How the NISAR Satellite from the US and India Will Provide a Distinctive Perspective on Earth

 

How the NISAR Satellite from the US and India Will Provide a Distinctive Perspective on Earth

An interview with the chief U.S. scientist of the project, which will monitor alterations in various environments from marshlands to glaciers and structures affected by environmental calamities.

The forthcoming NISAR mission, a collaboration between the U.S. and India, will examine Earth’s surface in an unprecedented manner, delivering information about the constantly evolving features of our planet.

This mission represents an innovative dual-band radar satellite designed to assess land shifts caused by earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic activity, generating valuable data for scientific research and emergency response efforts. It will observe the progression or regressing of ice sheets and glaciers, as well as the changes in forest and wetland areas, contributing to our understanding of the global carbon cycle.

While the effects of NISAR are set to be broad-reaching, the journey leading to its launch — scheduled for a few months ahead — has been noteworthy as well. Paul Rosen, who serves as NISAR’s project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, has been involved throughout the entire process. He recently shared insights about the mission and its unique characteristics.

In what ways will NISAR enhance our comprehension of Earth?

The surfaces of our planet are in a constant state of transformation — sometimes these changes are subtle, while other times they are significant and abrupt. With NISAR, we will be able to monitor these changes approximately every week, with each pixel representing an area roughly the size of half a tennis court. Capturing images of almost all terrestrial and glacial regions so regularly and at such a precise scale — down to centimeters — will enable us to assemble a comprehensive understanding of Earth, depicting it as a dynamic living system.