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This is not just purely statistical information. Knowing the height of our trees is data that provides the scientific community with extensive knowledge about the role that forest masses play in our environment. For this reason, the international study in which the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya has participated to find out these figures cannot go unnoticed.
The research has mapped the tree canopies of the forests of the Argentine province of Corrientes, one of the main forest regions of the country. To do this, they have used the Argentine constellation of two SAOCOM satellites equipped with specific radars to calculate how tall these trees are.
“With this information we not only obtain data on the height of the forest masses in a certain area, but we can also find out the water content of the trees and know if they suffer from water stress,” explains Carlos López, professor at the UPC. who is part of the team of this international investigation. The technology used by scientists gives a margin of error of two or three meters in those trees that range between 20 and 25 meters.
The radar of these satellites is very sensitive to geometry, that is, whether one area is denser than another, and therefore, it can know how much biomass and water it contains. “There you can interpret a very interesting reading regarding water stress,” explains López, to which he adds that “thanks to these satellites we can know if the forests need water.” Calculations that are obtained thanks to the combination of technical data and color maps obtained from space.
Another peculiarity of the study is that thanks to this “monitoring”, the evolution of the forested areas over time can be observed. “It is possible to detect felling, fires and other damage that trees may suffer in any area under study,” adds the researcher.
Recently, the European Space Agency has contacted the scientific team of the study to inquire about the methods used, in order to apply it to their research tasks.
At a scientific level, this calculation possibility will also allow us to study whether trees are growing the same as they have been until now, taking into account the problems caused to vegetation by pollution and the resulting climate change. “At a time when there is more CO2 than ever in the atmosphere, it is convenient to know if trees suffer more or not and how this affects their growth,” explains Carlos López.
However, on the commercial side, companies' interest in this type of information is more focused on carbon credit markets. Companies listed in these sectors can offset their pollution by carrying out activities that absorb carbon dioxide or by acquiring the carbon absorption rights of a certain area.
