What is NISAR, ISRO-NASA’s first joint space mission? 10 points

The idea of building an Earth observation satellite in a joint collaboration came into existence in 2014. The two space agency began working on the satellite, which is expected to take off from Earth’s surface in 2024. Know all about the satellite here.

All about NISAR satellite

-NISAR is one of its kind joint collaboration between the space agencies of India and the USA. The project is also expected to be one of the world’s most expensive earth imaging satellite.

-The synthetic aperture radar, is a highly sophisticated equipment used to produce extremely high-resolution images. It can penetrate clouds and darkness, to allow NISAR collect data at day and night all throughout the year.

-NISAR satellite is basically a two-frequency RADAR, an L-band 24 centimetre RADAR and S-band 13 centimetre. ISRO is building S-band and the latter is built by NASA.

-Apart from the L-band, NASA is providing the radar reflector antenna, the deployable boom, a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and a payload data subsystem.

-ISRO will be providing the spacecraft bus, the launch vehicle, and associated launch services and satellite mission operations.

-The launch of NISAR is expected to take in Januray 2024 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre into a near-polar orbit. Scientists would be able to collect information with the help of satellite for around three years. NISAR is a Low Earth Orbit(LEO) observatory and will map the entire globe in 12 days.

-NISAR will help in creating a data bank that will contain all the necessary information related to Earth’s surface changes, natural hazards, and ecosystem disturbances.

-The observations of the planet’s forest and agriculture regions will improve scientist’s knowledge of carbon exchange between the atmosphere and plant communities, reducing uncertainties in models for future climate.

-The data will help in understanding climate change and Earth’s structure. Moreover, the findings received from the satellite will help in improving agriculture management and food security by providing information about crop growth, soil moisture, and land-use changes.

-It will also help in understanding climate change, improve risk management in case of natural disasters, help in infrastructure monitoring, and impact of climate change.