The NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar mission famously known as NISAR is a joint project between NASA and ISRO to co-develop and launch a dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar on an Earth observation satellite.
The satellite will employ dual frequencies for the first time in a radar imaging satellite. It will scan the globe every 12 days over the course of its three-year mission and be used for remote sensing to track and comprehend Earth’s natural processes.
The proposal has undergone NASA evaluation and approval after passing the first step of design validation.
Features of the Big Model
The 2,800-kilogram satellite is equipped with a Sweep SAR-operated L and S dual band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which produces high-resolution data over a wide swath. The L-Band SAR payload system will be supplied by NASA, while the S-Band SAR payload will be provided by ISRO.
Both of these SAR systems will employ a big, commonly deployable reflector antenna with a diameter of roughly 12 meters. NASA would also supply engineering payloads for the project, including a Solid State Recorder, GPS receivers, Payload Data Subsystem, and High-rate Science Downlink System.
The model is the first dual-frequency radar imaging mission in the L- and S-bands that employs an enhanced sweep SAR technique to deliver L- and S-band space-borne SAR data with high repeat cycle, high resolution, and bigger swaths, as well as the capacity to operate in full-polar metric and interferometric modes.
Radar imaging operates just like a flash camera. It produces light by itself and generates an image of the object based on the reflection from the object. Light is emitted by the flash camera. Radio waves will be emitted by radars.
Significant Benefits from the Mission NISAR
Earth Science: NISAR will offer a wealth of data and information regarding changes to the Earth’s surface, natural disasters, and ecosystem disturbances that will help us better understand how the Earth’s system works and how climate change occurs.
Disaster Management: The mission will offer vital data that will aid in managing natural disasters including earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions, allowing for quicker response times and more accurate risk assessments.
Agriculture: NISAR data will provide information about crop growth, soil moisture, and land-use changes which will essentially be used to improve agriculture management and food security.
Infrastructure Monitoring: The mission will offer information for infrastructure management and monitoring, including tracking of urbanization, deforestation, and oil spills.
Climate Change: NISAR will assist in observing and comprehending how climate change is affecting the land surface of the planet, including changes to carbon storage, sea level rise, and melting glaciers.
The SUV-sized satellite will be transported to India later in February 2023 in preparation for a potential launch from Andhra Pradesh’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre in 2024.NASA is contributing approximately US$808 million while ISRO contributing approximately Rs. 788 crore to the project’s cost.
