George Mason scientist takes part in NASA mission to track Earth’s changing ice and forests

Konrad Wessels, associate professor of geography and geoinformation science at George Mason University, is part of a NASA-funded team studying how ice levels and ecosystem carbon stock are changing-work that could impact climate resilience planning, disaster management, ocean navigation, and national security.

Wessels is contributing to NASA's Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer mission (EDGE), which will be the world's first satellite system to use imaging laser altimetry to map Earth's surface. Selected after a two-year development and evaluation process, this EDGE mission relies on laser altimetry, a technique that sends pulses of light toward Earth and measures the time it takes for them to reflect back to the spacecraft.

These measurements allow scientists to precisely calculate the elevation of land, ice, and forest structure. If confirmed, the total estimated cost of EDGE, not including the launch, will not exceed $355 million, with a mission launch date of no earlier than 2030.

"The NASA EDGE mission will generate high-resolution, three-dimensional views of forests and savanna ecosystems, along with detailed measurements of glaciers, ice sheets, and sea ice," said Wessels. "Together, this data will help scientists better understand how ice and forests are changing over time. It also has a rapid response capability, which can collect higher-detail data in case of emergencies or natural disasters."

Wessels' role has focused on ensuring the mission can accurately track changes in the world's forests and savannas. As a member of the Terrestrial Ecosystems Science team, he helped develop a Science Traceability Matrix, a framework that connects the mission's scientific objectives to specific measurement requirements. This includes forest height, fire fuel loads, biomass/carbon stocks, and their changes. This process directly informs the design of the mission's LiDAR sensor, satellite orbits, and data-processing methods.

"Tracking global forest carbon stocks is critical for understanding how Earth is responding to environmental change, especially since carbon emissions from land-use change and forest degradation rival those from the entire transportation sector," Wessels said. "By improving our ability to monitor forests worldwide, this mission can inform natural resource management efforts that aim to protect forest carbon stocks and biodiversity along with many ecosystem services. EDGE could provide a quantum leap forward in monitoring forest structure and dynamics around the world."

The EDGE mission brings together 25 scientists and engineers from institutions around the world. Helen Amanda Fricker, of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography of the University of California San Diego, is principal investigator, and John Armston of the University of Maryland is the deputy principal investigator. Mission leadership also includes instrument principal investigator Bryan Blair and project scientist Scott Luthcke from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

In a NASA-issued press release, Nicky Fox, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., described the importance of EDGE and the recently advancing STRIVE (Stratosphere Troposphere Response using Infrared Vertically-resolved light Explorer) missions. "By understanding Earth's surface topography, ecosystems, and atmosphere, these missions will help us better study the extreme environments beyond our home planet to ensure the safety of astronauts and spacecraft as we return to the Moon with the Artemis campaign and journey onward to Mars and beyond," he said.

Deputy PI Armston spoke to Wessels' contributions, saying, "Konrad has helped shape EDGE's science to capture the dynamics of savanna ecosystems and their response to disturbance and environmental change and will play a key role in the mission's calibration and validation efforts across terrestrial ecosystems."

In addition to Wessels, the terrestrial ecosystem structure team includes researchers from Boise State, the National University of Singapore, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, UCLA, the University of Bristol, the University of Maryland, U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey. The ice elevation team includes scientists from the British Antarctic Survey, the Colorado School of Mines, the University at Buffalo, the University of Tasmania, and the University of Washington.

The EDGE project has been selected for continued development as part of NASA's Earth System Explorers Program, which conducts principal investigator-led Earth science missions based on key priorities laid out by the science community and national needs. The EDGE mission will be subject to confirmation review in 2027, which will assess the mission's progress and the availability of funds.