As the world continues to tackle many natural hazards, disaster management has become critically important, as climate change is causing more and more wildfires, forest fires, and cyclones. Now, NASA and Indian space agency ISRO have joined forces to provide important information that will help ramp up efforts related to climate change and disaster mitigation.
Both space agencies are building the Earth System Observatory, where all satellites will build specifically to work in tandem and create a 3D, holistic view of Earth including the atmosphere and bedrock.
Predicting natural hazards
“The observatory follows recommendations from the 2017 Earth Science Decadal Survey by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which lays out ambitious but critically necessary research and observation guidance,” said NASA.
While the new observatory is currently in the formulation stage, ISRO will be providing 2 radar systems that will measure changes in our planet’s surface less than a half-inch. The radar will be a part of the observatory’s initial missions and work as a pathfinder. It is named NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR).
“This mission will measure some of the planet’s most complex processes such as ice-sheet collapse and natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and landslides,” NASA added. The instrument will help the ground team in managing both hazards and natural resources going forward.
Build for many applications
The new system will be launched with an aim to hunt for answers on what impact do aerosols have on the global energy balance. Besides, it will also help in measuring the air quality index and predict severe weather conditions.
The system will also assist the team in forecast droughts and also in the response to such natural events. Researchers will use the data extracted by the observatory, which will help them determine the changes in the climate that eventually impact agriculture, habitation, and other resources.
Not just that, the instrument will also make quantifying models of sea-level and landscape changes happening due to climate change. It will come in handy for preparing and preventing natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, and the melting of glaciers.
