Patanjali Civil Services Academy

TRISHNA Satellite — India–France Collaboration [Prelims Bits]

Tags: Prelims Current events of national and international importance

Source: The Hindu

Context: ISRO and France’s space agency CNES are developing the TRISHNA satellite for high-resolution thermal infrared observation of Earth.
Full form: Thermal Infra-Red Imaging Satellite for High-resolution Natural Resource Assessment.
Agencies: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and France’s National Centre for Space Studies (CNES).
Objectives:
- Monitor land-surface temperature and evapotranspiration.
- Assess water stress in vegetation and support agricultural water management.
- Monitor water resources, droughts and ecosystem health.
Technology: Thermal infrared imaging for detailed monitoring of surface temperature and energy exchanges.
Previous India–France satellite collaborations:
- Megha-Tropiques: Studies the tropical atmosphere and water cycle.
- SARAL: Uses the AltiKa radar altimeter to study ocean surface height and ocean circulation; ARGOS supports data collection and location services.
TRISHNA focuses on land-surface temperature, evapotranspiration and water-use assessment, unlike Megha-Tropiques (tropical climate and water cycle) and SARAL (ocean altimetry).

Q1. Consider the following pairs of India–France satellite missions and their principal objectives:

Satellite mission	Principal objective
1. TRISHNA	Monitoring land-surface temperature and evapotranspiration
2. Megha-Tropiques	Studying the tropical atmosphere and water cycle
3. SARAL	Measuring ocean surface height using radar altimetry

How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?

(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All three
(d) None

Answer: (c)

Explanation:

TRISHNA is Correct: Developed by ISRO and France’s CNES, it will use thermal infrared observations to assess evapotranspiration, vegetation water stress and land-surface temperature.
Megha-Tropiques is Correct: This Indo-French mission studies the tropical atmosphere and water cycle, including atmospheric moisture and precipitation.
SARAL is Correct: It uses the AltiKa radar altimeter to measure ocean surface height. Its ARGOS payload supports data collection and location services.