The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has developed a new satellite (Risat) that could take images through the clouds, enabling space-based application in such scenarios to manage cyclones, floods and agriculture related activities.
India’s current earth-observation satellites are working in visible and infrared bands, which means they can take pictures only when its cloud-free.
According to Isro officials, Risat mission would have a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload, operating in a multi-polarisation and multi-resolution mode.
SAR, an active sensor, operated in the microwave range of electromagnetic spectrum, provides the target parameters such as dielectric constant, roughness and geometry. With its unique capability for day-night imaging and in all weather conditions, including fog and haze, provides information on soil moisture.
SAR payload is based on an active phased array technology using Transmit/Receive (T/R) modules, which would provide necessary electronic agility for achieving the multi-mode capability, providing spatial resolutions of 3 to 50 m, and 10 to 240 km modes to cater to different applications.
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