Daily Current Affairs : 10-June-2024

The Thermal Infrared Imaging Satellite for High-resolution Natural Resource Assessment (TRISHNA) is a groundbreaking project designed to monitor surface temperature and water management on a global scale. A collaborative effort between ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and CNES (the French Space Agency), TRISHNA aims to provide essential data to help manage natural resources, track environmental changes, and improve disaster response. This mission is a critical step in understanding our planet’s energy and water systems, with applications ranging from climate monitoring to urban planning.

Key Features of the TRISHNA Mission

TRISHNA includes two primary payloads:

  • Thermal Infra-Red (TIR): Provided by CNES, this payload focuses on capturing infrared imagery, which allows for the measurement of surface temperatures and thermal characteristics.
  • VNIR-SWIR: Supplied by ISRO, this payload is designed for surface reflectance mapping. It helps monitor vegetation, water bodies, and land cover changes.

Operating in a Sun-synchronous orbit, TRISHNA ensures consistent and accurate data collection. This is crucial for continuous monitoring of environmental conditions globally, particularly in relation to climate change, urban development, and natural disasters.

Mission Objectives

TRISHNA’s objectives are broad and highly impactful:

  • Energy and Water Budgets: Monitoring the energy and water balance of continental biospheres.
  • Water Quality and Dynamics: Providing high-resolution observations to assess water bodies and their behavior.
  • Surface Temperature and Radiation: Detailed tracking of variables such as surface temperature, emissivity, and radiation, essential for energy budgeting.
  • Urban Heat Islands: Identifying regions where cities experience higher temperatures than the surrounding areas.
  • Disaster Monitoring: Detecting thermal anomalies, snow-melt runoff, glacier dynamics, and monitoring aerosol optical depth and atmospheric water vapor.

Supporting Other Earth Monitoring Initiatives

In addition to TRISHNA, there are other Indo-French collaborations aimed at enhancing Earth monitoring. These include:

  • Megha-Tropiques: Focuses on tropical weather systems.
  • Saral: Dedicated to ocean and climate observation.

Moreover, TRISHNA complements global initiatives such as GEOGLAM (Global Agricultural Monitoring), which uses Earth observation to improve food security and sustainable agriculture. Another related project, Global Water Watch, provides free access to real-time data on global water systems, helping to improve water management worldwide.

Important Points:

TRISHNA Mission Overview:

  • A collaboration between ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and CNES (French Space Agency).
  • Aimed at monitoring surface temperature and water management on a global scale.
  • Helps manage natural resources, track environmental changes, and improve disaster response.

Key Features of the Mission:

  • Thermal Infra-Red (TIR) payload (by CNES) for infrared imaging and surface temperature measurement.
  • VNIR-SWIR payload (by ISRO) for surface reflectance mapping, monitoring vegetation, water bodies, and land cover changes.
  • Operates in a Sun-synchronous orbit for consistent and accurate data collection.

Mission Objectives:

  • Energy and Water Budgets: Monitor the energy and water balance of continental biospheres.
  • Water Quality and Dynamics: High-resolution monitoring of water bodies and their dynamics.
  • Surface Temperature and Radiation: Tracking surface temperature, emissivity, and radiation for energy budgeting.
  • Urban Heat Islands: Identifying areas with higher temperatures in urban regions.
  • Disaster Monitoring: Detecting thermal anomalies, snow-melt runoff, glacier dynamics, and atmospheric water vapor.

Supporting Other Earth Monitoring Initiatives:

  • Indo-French collaborations:
    • Megha-Tropiques: Focuses on tropical weather systems.
    • Saral: Dedicated to ocean and climate observation.
  • Global initiatives:
    • GEOGLAM: Uses Earth observation to improve food security and sustainable agriculture.
    • Global Water Watch: Provides real-time data on global water systems to improve water management.

Why In News

The Thermal Infrared Imaging Satellite for High-resolution Natural Resource Assessment (TRISHNA) mission, a collaboration between ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) and CNES (French Space Agency), aims to monitor surface temperature and water management globally, providing critical data to address challenges related to climate change, natural resource management, and disaster response. Through this innovative partnership, TRISHNA will enable better decision-making for environmental conservation and sustainable development across the globe.

MCQs about TRISHNA Mission

  1. What is the primary objective of the TRISHNA mission?
    A. To monitor global food production and agricultural systems
    B. To provide detailed observations of surface temperature and water management
    C. To observe urban population growth and its impacts
    D. To monitor global air quality and pollution levels
    Correct Answer: B. To provide detailed observations of surface temperature and water management
    Explanation: The primary goal of the TRISHNA mission is to monitor surface temperature and water management globally, which provides valuable data for climate change, resource management, and disaster response.
  2. Which two payloads are part of the TRISHNA mission?
    A. TIR and MODIS
    B. TIR and RADAR
    C. VNIR-SWIR and SAR
    D. TIR and VNIR-SWIR
    Correct Answer: D. TIR and VNIR-SWIR
    Explanation: The TRISHNA mission includes two primary payloads: Thermal Infra-Red (TIR) for capturing infrared imagery and VNIR-SWIR for surface reflectance mapping.
  3. How does the TRISHNA mission contribute to climate and urban studies?
    A. By providing high-resolution data on ocean currents
    B. By identifying urban heat islands and tracking surface temperature anomalies
    C. By monitoring global air quality levels in cities
    D. By observing migration patterns of urban populations
    Correct Answer: B. By identifying urban heat islands and tracking surface temperature anomalies
    Explanation: TRISHNA helps identify urban heat islands and monitors temperature anomalies, which are key to urban planning and climate research.
  4. Which global initiative aims to improve food security through Earth observations, complementing the TRISHNA mission?
    A. GEOGLAM
    B. Global Water Watch
    C. SARAL
    D. Megha-Tropiques
    Correct Answer: A. GEOGLAM
    Explanation: GEOGLAM (Global Agricultural Monitoring) uses Earth observation data to improve food security and sustainable agriculture, complementing missions like TRISHNA that focus on environmental monitoring.

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