NISAR physical layout
Spacecraft in stowed configuration.
NISAR will image Earth’s dynamic surface over time. NISAR will provide information on changes in ice sheets and glaciers, the evolution of natural and managed ecosystems, earthquake and volcano deformation, subsidence from groundwater and oil pumping, and the human impact of these and other phenomena.
Anticipated scientific results over the course of the mission include:
Comprehensive assessment of motion along plate boundaries that are on land, identifying areas of increasing strain, and capturing signatures of several hundred earthquakes that will contribute to our understanding of fault systems;
Comprehensive inventories of global volcanoes, their state of activity and associated risks;
Comprehensive biomass assessment in low biomass areas where dynamics are greatest, and global disturbance assessments, agricultural change, and wetlands dynamics, informing carbon flux models at the most critical spatial and temporal scales;
In combination with GEDI and other missions, comprehensive global biomass to set the decadal boundary conditions for carbon flux models;
Complete assessments of the velocity state of Greenland’s and Antarctica’s ice sheets, each month over the mission life, as a key boundary condition for ice sheet models;
Regular monitoring of the world’s most dynamic mountain glaciers; • Comprehensive mapping of sea ice motion and deformation, improving our understanding of ocean-atmosphere interaction at the poles;
A rich data set for exploring a broad range of applications that benefit from fast, reliable, and regular sampling of virtually any areas of interest on land or ice. These include infrastructure monitoring, agriculture and forestry, disaster response, aquifer utilization, and ship navigability.