The Harlow Report

The Harlow Report-GIS

2023 Edition


ISSN 0742-468X
Since 1978
On-line Since 2000


first published week of:   01/23/2023

Space Mapping-What Does That Mean for Geospatial Professionals?

by Juan B. Plaza

A satellite set to launch in 2024 will scan the Earth’s surface every 12 days.

During the recent South Florida GIS Summit, I had the pleasure of attending a presentation by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that blew my mind in terms of potential for the geospatial community.

Batuhan Osmanoglu, a research scientist at the NASA Goddard Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, made a stunning presentation about NISAR. Led by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, NISAR is a collaboration between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to launch a joint satellite mission to use synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to map the entire surface of the planet every 12 days.

The origins of the project can be found on a scientific need to observe, analyze, and store minute changes on every square meter on the surface of the Earth over a three-year period. This will provide the scientific community with a reliable record of what happened to the planet’s crust during that three-year interval.

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