NISAR: NASA-ISRO Collaboration
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Synthetic Aperture Radar, known as NISAR, is the first joint satellite mission between the U.S. and Indian space agencies.
Launch Details
- The satellite will be launched by the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).
- Location: Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota
- GSLV-F16 will place NISAR into a 743 km Sun-synchronous orbit with an inclination of 98.40 degrees.
Technical Specifications
The NISAR satellite, weighing 2,392 kg, is a unique Earth observation satellite featuring dual frequency Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR):
- NASA’s L-band
- ISRO’s S-band
- Utilizes NASA’s 12m unfurlable mesh reflector antenna integrated with ISRO’s modified I3K satellite bus.
Capabilities
NISAR uses SweepSAR technology and can observe Earth with a swathe of 242 km at high spatial resolution. It scans the entire globe, providing all-weather, day and night data at 12-day intervals. Key capabilities include:
- Detection of small changes in the Earth’s surface
- Monitoring ground deformation, ice sheet movement, and vegetation dynamics
- Applications in sea ice classification, ship detection, shoreline monitoring, storm characterization
- Tracking changes in soil moisture, mapping and monitoring surface water resources, disaster response
Collaborative Efforts
The NISAR project represents a decade of technical cooperation between ISRO and NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory teams.
