NASA finalizes satellite with India to track centimeter changes on Earth

Dec. 30 () –

NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) are studying a probable date of launch in March 2025 for the NISAR satellite.

NISAR, short for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, will scan almost all of Earth’s land and icy surfaces twice every 12 days to measure changes in the planet’s ecosystems, its land and sea ice, and its solid part. The NISAR satellite will be launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on the southeast coast of India, NASA reports.

NISAR will be the first radar of its kind in space to systematically map the Earth, using two different radar frequencies (L-band and S-band) to measure changes to our planet’s surface, including movements as small as one centimeter.

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) refers to a technique for producing high-resolution images from a limited-resolution radar system.

NISAR data will improve our understanding of phenomena such as earthquakes, volcanoes and landslidesas well as damage to infrastructure.

Together with complementary measurements from other satellites and instruments, NISAR data will provide a more complete picture of how the Earth’s surface moves horizontally and vertically. The information will be crucial to better understanding everything from the mechanics of the Earth’s crust to which parts of the world are prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It might even help resolve if sections of a levee are damaged or if a slope is beginning to move due to a landslide.