The NISAR Mission – An NASA/ISRO Space Partnership Supporting Global Research and Applications

Abstract

Since the 2007 National Academy of Science “Decadal Survey” report [1], NASA has been studying concepts for a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) mission to determine Earth change in three disciplines – ecosystems, solid earth, and cryospheric sciences. NASA has joined forces with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to fulfill these objectives. The NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) mission is now in development for a launch readiness in late 2021. The mission’s primary science objectives are codified in a set of science requirements to study Earth land and ice deformation, and ecosystems, globally with 12-day sampling over all land and ice-covered surfaces throughout the mission life. The US and Indian science teams share global science objectives; in addition, India has developed a set of local objectives in agricultural biomass estimation, Himalayan glacier characterization, and coastal ocean measurements in and around India. Both the US and India have identified agricultural and infrastructure monitoring, and disaster response as high priority applications for the mission.