BioMassters

The BioMassters competition is about using AI to estimate the amount of aboveground biomass in a forest in Finland. Scientists can use this information, as it gives them insight into the amount of carbon the forest contains and how this changes over time. These insights support the preservation of the forest, regulation of forest fires, and the understanding of the global carbon cycle.

An animation showing LiDAR measurements

To estimate the amount of biomass, a very precise method called LiDAR exists. This laser technology provides three-dimensional information about the Earth’s surface. However, since measurements have to be calibrated manually, this method is very time-consuming and very costly. BioMassters proposes a more efficient and cheaper method.

Combining images of two satellites leads to data as insightful as LiDAR data

There is a better way to estimate the amount of biomass. And AI is the key. Two European Space Agency satellites are already up and running in the air, scanning this part of the Earth. By combining the images of both satellites into one new image (as you can see in the visual above), the data from the satellites becomes just as valuable as the LiDAR data. Humans can create this image by hand, but Artificial Intelligence can do it much faster and more accurately without any human assistance. The Data on biomass can be collected very fast on a very large scale using both AI and sattelites . This allows scientists to conduct more thorough research into carbon in forests in much larger parts of the world.