In 2024, France’s Center for the Study of the Biosphere from Space (CES BIO), in collaboration with the French Space Agency (CNES) and M3 Systems, launched an airborne data collection campaign using GPS reflectometry to estimate forest biomass and soil moisture.

The aircraft used three GPS recorders, based on the Stella Record and playback ( Stella RP) solution from M3 Systems, combined with CES BIO’s Global Navigation Satellite System reflectometry instrument (GLtori).

The researchers used a specially equipped Safire ATR-42 aircraft to record GPS signals over various sites in France, including agricultural areas, forests, and bodies of water.