Produced by: Tarun Mishra Designed by: Manoj Kumar
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is collaborating with the French Space Agency CNES on the Trishna mission, aiming to enhance global climate monitoring and mitigation efforts.
Trishna stands for Thermal infraRed Imaging Satellite for High-resolution Natural resource Assessment. It is designed to deliver detailed observations of Earth’s surface temperature, vegetation health, and water cycle dynamics.
The satellite is slated for launch in 2025, though ISRO has yet to announce the exact timeline. Trishna is expected to revolutionize the use of space-based thermal infrared imaging to study climate change impacts.
Trishna’s main goals include monitoring the energy and water budgets of the continental biosphere, quantifying terrestrial water stress and efficiency, and providing high-resolution data on coastal and inland water quality.
Trishna offers a unique combination of high spatial resolution (57m for land/coastal, 1km for ocean/polar) and a frequent revisit time of just 2-3 days. This will enable detailed monitoring of key climate variables such as surface temperatures and soil moisture.
The 770 kg satellite will operate from a sun-synchronous orbit at 761 km altitude, equipped with two advanced imaging payloads: CNES’s Thermal Infrared (TIR) instrument and ISRO’s Visible-Shortwave Infrared (VSWIR) sensor.
Trishna’s high-quality data will help optimize irrigation in agriculture, improve urban heat island mapping, monitor water pollution, and detect forest fires and volcanic activity. It will support sustainable water management and crop productivity enhancement.
By measuring key climate variables like evapotranspiration, snow/glacier dynamics, and permafrost changes, Trishna will improve climate models and support global mitigation efforts aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.