The planet Earth’s inhabitants are very well aware of the gradual diminishing of natural resources. Well, water is one of the recyclable natural resources but the techniques necessary for this is must to be found under the current situations.
For the process of acquiring the correct means of preservation of the water resources, understanding the water cycle and its management is very essential. In order to tackle the ill-usage of water, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and The French Space Agency (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales), CNES have joined hands to launch an infrared observation system that has high thermal resolution and high revisit capability. It has a satellite and associated ground segment.
The thermal infrared instrument has been named TRISHNA or Thermal infraRed Imaging Satellite for High-resolution Natural resource Assessment. So TRISHNA will be the result of the Franco-Indian efforts to understand and monitor the climate. CNES has taken Airbus Defence and Space by its side in the contract for building up this TRISHNA Satellite.
The prime contractor for TRISHNA will be the platform along with the visible and short wave infrared instrument. This prime part will be provided by ISRO. The other significant half of the partnership will be performed by CNES with the help of Airbus. They will provide the thermal infrared instrument. The ground segment will be completed by both the countries together. Airbus will use the best possible technology to produce this satellite and it is to use programs like IASI-NG, CO3D…to offer an instrument that is affordable and has a high-quality performance.
Agriculture and hydrology are worst affected victims of lack of water. The temperature of the surface of the earth measures this possible shortage of water. And this shortage leads to the breakdown of agriculture and hydrology. Therefore ISRO and CNES have taken up this project to locate the loopholes and fix them.
This is not the first time that such an instrument has been brought out to help the cause. But there lies a significant difference. Earlier the satellites used to have a lesser resolution which was 1km and they used to circumscribe the earth once in few weeks. But TRISHNA will have a resolution of 50m and will revisit thrice in a week. Not only this, but TRISHNA will also measure a wide range of temperatures from about -20°C to +30°C and will be priced even in calculating 0.3°C.
TRISHNA will be a landmark in the history of surface temperature measurements. This satellite will not remain confined to measuring only temperatures for agriculture but also help in many other important tasks. This will include surveillance of continental and coastal waters. The follow up of urban heat traps is also to be measured by it. It will monitor risks (fire detection and volcanic activity), study the cryosphere (glaciers, frozen lakes), and assess the radiation budget.
This mechanism is supposed to hold the commercial market with its dynamic new technology. These techs will bring about newer ways of conserving nature. In the times of pandemics and epidemics, such steps are open-heartedly welcomed.
We must also focus on what the head of the Space System at Airbus has to say about TRISHNA: “Thanks to ambitious science missions like TRISHNA, our industry has reached a technological maturity that opens up a new era of commercial observation of the Earth and all related applications. France’s world-leading expertise in the Earth observation export market, combined with the unmatched efficiency and ambition of the Indian Space industry is going to bring thermal infrared imagery to a new level. This will enable breakthrough applications in agriculture, urban and coastal zone management, meteorology, climate science, and many commercial applications.”
