UMD Researchers to Play Leading Role in New NASA Satellite Mission

Six University of Maryland researchers are part of the team behind the Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer (EDGE), a satellite mission concept aimed at monitoring changes in Earth’s terrestrial, coastal and ice-covered regions that was selected by NASA to launch as early as 2030.

EDGE will expand coverage of wooded ecosystems to a global scale and produce detailed maps of land and sea ice across Earth’s polar regions. The spacecraft would use five laser beams with new swath-imaging lidar technology, sending laser pulses to the Earth’s surface and recording the time it takes them to return to the spacecraft to precisely determine the height of the Earth's surface and 3D structure of forests and woodlands.

The total estimated mission cost excluding launch could reach as high as $355 million. EDGE will undergo a confirmation review next year to assess mission progress and funds availability.

“EDGE represents a major step forward in our ability to observe Earth as a connected system,” said Department of Geographical Sciences Associate Professor John Armston, EDGE deputy principal investigator and the lead of the mission’s Terrestrial Ecosystems Science Team. “By combining direct, high-resolution measurements of the 3D structure of ecosystems and surface topography of ice, the mission will allow us to better track and understand the processes driving change, from forest disturbance and recovery to ice loss and sea-level rise, at a truly global scale.”

Helen Amanda Fricker, a professor and glaciologist at the University of California San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, is the mission’s principal investigator. Bryan Blair, deputy principal investigator (instrument) and a lidar instrument scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and Scott Luthcke, project scientist at Goddard, join Armston and Fricker in completing the mission’s leadership team. 

"We're proud of the role of University of Maryland researchers in helping to lead this NASA mission, which will provide unprecedented insight into global environmental changes that affect us all," said University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines. "It's another example of how our powerful partnerships with the federal government and other top-ranked research universities can address the world's most pressing challenges."

Other UMD geographical sciences faculty on the EDGE Science Team include Distinguished University Professor and Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) principal investigator Ralph Dubayah, Associate Professor Laura Duncanson, Professor George Hurtt and Research Professor Michelle Hofton. Associate Research Scientist Rachel Tilling from UMD’s Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center is also part of the EDGE team.

“Researchers in our Department of Geographical Sciences are true experts in mapping our planet, having done so to measure the impact of wildfires, track deforestation, help prevent food insecurity and ultimately advance climate science in countless other ways,” said Dean Susan Rivera of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. “I am so proud of the EDGE team for demonstrating their leadership in their field, and grateful for their dedication to the work that will bring us all one step closer to understanding how Earth is changing over time.”

Along with three other potential missions, EDGE completed a nine-month concept study funded by a previous $5 million NASA award to compete for continued development as part of NASA’s Earth System Explorers Program. The team completed that study in June, the results of which showed that EDGE’s swath-imaging lidar technology can deliver accurate, consistent and high-resolution 3D measurements across both terrestrial ecosystems and ice-covered regions. The study demonstrated the system’s capabilities go well beyond the narrow, profiling observations of previous missions, and bring new insight into how the planet is responding to change. 

Along with EDGE, NASA selected a second mission for funding by the Earth System Explorers Program: The STRIVE (Stratosphere Troposphere Response using Infrared Vertically-resolved light Explorer) mission will provide daily, near-global, high-resolution measurements of temperature, elements in Earth’s atmosphere and other variables. The data from the mission, led by the University of Washington in Seattle, will support longer-range weather forecasts, an important tool in protecting coastal communities. 

EDGE builds on decades of collaboration between UMD and Goddard. Its observations complement and extend those from previous NASA missions, including the UMD-led GEDI, which is currently measuring forest structure and carbon storage from the vantage point of the International Space Station.

"The tremendous success of the GEDI mission, which pioneered the use of lidar in space, has demonstrated the incredible contribution of lidar observations to a wide range of scientific and operational applications,” said Professor Tatiana Loboda, chair of geographical sciences. “EDGE is poised to revolutionize our capabilities for ecosystem monitoring, delivering the information needed to manage landscapes sustainably, mitigate risk, and protect people and ecosystems in a rapidly changing world."