Megha-Tropiques-1

About Megha-Tropiques-1:

• Megha-Tropiques is an Indo-French Joint Satellite Mission for studying the water cycle and energy exchanges in the tropics.
• Objective: To understand the life cycle of convective systems that influence tropical weather and climate and their role in the associated energy and moisture budget of the atmosphere in tropical regions.
• It provides scientific data on the contribution of the water cycle to the tropical atmosphere, with information on condensed water in clouds, water vapour in the atmosphere, precipitation, and evaporation.
• With its circular orbit inclined 20 deg to the equator, the Megha-Tropiques is a unique satellite for climate research that should also aid scientists seeking to refine prediction models.
• The Megha-Tropiques has day, night and all-weather viewing capabilities; it passes over India almost a dozen times every day, giving scientists an almost real-time assessment of the evolution of clouds.

Megha-Tropiques carries the following four payloads:

• Microwave Analysis and Detection of Rain and Atmospheric Structures (MADRAS), an Imaging Radiometer developed jointly by CNES and ISRO
• Sounder for Probing Vertical Profiles of Humidity (SAPHIR), from CNES.
• Scanner for Radiation Budget (ScaRaB), from CNES.
• Radio Occultation Sensor for Vertical Profiling of Temperature and Humidity (ROSA), procured from Italy.

 

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Q1)What is a satellite?

An object in an orbit is called a satellite. A satellite can be natural, like the Moon, or human (or extraterrestrial?) -made. Satellites can travel around planets or around stars such as our Sun.

Source: ISRO to undertake controlled re-entry experiment of decommissioned satellite on March 7