Boise State University researchers are part of the team for NASA’s Earth Dynamics Geodetic Explorer (EDGE), a satellite mission concept chosen to launch as early as 2030, according to a March 19 announcement.
The EDGE mission is designed to monitor Earth’s land, ice, and coastal regions with advanced precision. This project aims to create detailed three-dimensional maps of vegetation and ice formations such as glaciers and sea ice. The data collected will be especially valuable for understanding changes in semi-arid western ecosystems, where measuring low-height vegetation and steep slopes has been challenging. Accurate information from EDGE will support fire management, grazing, recreation planning, and post-fire impact assessments.
Helen Amanda Fricker at UC San Diego leads the mission, with Boise State’s Nancy Glenn serving as vice president of research and economic development and professor of geosciences. Glenn said, “Our faculty and students are doing exceptional work to better understand Earth’s systems, and this mission creates new opportunities for collaboration across the university and beyond. Participation in a NASA mission of this scale highlights the growing impact of Boise State as a research university.”
Josh Enterkine, research associate in Boise State’s geosciences department, also commented on the significance of the project: “The EDGE mission’s global imaging capability will allow Boise State teams to bridge critical gaps between small-scale drone and ground-based surveys and existing satellite datasets. This will help translate fine-scale environmental patterns into broader regional and global insights on wildfires and water systems.”
Boise State researchers already use Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data in studies ranging from mapping bird habitats to modeling post-wildfire debris flows in Idaho. The new data generated by EDGE is expected to further support these efforts.
Nicky Fox, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, said in a press release: “NASA uses the unique vantage point of space to study our home planet to deliver life-saving data into the hands of disaster response and decision-makers every day for the benefit of all, while also informing future exploration across our solar system. By understanding Earth’s surface topography, ecosystems and atmosphere, while also enabling longer range weather forecasting, 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.”
EDGE was selected under NASA’s Earth System Explorers Program. The program supports principal investigator-led missions based on scientific priorities set by both experts and national needs. The selected missions now move forward into further development phases; each must pass a confirmation review scheduled for 2027 that will assess progress and funding availability. If confirmed at that stage, each mission’s cost—excluding launch—will not exceed $355 million.
