NASA-ISRO Joint Satellite – NISAR

February 4, 2023

NISAR is an earth-observing satellite planned to be launched in 2024. It stands for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar. SAR creates two-dimensional and three-dimensional reconstructions of landscapes. NISAR is jointly developed by NASA and ISRO. Recently, NISAR left the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA located in California to India.

Objectives of the NISAR

To map the earth
Monitor water, agriculture, and forest
Observe land and ice covers

Why is NISAR in news?

NISAR is a three-year mission. A part of the NISAR satellite is developed on US soil. This part payload is now being transported to India’s U R Rao Satellite center in Bengaluru from JPL in California.

Radar systems in NISAR

L – Band SAR: Designed and Created by JPL of NASA; Wavelength: 23 cm; Greater penetration to forests
S-Band SAR: Designed and created by ISRO; Wavelength: 12 cm; Used for heavy weather and bird detection

Studies

The NISAR will study the following:

Antarctic cryosphere: Cryosphere is the part of the earth where water is in a solid state
Ice masses will be monitored at a frequency of four to six times a month
Measure ecosystem disturbances
Natural hazards such as volcanoes, tsunamis, landslides, earthquakes, etc.
Ice sheet collapses

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