Who is prof Manikandan Mathur, the IIT-Madras scientist who helped ISRO and NASA optimise NISAR satellite?
An IIT-Madras professor has played a pivotal role in shaping how NISAR, the Indo-US Earth observation satellite launched on Wednesday, will track and analyse coastal regions.
Prof Manikandan Mathur, from the Geophysical Flows Lab at the Centre of Excellence in the Department of Aerospace Engineering, collaborated with ISRO and NASA to fine-tune the satellite's operational strategy. He provided key input on optimal imaging frequency, timing, and selection of coastal zones for monitoring.
Prof Mathur stressed the importance of closely observing the north Indian Ocean to better understand coastal processes and their links to weather systems and pollution dispersal. His team plans to use NISAR's data to study interactions between river discharge and ocean waters in the Bay of Bengal, the dynamics of internal gravity waves along India's coasts, and how these phenomena influence regional weather patterns, including extreme rainfall and flooding. Unlike earlier Earth observation satellites that struggled with coastal imaging and cloud interference, NISAR will offer high-resolution imagery—down to tens of metres—and revisit the same location every 12 days.
'NISAR addresses both major limitations of past missions and will also capture fine-scale Earth surface features never observed before,' Prof Mathur was quoted as saying by the Times of India. He called the mission a "unique collaboration" that combines the strengths of two frequency bands contributed by ISRO and NASA. Prof Mathur also highlighted the potential of open access to NISAR data to significantly advance Indian research, especially for young scientists. 'Awareness of what satellite imaging can achieve is set to grow within the Indian scientific community,' he noted. He added that the data would also unlock new possibilities for experts in machine learning and data science to contribute to socially impactful research.
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(Laasya is an Independent Journalist with bylines published in BBC, Thomson Reuters and Mongabay India among a dozen others. One day she is tracking climate finance; the next, she's decoding education reforms, dissecting caste realities or tracing wildlife in forgotten forests.)
