Washington, July 23: The joint Earth-observation satellite, NISAR, developed by India and the United States, has begun releasing data collected from its radar instruments. This initiative aims to enhance scientists’ ability to monitor and understand changes occurring on Earth. Among the data is a striking area in Antarctica that resembles a hummingbird in shape.
Since July 20, data from the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite has been made available to the public and researchers. NASA announced that teams from both countries will continuously release processed data from the satellite’s L-band and S-band radars.
This data will enable scientists to monitor ground and ice movements, assess forests and wetlands, and better understand conditions following natural disasters like earthquakes and landslides.
The release of this data coincides with the upcoming first anniversary of NISAR’s launch, which took place on July 30, 2025, from India’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre. Since then, scientists have been calibrating its instruments, enhancing data processing, and monitoring nearly all land and ice-covered areas of the Earth every 12 days.
On Tuesday, NASA released an initial image showcasing the Nunatak Jeterzavshizja mountain in East Antarctica, surrounded by ice flowing northeast towards the sea. The fragmented ice in this area appears to take the form of a hummingbird in flight.
As glaciers move around this mountain, the terrain exerts pressure on the ice, creating deep cracks. In the radar image, these cracks are depicted as sharp green lines, while smooth ice appears in magenta.
Seongsoo Jeong, a signal analysis engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, remarked, “Firstly, this is an incredibly beautiful image. It reveals many fine details that help us understand how the glacier is advancing. Additionally, the radar can see inside layers of ice and snow, allowing NISAR to show us properties of Antarctica’s ice that are not visible with standard cameras.”
He added that NISAR enables us to observe hidden features beneath the surface. This image was generated from data collected by the L-band radar in August 2025, during which teams from the U.S. and India were testing the satellite’s systems.
The various colors in the image indicate how microwave signals returned after striking the ice. Where the surface was smoother, the returning signals appeared in magenta. In contrast, signals scattered from rough areas, such as cracks, were shown in green. Areas where both types of signals converged appeared white.
The Space Applications Centre of ISRO in Ahmedabad has started releasing S-band data through the “Bhunidhi” portal. Meanwhile, calibrated L-band data collected since June 17 is being continuously made available from the U.S. Earlier, sample data was released in January, followed by thousands of pre-calibrated data files in February.
This mission generates dozens of terabytes of scientific data daily. The satellite scans regions from near the South Pole to 77.5 degrees latitude in the Northern Hemisphere. Its 12-meter-wide drum-shaped radar reflector is the largest radar antenna reflector ever sent into space by NASA.
NISAR is the first satellite mission developed collaboratively by NASA and ISRO, marking a significant milestone in the ongoing space cooperation between India and the United States. Previously, NASA’s instruments were also used in India’s Chandrayaan-1 mission.
The primary advantage of synthetic aperture radar is its ability to gather clear information even through clouds and during nighttime, capabilities that standard cameras lack. This makes it widely used for detecting gradual changes on land, as well as assessing damage from earthquakes, landslides, floods, and other natural disasters.
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