Next generation satellite INSAT-3DR has opened new frontiers in India’s weather forecasting and is set to equip the country with the ability to detect farm fires -- which intensify air pollution in the northern region seasonally, leaving Delhi gasping for breath. Read: Delhi haze: When farm fires poison the capital’s airLaunched in September last year, INSAT-3DR works in tandem with INSAT-3D, operational since 2014, in sending raw data and high-resolution images, zoomed up to 1 kilometre near the earth’s surface, every 15 minutes. Peshin said with the operationalising of INSAT-3DR, night-time monitoring of atmospheric phenomenon like cloud cover, fog, haze and snow among others had become possible. “Within the next few months, we hope to equip ourselves with the ability to detect farm fires as well which the NASA does currently. It is just a matter of developing the right tools and algorithm which will take a little time,” he said.

Source: Hindustan Times January 29, 2017 05:47 UTC