ISRO and NASA Collaboration - NISAR

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) joint project NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite is moving towards realisation by 2021. It is the World’s most expensive Earth monitoring satellite.

About NISAR:

• ISRO and NASA are working together on the development of Dual Frequency L and S band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imaging satellite called NISAR.
• The L band SAR will be developed by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of NASA and S band SAR frequency will be developed by ISRO.
• It is designed to observe and take measurement of planet’s most complex process like ecosystem disturbances, ice-sheet collapse, earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, tsunamis, coastal erosion, coastline changes, variation of winds and more.
• This helps scientist’s better understanding on climate change and aid future resource and hazard management and help taking measures to minimise loss of human lives..

About L and S band:

L band has the operating frequency range of 1–2 GHz in the radio spectrum and the wavelength range is 30–15 cm. It has low bandwidth due to its low frequency. L band used in low earth orbit satellites, military satellites, mobile communication, also in GPS .

S Band is a part of electromagnetic spectrums microwave band which has a frequency range of 2 to 4 GHz. It crosses the conventional boundary between ultra-high frequency (UHF) and super high frequency(SHF) at 3.0 GHz. S Bands are used in radar systems, like communication satellites(Communicating with the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle, wireless networking, multimedia, consumer electronics.)