domain that we have almost no data in 4 00:00:14,681 --> 00:00:17,017 because it's really difficult to get there, 5 00:00:17,017 --> 00:00:19,152 but being able to see it in high resolution 6 00:00:19,152 --> 00:00:20,620 and like zoom in and see what's 7 00:00:20,620 --> 00:00:24,224 going on in those parts of the world that we could never visit by foot. 8 00:00:24,691 --> 00:00:27,694 It's it's really it's really cool and exciting. 9 00:00:29,029 --> 00:00:33,033 Forests play a crucial role in balancing Earth's carbon budget, 10 00:00:33,466 --> 00:00:37,570 absorbing and storing roughly 30% of atmospheric carbon. 11 00:00:38,104 --> 00:00:42,075 However, vast regions like Siberia's boreal forests 12 00:00:42,075 --> 00:00:45,612 or the Congo Basin's tropical forests have been a mystery 13 00:00:45,612 --> 00:00:48,915 because of the obstacles we face in studying them up close. 14 00:00:51,217 --> 00:00:52,252 For I mean, 15 00:00:52,252 --> 00:00:55,755 over 50 years now, we've been looking at forest from space. 16 00:00:55,755 --> 00:00:59,726 The longest record is from the Landsat program, 17 00:00:59,993 --> 00:01:03,863 where we have, you know, these high resolution images month after month, 18 00:01:03,863 --> 00:01:06,866 showing us where there is forest, where we're losing it. 19 00:01:08,635 --> 00:01:11,638 But there's something we still don't fully understand. 20 00:01:12,072 --> 00:01:15,041 How much biomass we've truly lost. 21 00:01:16,042 --> 00:01:19,879 Biomass is the total mass of living things in a given area. 22 00:01:20,947 --> 00:01:23,750 If you were to cut down a tree and dry it, 23 00:01:23,750 --> 00:01:26,953 about half of the dry mass of that tree is pure carbon. 24 00:01:27,954 --> 00:01:31,224 So where we've seen historic losses in forest, 25 00:01:31,658 --> 00:01:34,661 we haven't known how much carbon was actually lost as part of that. 26 00:01:35,962 --> 00:01:39,232 But in the forest domain, there is that hope. 27 00:01:39,232 --> 00:01:40,600 And and it's actionable. 28 00:01:44,037 --> 00:01:47,907 Meet GEDI mounted on the International Space Station. 29 00:01:47,941 --> 00:01:51,044 It's the first satellite lidar system specifically 30 00:01:51,044 --> 00:01:54,047 designed to measure forests in 3D. 31 00:01:54,314 --> 00:01:58,418 GEDI maps tree canopy height, forest structure, and surface 32 00:01:58,418 --> 00:02:02,288 elevation, giving us an unprecedented and incredibly detailed 33 00:02:02,288 --> 00:02:04,691 view of Earth's canopy structure. 34 00:02:04,691 --> 00:02:08,328 This allows us to measure biomass and the carbon stored within. 35 00:02:09,162 --> 00:02:12,165 But it has one major limitation. 36 00:02:13,766 --> 00:02:16,136 It had this huge data gap in the boreal 37 00:02:16,136 --> 00:02:19,139 because the International Space Station doesn't go over the poles. 38 00:02:19,205 --> 00:02:21,241 So essentially we have amazing data from GEDI 39 00:02:21,241 --> 00:02:24,244 over the tropics, over the temperate forests. 40 00:02:24,310 --> 00:02:27,313 But the vast majority of the boreal was just this huge data gap. 41 00:02:28,781 --> 00:02:31,784 That's where ICESat-2 comes in. 42 00:02:31,885 --> 00:02:36,656 We're so lucky right now, with the forest lidar community that we have ICESat-2, 43 00:02:36,890 --> 00:02:39,893 which was not designed primarily for forests. 44 00:02:40,093 --> 00:02:41,327 The lasers are different, 45 00:02:41,327 --> 00:02:44,664 but it's still collecting really useful 3D forest measurements. 46 00:02:45,498 --> 00:02:48,535 ICESat-2 fills in these spatial data gaps 47 00:02:48,535 --> 00:02:51,571 by obtaining different measurements at different rates, 48 00:02:51,905 --> 00:02:55,341 giving us a more complete picture of global carbon storage. 49 00:02:56,709 --> 00:02:57,277 So these 50 00:02:57,277 --> 00:03:00,280 these two lidar systems that NASA is currently operating. 51 00:03:00,313 --> 00:03:03,283 GEDI and ICESat-2 they're really quite complementary. 52 00:03:03,283 --> 00:03:04,884 They're in different orbits. 53 00:03:04,884 --> 00:03:07,754 And so their transect across the ground is a little bit different. 54 00:03:07,754 --> 00:03:11,124 So it captures different, parts and different 55 00:03:11,124 --> 00:03:14,194 densities as you will of within the mid-latitudes. 56 00:03:14,460 --> 00:03:17,730 By combining data from GEDI and ICESat-2, 57 00:03:18,031 --> 00:03:22,168 scientists can create a first of its kind global biomass map. 58 00:03:23,670 --> 00:03:26,873 Now we're able to track where carbon is being lost 59 00:03:26,873 --> 00:03:29,876 and where it's being regained as forests recover 60 00:03:29,976 --> 00:03:32,979 or new trees are introduced. 61 00:03:33,213 --> 00:03:36,616 So then after we have GEDI and ICESat-2 on orbit, 62 00:03:36,749 --> 00:03:40,386 we can assign estimates of how much carbon is being lost 63 00:03:40,386 --> 00:03:44,123 or sunk back into those forests as we see them change over time. 64 00:03:44,824 --> 00:03:47,794 So we're we're uncovering all sorts of forest carbon stories 65 00:03:47,794 --> 00:03:49,762 that we've we've never had the data to do before. 66 00:03:51,998 --> 00:03:53,266 What you want to do is say 67 00:03:53,266 --> 00:03:56,536 like, here's where most of the habitat is for biodiversity. 68 00:03:56,536 --> 00:03:57,971 Here's where most of the carbon is. 69 00:03:57,971 --> 00:04:03,109 These are the most, they're the highest priority places for for conservation. 70 00:04:03,109 --> 00:04:06,079 These are the best places for potential restoration. Right. 71 00:04:06,079 --> 00:04:09,082 So we can use these satellite products to help guide decision making. 72 00:04:09,315 --> 00:04:12,318 But then also provide this, this check to, 73 00:04:12,318 --> 00:04:15,688 to give us a sense of how well we're doing over time. 74 00:04:16,256 --> 00:04:20,193 Using this knowledge, NASA provides critical insights 75 00:04:20,193 --> 00:04:25,098 that help decision makers take action in protecting and restoring forests, 76 00:04:25,398 --> 00:04:30,303 strengthening one of Earth's most biodiverse and carbon rich ecosystems. 77 00:04:30,837 --> 00:04:34,941 With GEDI and ICESat-2, we're not just looking at forests. 78 00:04:35,508 --> 00:04:38,778 We're seeing a global picture of our planet's carbon cycles. 79 00:04:39,379 --> 00:04:42,615 Impacts of forest management, changes 80 00:04:42,615 --> 00:04:46,886 in forest cover, and the future of our planet's carbon balance. 81 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:49,022 We really can make a 82 00:04:49,022 --> 00:04:52,925 positive impact there and we need these NASA missions to do that.