US-Indian Satellite ‘NISAR’ Set to Unravel Earth’s Icey Secrets

In a groundbreaking collaboration between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and NASA, the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite is set to be launched in January 2024. This joint initiative aims to provide unprecedented insights into Earth’s cryosphere, monitoring vital signs such as wetland health, ground deformation from volcanoes, and dynamics of land and sea ice.

NISAR’s mission is crucial for understanding the impact of small-scale processes on monumental changes in Antarctica and Greenland’s ice sheets, as well as on mountain glaciers and global sea ice. The satellite will play a pivotal role in deciphering Earth’s response to increasing temperatures, offering crucial data for researchers.

The satellite, equipped with L-band and S-band radar systems, will observe nearly all of the planet’s land and ice surfaces twice every 12 days. This frequency enables NISAR to capture dynamic changes in the cryosphere, offering a comprehensive time-lapse view of ice motion and deformation.

One of NISAR’s primary focuses is on Antarctica, where its orientation in orbit will allow it to collect data from the far interior, close to the South Pole. This region holds the largest reservoir of frozen fresh water on the planet, and understanding the rate at which it may lose ice is vital for sea level rise projections.

The satellite’s enhanced coverage will be crucial for studying the flow of ice from central Antarctica’s high elevations towards the sea, as well as the interactions between ice and ocean. NISAR will provide valuable data on the thinning and crumbling of ice shelves in both Antarctica and Greenland, which play a key role in preventing glacial ice from entering the ocean.

Beyond polar regions, NISAR will also track changes in Earth’s mountain glaciers, particularly in the Himalayas. Its all-weather capability will aid researchers in monitoring water storage in glacial lakes, essential for assessing the risk of catastrophic floods.

In addition, NISAR will capture the movement and extent of sea ice in both hemispheres, providing insights into the Earth’s climate regulation mechanisms. As Arctic sea ice diminishes due to rising temperatures, the satellite will offer a comprehensive view of changes in the Southern Ocean, where sea ice had been more stable until recent years.

Notably, NISAR marks the first hardware development collaboration between NASA and ISRO for an Earth-observing mission. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory leads the US component, contributing the L-band SAR and various mission components, while ISRO’s U R Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru leads the Indian component, providing the spacecraft bus, launch vehicle, and associated services.

With its advanced capabilities and global coverage, NISAR is poised to revolutionize our understanding of Earth’s cryosphere, providing valuable data for climate scientists and policymakers alike.