WEBVTT FILE 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.