A NASA-ISRO satellite, known as NISAR, has been delivered to Bengaluru by a US Air Force transport plane, marking a major achievement in US-India civil-space collaboration.
The NISAR satellite will play a crucial role in monitoring changes in the Earth's ecosystems, including the consequences of land-surface changes and early warning signs of natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and sea level rise.
ISRO will use the satellite to keep a watch on Himalayan glaciers and landslide-prone areas. Weighing approximately 2,800 Kg, the NISAR satellite carries both L and S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar instruments that can produce high-resolution images by penetrating through clouds.
The L-band SAR operates at a wavelength of 24 cm and can penetrate forests to capture images of tree trunks and branches, while the S-band SAR, which operates at a shorter wavelength of 12 cm, can see through objects like clouds and forest canopies.
The NISAR satellite is scheduled to launch in 2024 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh into a near-pole orbit.
