NISAR satellite to map Himalayas' seismic zones

Category : Science and Tech Published on: April 18 2023

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NISAR satellite is going to map the most earthquake-prone regions in the Himalayas with unprecedented regularity and aims to build an advance warning system of land subsidence and earthquakes.
The forthcoming satellite will map the most earthquake-prone regions in the Himalayas with unprecedented regularity.
The data it will generate could potentially provide advance warning of landslides, as seen recently in Joshimath, Uttarakhand, as well as pinpoint locations most at risk from earthquakes.
A large section of the Himalayan region falls in Zone V, implying the highest risk of strong earthquakes.
The NISAR satellite will use two frequency bands: the L-band and S-band to image the Himalayan region.
NISAR stands for NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar.
NISAR satellite was jointly developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the U.S.
The cost of the NISAR satellite is expected to be around $900 million (with ISRO contributing about one-tenth).
NISAR is expected to be launched in January 2024 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre into a near-polar orbit.
It is an Earth observation satellite.