The NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) mission is a pioneering path breaking satellite mission developed as a collaboration between ISRO and NASA for developing crucial understanding of the earth and its dynamism. A collaborative scientific mission of ISRO and NASA, NISAR has two active microwave sensors in two bands viz. L-band and S-band, also known as Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). This mission is specifically aimed to study the solid earth, cryosphere and vegetation dynamics as well as understanding the cause and mechanism of the changes such as climate change and natural disasters. One of the important utilization of NISAR is ‘earth observation for disaster management support’ especially in detection and monitoring of crop flood damage, floods and cyclones, estimation of forest fuel moisture and stand damage for forest fire management, landslide damage, surface deformation, subsidence and oil spill to name a few. With a resolution of 7meter in azimuth and 3-48 meter in a left looking slant angle, 12-day receptivity and a global coverage, the NISAR science mission has immense potential for Advance Research and application in EO based Disaster Management Support. We will discuss each of the NISAR based disaster management application in the following sections.

In the areas like Sundarbans, Pantanal and other vegetated water logged areas, it is difficult to estimate the flood extent and flood inundation with C-Band SAR. This satellite will provide the information on the water logging under the canopy due to its ability to penetrate the canopy. The information on the submerged vegetation, either in croplands or forests will be much more precise using longer wave length data from NISAR.

In case of landslides, especially in regions under dense vegetation canopy like the Western Ghats, the landslide underneath the canopy are difficult to determine. The L and S band NISAR data with canopy penetration capability will be able to provide much better estimation of the landslide affected areas from space based observation in dense vegetated areas. An important aspect of slope stability which can be used for landslide early warning is the detection and estimation of slope deformation using Advanced Interferometric techniques using SAR data like Persistent Scatter Interferometric SAR (PS-InSAR) and SBAS which is used to detect minor deformation in the slope or land surface indicating the instability in the slopes and provide information regarding the areas under threat of landslide. This becomes more pertinent as many of these instable slopes have considerable vegetation cover and obtaining persistent scatter in a vegetated region is not possible using C-Band or even S-Band SAR.  Interferometric techniques using L- and S-band data from NISAR will also help in monitoring of long term crustal deformation for identifying areas under tectonic stress, co-seismic deformation, Liquefaction and earthquake damage assessment.

Estimation of fuel moisture for forest fire management especially for the under canopy fuel load has been a challenge faced by the scientist till now. NISAR with its L-Band SAR sensor and a repeat cycle of 12 days globally is expected to provide the means to determine the fuel moisture content as well as the changes in the undergrowth vegetation and fuel load due to forest fire especially in the tropics. Some of the initial studies using ASAR data have shown promise of better information retrieval especially of the changes in the below canopy biomass in the tropics.

The systemic coverage of NISAR along with single, dual, and quad polarization will also provide information on the cryosphere, viz. glaciers and snow clad regions, and the disasters associated with the regions. The disaster in the cryosphere includes glacier retreat and surging glaciers, stability of the moraine dams of the glacial lakes, as well as the information on snow depth and stability for identification of areas with potential for avalanche.

In essence NISAR Science mission has a utility much wider than just the scientific data retrieval and synthesis of the earth system science. This mission has the potential to significantly change the way we assess and analyze disasters using earth observation technology.