4 ISRO teams join 36th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has joined the 36th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (36-ISEA) organised by the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR).
It has send four teams-one team each from Space Applications Centre (SAC), National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) and and Space Physics Laboratory(SPL). 

Key Facts

• The main objective of this expedition is to install stakes on ice for Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) measurements around two Indian bases Bharati and Maitri in Antartica.
• It will validate glacier surface velocity derived from satellite data to estimate thickness of snow over land and sea ice using Ground Penetrating Radars (GPR’s). It will also verify conditions of snow over sea and land ice.
• ISRO teams will also study of snow melt and freeze dynamics in Antarctica using space-based and ground-based observations.
• It will also study measurements of Atmospheric Black Carbon (BC), greenhouse gases and solar radiation fluxes at Antarctica on a long-term basis.

About Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica (ISEA)

• ISEA is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional program conducted every year by the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences. It was started in 1981.
• It has gained global acceptance after India signed Antarctic Treaty. Subsequently, India had constructed Dakshin Gangotri Antarctic research base in 1983. It was superseded by the Maitri base from 1990,
• India’s newest base in Antarctica, Bharati, was commissioned in 2015. It is constructed out of 134 shipping containers.

Month: Current Affairs - March, 2017