The Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) has been chosen to join a research project backed by the Space Application Centre of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) under a NASA-ISRO collaborative programme.
NASA and ISRO are jointly developing a space-borne synthetic aperture radar (NISAR), to be launched in January 2023. NISAR will produce high resolution data for large areas with the capability for systematic observation of earth resources. It will provide time-series data for eco-systems applications benefiting several operational activities related to agriculture, forestry, wetlands, and soil moisture estimation, said a communication here.
KUFOS has been selected as one of the nodal agencies in South India to implement the project, said K. Riji John, Vice-Chancellor of KUFOS. Under this programme, ground truth data validation is planned prior to NISAR launch through collaboration with other research institutions such as the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM).
KUFOS will establish long-term plots and its inventory in Shimoga (Karnataka) and Nilambur (Kerala) under the programme for validation of NISAR forest biomass products. The project will be headed by Girish Gopinath, Associate Professor of Remote Sensing and GIS at KUFOS and U. Surendran, senior scientist at CWRDM.
The outcome is expected to help address critical issues of forest biomass estimation, carbon stock estimation and monitoring of carbon sequestration, the communication said.
