Better Earth Observation Satellites From ISRO On The Cards

We recently told you about the upcoming projects planned by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and how the new chairman plans to execute the various missions. Well, adding another feather to space organisation's cap, the new chairman Mr. AS Kiran Kumar has revealed that India will soon have better satellites capable of earth observations. While speaking at the International Conference on Climate Change and Disaster Management at Kovalam, the Chairman said that the future of earth observation relies on following key points - 1. Continuity and improvement of the operational constellation of satellites, 2. Sustained observation of all climate variables and 3. Global co-operation for comparing observation data.

While that was being shared at the conference, a French space agency president raised concerns about climate change and urged everyone to pool resources and co-ordinate space missions so as to study and research by space-based observation of the rapidly changing climate. Another issue that needs immediate attention is disaster management, which can be better controlled with specific managers and short-term training programmes for existing staff.

By bettering the Earth observation satellites, ISRO researchers will be able to not only monitor climate change, but also provide useful data related to fires, dust storms, ice mapping, effects of pollution, boundaries of ocean currents, energy flows, etc. Among the existing list of earth observation satellites by ISRO, there's the IRS series since 1988 and Megha-Tropiques, Oceansat-2, IMS-1, Cartosat-2A and CARTOSAT-2 1 among the recent ones since 2005.

What are your thoughts on the words of the new ISRO chairman? Share with us in comments below.