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NISAR

NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar)

Active Mission

Designed to provide a detailed view of the Earth to observe and measure some of the planet's most complex processes, including ecosystem disturbances, ice-sheet collapse, natural hazards, sea level rise, and groundwater issues. Its radar, the first of its kind in space, will systematically map Earth, measuring changes of our planet's surface as small as a centimeter.

Type

Orbiter

Launch

2025

Partners

NASA, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)

Objective

Observe and measure Earth's surface
  • Mission Partners
    NASA, ISRO
  • Instruments
    L-SAR (24cm wavelength) and S-SAR (12cm wavelength)
  • Instrument Type
    Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
  • Altitude/Inclination
    747 km/98.4°

science Behind the Mission

The rocky mountains soar in the background just behind the nearby forest along the edge of the lake.

Measuring constant changes in Earth's surface

Colored water flows among coral reefs form the upper case letter R in this Landsat satellite image.

Measuring coastal processes

Some floating sea ice mixed with near black ocean waters along the borders of the solid ice edge, with ocean surrounding an ice peninsula toward the screen bottom.

Monitoring changes in global ice

A tree covered mountain in the distance, behind two near bushy pines shows large orange flames in the center of the image. smoke billows up into the sky and to the right blue sky occupies a much smaller area over the fire on the left with some distant cumulus clouds behind

Studying biomass and impacts on biodiversity