NISAR mission to benefit global community in earth observation: ISRO chief
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The NISAR mission , jointly developed by ISRO and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ), would significantly benefit the global community in earth observation , ISRO chairman V Narayanan said on Saturday.The GSLV-F16/NISAR Mission is the result of over a decade of robust technical cooperation between the two teams of ISRO and NASA-Jet Propulsion Laboratory, US.According to ISRO, the mission in itself has got a lot of firsts -- it is the first mission to carry dual-band radar satellite, a GSLV rocket will carry a satellite to be placed in Sunsynchronous Orbit (unlike PSLV rockets) and it is the first ISRO-NASA Earth Observation Mission.NISAR, which is short for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR), would help scientists comprehensively monitor Earth's land and ice surfaces, building a detailed record of large and small changes over time.The mission would also be crucial in helping the scientific community to gain a better understanding of the processes involved during natural calamities like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and landslides.As per the collaboration between ISRO and NASA, the rocket would carry a unique earth observation satellite with a dual-frequency radar provided by NASA's L-Band and ISRO's S-Band. The Radar would use NASA's 12 metre mesh reflector antenna that has been integrated into ISRO's I3K satellite bus.Speaking to reporters here, Narayanan said, "NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite launch will be done using our GSLV-MkII vehicle ( GSLV-F16 ). The payloads are jointly realised by ISRO and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), USA. This satellite is going to be useful for the global community in earth observation and disaster mitigation areas.""The Mission is also a very, very important as ISRO would be making the 102nd launch from Indian soil that is targeted on July 30, 5.40 pm (from Sriharikota)", Narayanan also the Secretary, Department of Space, said.Weighing 2,392 kg, the satellite would observe the earth with a swath of 242 km and high spatial resolution, using SweepSAR technology for the first time, ISRO said.The satellite would scan the entire globe and provide all weather, day and night data at 12-day interval and enable a wide range of applications. The radar can detect even small changes in the Earth's surface such as ground deformation, ice-sheet movement and vegetation dynamics.Some of the other applications are ship detection, shoreline monitoring, storm characterisation, changes in soil moisture, mapping and monitoring of surface water resources and disaster response, the space agency said.NISAR would provide scientific information about the Earth's processes and it would study key changes in Earth's land and ice. The mission would also be more powerful than previous Synthetic Aperture Radar missions as it will monitor parts of Earth which are not previously covered.
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