Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NISAR Satellite
Why in the News?
- The NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite is aimed at advancing our understanding of Earth’s natural processes and environmental changes.
- Set to be launched into Low Earth Orbit (LEO), NISAR will act as a comprehensive Earth observation observatory.
About NISAR Satellite:
| Details | |
| Collaboration | • Joint mission between NASA (United States) and ISRO (India). |
| Purpose | • Designed to monitor Earth’s natural processes and environmental changes, contributing to disaster preparedness, climate research, and sustainable management. |
| Launch Date | • Planned for early 2025. |
| Launch Location | • Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Andhra Pradesh, India. |
| Launch Vehicle | • ISRO’s Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark II (GSLV Mk II). |
| Orbit | • Low Earth Orbit (LEO). |
| Dual-Band Radar System | • L-band radar (provided by NASA): Penetrates dense vegetation and tracks ground motion. • S-band radar (provided by ISRO): Enhances precision for surface monitoring. |
| Day and Night Functionality | • Operates 24/7, unaffected by weather conditions. |
| Large Antenna | • Diameter: 12 meters. • Structure: 39-foot reflector made from gold-plated wire mesh to focus radar signals effectively. |
| Features | • Scans Earth’s entire surface every 12 days.
• Measures surface changes with accuracy down to fractions of an inch. • Can penetrate vegetation and soil layers, providing 3D reconstructions of subsurface structures. |
| Areas of Study | • Ecosystems and Environmental Changes (forest biomass, deforestation, wetlands, agricultural lands, glaciers, and ice sheets). • Natural Disasters (seismic shifts, volcanic bulging, landslides, and tsunamis). |
| Benefits and Applications | • Disaster Preparedness: Early warning data for natural disasters. • Infrastructure Monitoring: Tracks structural changes in critical infrastructure. • Environmental and Climate Research: Studies carbon storage, vegetation dynamics, and climate change impacts. |
| Unique Advantages | • Largest collaboration between NASA and ISRO. • Successfully tested in thermal vacuum conditions in Bengaluru in 2023. |
PYQ:[2015] The term ‘IndARC’ sometimes seen in the news, is the name of? (a) An indigenously developed radar system inducted into Indian Defence. (b) India’s satellite to provide services to the countries of Indian Ocean Rim. (c) A scientific establishment set up by India in Antarctic region. (d) India’s underwater observatory to scientifically study the Arctic region. |
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