What is the Science Behind NISAR? How NASA-ISRO Project Will Monitor Earth Like Never Before Before 2025 Launch

NİSAR’s Mission: Imagine being able to watch the earth breathe, capturing every subtle shift in the ground, tracking everything from tectonic noises to the slow advance of glaciers. This is the ambitious goal of NISAR, a satellite mission developed by NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Slated to be launched from India in early 2025, the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, or NISAR, will be placed in orbit around the planet and will meticulously measure surface movements even smaller than an inch. Project scientists explain that this precision will reveal a world in flux, where landscapes move, deform, and sometimes crumble under the forces of nature and human activity.

From earthquake-prone regions to volcanic hotspots, NISAR’s data promises to transform our understanding of Earth’s dynamic processes and improve the way we prepare for natural and human-caused disasters. The mission’s data will give scientists, and potentially even urban planners and disaster response teams, a detailed view of how the Earth’s surface changes over time, equipping them to respond to everything from infrastructure damage to looming geological threats.

This is the first time that NASA and ISRO have jointly developed satellite hardware for an Earth observation mission.

ALSO READ ABP LIVE | Which Crew-8 Astronaut Was Hospitalized After 235 Days in Space and Why? NASA Won’t Tell Now

The Science Behind NISAR

Much of the Earth’s surface is constantly moving, but these movements often go unnoticed by human senses. Scientists rely on satellite data and ground-based instruments to monitor changes in the landscape caused by natural forces such as tectonic shifts and volcanic activity. recently articleScientists involved in the NISAR project explained that the mission is expected to take our understanding to the next level by measuring Earth’s surface motion across nearly the entire planet, including horizontal and vertical displacements.

The NISAR mission aims to measure the motion of all of Earth’s land and ice-covered surfaces twice every 12 days, giving researchers a better, bigger picture of how the planet’s surface is changing over time. “Such regular observations allow us to see how the Earth’s surface moves across nearly the entire planet,” said Cathleen Jones, NISAR applications leader at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

This level of detail provides important insight into tectonic mechanics, helping scientists determine which areas are more prone to natural disasters and even how faults and volcanoes behave over time. By observing Earth’s motion over months and years, NISAR can reveal patterns that may not be visible with a single measurement.

The NISAR project combines NASA’s expertise in L-band radar technology with ISRO’s S-band radar capabilities. The dual radar system allows NISAR to capture images day and night, in all weather conditions and even under dense vegetation. The L-band system created by JPL is designed to penetrate vegetation, making it especially useful for monitoring changes around volcanoes and faults hidden beneath forested areas. Meanwhile, the article cited above explains that ISRO’s S-band radar system complements this with high-resolution imaging that helps track subtle changes in surface motion.

NASA components managed by JPL include the radar reflector antenna, communications subsystems, and solid-state recorder; All of these will operate in conjunction with the spacecraft bus, launch vehicle and operational support provided by ISRO.

How will NISAR Data be used?

Tracking Earthquakes and Fault Lines: NISAR will not predict earthquakes, but will help scientists identify areas most susceptible to seismic activity. It will provide insight into how tectonic plates interact and identify fault sections that may pose a risk of sudden movement. This is especially valuable for areas that are not currently comprehensively monitored, allowing researchers to study earthquake-prone regions around the world. “From ISRO perspective, we are particularly interested in the Himalayan plate boundary,” said Sreejith KM, ISRO’s NISAR solid earth science lead, based at the Space Applications Center in Ahmedabad. He believes that the region has been the scene of many significant earthquakes. NISAR’s data will provide critical information about seismic hazards in the region.

Volcano Monitoring: For volcanologists, surface movement is an important indicator of potential eruptions. Magma moving beneath the Earth’s crust can cause the surface above to swell or sink, signaling an impending eruption. With regular observations, NISAR will help scientists monitor these deformations in near real time, providing valuable data on which volcanic areas are at risk and when an eruption may be likely.

Infrastructure Assessment and Disaster Recovery: Beyond natural disasters, NISAR’s data will also be effective in monitoring critical infrastructures. It will provide a baseline for normal conditions and help identify sudden changes. Whether it’s an airport runway, a dam or a levee, knowing the normal condition of infrastructure helps identify potential weak points before they become problematic. “Instead of going out every five years and surveying the entire aqueduct, you can target your surveys to problem areas,” Jones said. In disaster scenarios such as an earthquake striking levees in California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, NISAR’s ability to assess damage from space could save time and resources by streamlining repair efforts, he said.