ISRO achieves breakthrough in predicting lightning events over India using satellite data

BENGALURU, April 1: ISRO on Tuesday said it has achieved a breakthrough in the now-casting (weather forecasting) of lightning events over India using data from Indian geostationary satellites.
The milestone has been achieved by ISRO’s National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC).According to ISRO, atmospheric lightning occurs due to the complex interactions of meteorological parameters under the influence of convective processes in the troposphere. Key drivers of these convective phenomena include surface radiation, temperature, and wind.\
“NRSC/ISRO researchers observed lightning signatures in the Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR) data from the INSAT-3D satellite,” the space agency said in a statement.
The reduction in OLR strength is an indicator for potential lightning occurrences. The near real-time observations from the INSAT series satellites were utilised to detect and identify signatures indicative of lightning occurrences, it explained.To further enhance the detection of lightning activity, additional parameters such as Land Surface Temperature (LST) and wind were incorporated in the development of a composite variable to improve predictive accuracy, the space agency said.
ISRO’s CARTOSAT-3 images show damages caused in Myanmar
ISRO has released images captured by its earth imaging and mapping satellite, CARTOSAT-3 showcasing the damages caused by the earthquake in Myanmar on March 28.The post-disaster Cartosat-3 imagery was acquired by ISRO on March 29 over the cities of Mandalay and Sagaing.Additionally, the pre-event Cartosat-3 data acquired on March 18 covering the same area was referred for change analysis and assessment of damage, the space agency said.
CARTOSAT-3 is a third generation agile advanced satellite having high resolution imaging capability. According to ISRO, as seen from the imagery, the earthquake caused the complete collapse of the historic Ava (InnWa) Bridge on the Irrawaddy River. Cracks, ground ruptures in flood plains of Irrawaddy river with associated liquefaction was also observed. (PTI)