Here’s how NASA-ISRO joint satellite NISAR predicts India's agricultural future
India has launched a special satellite called NISAR—the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar. It was sent to space on July 30, 2025, and it is designed to help Indian farmers in a completely new way. Think of NISAR as a doctor for our land. Just like a doctor examines your body to know what is happening inside, this satellite examines our soil to understand how much water is present and how our land is changing. Every twelve days, it scans India's farmland and sends back detailed information that can help us grow better crops and save water.
NISAR works by using two different types of radar signals that work together. NASA provides something called L-band radar, which is like X-ray vision for the ground. This signal can pass through thick forests, plants, and soil layers to see what is happening deep below the surface. ISRO provides S-band radar, which is like a regular camera that gives clear details of what is on top. When both signals work together, they create a complete picture of our land. The satellite's large 12-metre antenna reflector, which looks like a huge wire mesh, opened up in space after launch. This antenna sends and receives radar signals, allowing the satellite to capture extremely clear images. The satellite orbits Earth in a special path called a 747 km Sun-synchronous polar orbit, which means it passes over the same spots on Earth at the same time each day.
The special feature that makes NISAR so powerful is something called 100-metre resolution mapping. This is an important concept to understand. Imagine dividing your entire neighbourhood into small square blocks, where each block is 100 metres long and 100 metres wide. The satellite measures the soil moisture in each of these blocks separately. Soil moisture simply means how much water is present in the soil. This information is incredibly useful because farmers can know exactly where their fields have enough water, where they need to add water, and where water might be wasted.
NISAR can scan a very wide area of about 240 kilometres in one single pass. This is possible because of something called SweepSAR technology. Because it covers such a huge area, the satellite can scan the entire Earth every twelve days. It sends new information twice within these twelve days, making it almost like having constant monitoring of our land's health.
The information collected by NISAR is being sent to the Space Applications Centre, where advanced computers analyse the data. The NISAR satellite-based maps and data products are currently being tested using ground sensors across different soil types to make sure they are accurate. These tests compare what the satellite says with actual measurements taken on the ground. After verification, this information is shared with people through something called the Bhoonidhi Portal, which is an online platform created by ISRO. Anyone can access this real data anytime they want. A farmer can check it at 2 PM or even at midnight. A government official can plan irrigation schedules using this actual information. A researcher can study water availability patterns across different regions.
NISAR is particularly important for India because our monsoons are becoming unpredictable. Sometimes we get too much rain, sometimes too little. Farmers currently make decisions based on experience and guesses, but NISAR gives them actual data. The satellite can help identify which areas might face drought before it actually happens. This warning system allows farmers and government officials to take action early.
Most soil maps available in the world are not very clear and detailed. NISAR's 100-metre view is much sharper than anything we had before. It can spot small changes in soil and water conditions even within a single district. This detailed information helps in planning irrigation better, saving water, and growing more food. By understanding water availability accurately, India can now manage its water resources wisely and prepare for climate change effects. NISAR represents the power of international cooperation, with America and India working together to protect India's agricultural future and food security.
(Girish Linganna is an award-winning science communicator and a Defence, Aerospace & Geopolitical Analyst. He is the Managing Director of ADD Engineering Components India Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of ADD Engineering GmbH, Germany)
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or position of the publication, its editors, or its management. The publication is not responsible for the accuracy of any information, statements, or opinions presented in this piece.
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India 'very successful' emerging economy; right place to host AI summit: UN Chief Guterres
United Nations (PTI): India is a "very successful" emerging economy with a bigger influence in global affairs, and is the “right place” to host the AI summit, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said.
In an exclusive interview with PTI at the UN Headquarters ahead of the India–AI Impact Summit 2026, Guterres underscored that Artificial Intelligence should benefit the entire world and not just be a privilege reserved for developed nations or two superpowers.
“I strongly congratulate India for organising this Summit. It's absolutely essential that AI develops itself to the benefit of everybody, everywhere and that countries in the Global South are part of the benefits of AI,” he said.
The high-powered event being held from February 16 to 20 will be the first-ever AI summit hosted in the Global South and is anchored in the three guiding principles of ‘People, Planet and Progress’.
Guterres, who will be travelling to India to attend the Summit, asserted “it would be totally unacceptable that AI would be just a privilege of the most developed countries or a division only between two superpowers”, an apparent reference to the US and China.
“It is absolutely essential that AI becomes a universal instrument for the benefit of humankind,” Guterres said.
“The role of India, (which) is today a very successful emerging economy that is having a bigger and bigger role in not only the global economy but in its influence in global affairs, India is the right place to have this Summit and to make sure that AI (is) being discussed in depth, in all its enormous potential and also in all its risks, but that AI belongs to the whole world and not only to a few,” he said.
From world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, to technology honchos, including Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, the Summit is bringing together leaders, policymakers and innovators from across the world for deep-dive discussions on the way forward for AI.
Guterres had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi late last year on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar when he was in New York.
Underlining his strong advocacy for multipolarity, Guterres highlighted India’s contribution in a multipolar world, saying he looks forward to discussing this with the Indian leadership during his visit to New Delhi.
"There are two things we need to avoid in the world. We need to avoid the system in which there is total hegemony by only one power or a system in which the world is divided between two superpowers,” he said.
Guterres added that he is a “very strong advocate” of the need for true multipolarity in the world.
For true multipolarity, it is important for emerging economies to have a “higher and higher” role and to establish a “stronger and stronger” network of trade, technological and international cooperation relations.
In this regard, he said the recent trade agreement between India and the European Union is a “good example”. “India is one of the most relevant emerging economies,” he said.
"We are seeing across the world, more and more, the creation of a network of, I would say, all developed countries but also, and very importantly, emerging economies creating a true multipolarity without any hegemony, and allowing, then, multilateral organisations to be effective,” he said.
Emphasising the importance of multipolarity, Guterres spoke about his “frustration” over the failure of the UN Security Council to address conflicts and maintain international peace and security.
"When one looks at the UN, you can imagine my frustration when I see the Security Council unable to take decisions, and it is clear that we need a fundamental reform of the Security Council, first of all, to represent the world as it is today and not after the Second World War. And second, to be able to take effective decisions for peace and security around the world,” he said.
Guterres added that for a "fair" multilateral system, both in the UN and international financial institutions, emerging economies need to have a stronger voice and be at the centre of this networking.
"I see India in the centre of those emerging economies, and this is something I would be delighted to discuss with Prime Minister Modi because I have a lot of hope for the role that India can play in shaping this multipolar world,” he said.
At the Summit, Guterres will be joined by senior UN leaders, including UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk and Under-Secretary-General and UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology Amandeep Singh Gill.
Guterres further underlined that “it is always fantastic” to go to India, “a democracy with an enormous diversity and extraordinary civilisation and culture.”
The UN chief elaborated that he is currently reading about how India, for centuries, has been the main factor of transformation of the world, “starting hundreds of years before Christ and going on for centuries, with an enormous influence of Indian culture, of Indian civilisation that we can see in China, Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean."
"Even in the time of the Roman Empire, there were very strong connections with India and a very important influence of Indian culture in what is today the Mediterranean area.
“So it is always an enormous pleasure to visit India,” Guterres said.
