ISRO drones help to map disasters in north-east

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is using drones to map disasters in north-eastern States by collecting land details and add it to data from remote sensing satellites.
In this regard, ISRO’s Shillong-based North-Eastern Space Applications Centre (NE-SAC) has tested unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to map various problems and disasters.
Key facts

• NE-SAC has taken the initiative for design and assembling of UAVs for various applications to assess several regional problems in the northeast region.
• UAVs can perform efficient surveys for disaster-prone or physically inaccessible areas. It can undertake quick damage assessment of floods, landslides and earthquakes and enable timely relief measures.
• These drones providing ground-based details which are generally combined with data from ISRO’s remote sensing satellites.
• Recently they were used for to map the area affected by landslides along NH40, Meghalaya’s life line. It also gave the extent of damage caused to pest-infested paddy fields in Naramari village of Assam.

About North-Eastern Space Applications Centre (NE-SAC)

• NE-SAC is a joint initiative of Department of Space (DoS) and North Eastern Council. It was started in the year 2000. It is located at Umiam (near Shillong), Meghalaya.
• It aims to provide developmental support to the North Eastern region using Space technology-based communication and technology.
• Its mandate is to develop high technology infrastructure support to enable NE states to adopt space technology for their development.
• NE-SAC provides developmental support by undertaking specific application projects using remote sensing, satellite communication, GIS and conducts space science research.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2016