NISAR Revolutionizes Soil-Moisture Monitoring in India

ISRO has announced that the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) is providing systematic imaging of the Indian landmass in S-and L-bands. This imaging delivers high-resolution, wide-swath data every 12 days, crucial for generating precise soil-moisture products at a 100-meter resolution.

Soil moisture is a critical indicator of crop health, irrigation requirements, and drought risk. The consistent estimates provided by NISAR across diverse agro-climatic regions of India aid significantly in agriculture and water management.

The data, accessible through the Bhoonidhi Portal, allows for near-real-time monitoring of soil moisture dynamics, supporting planning and management at district and community levels. Developed at the Space Applications Centre, the retrieval algorithm ensures accuracy and reliability of observations.