The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Italian Space Agency (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, ASI) are planning to build and launch the Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols (MAIA) missions by 2024. This satellite instrument aims to collect data necessary for examining the health effects of various forms of air pollution.
MAIA’s Mission and Methodology
Planned to run for three years, MAIA will focus initially on 11 areas around the globe, including New Delhi in India. To determine the prevalence, size, composition, and optical properties of airborne pollutants, MAIA will observe sunlight reflections off these particles. Data collection will be a combined effort from ground sensors and atmospheric models. Analysis of this data will be linked with records of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, adverse reproductive outcomes, human birth, death, and hospitalization. This study is to understand the impacts of contaminated air on human health.
The Observatory and its Technology
The observatory will use the PLATiNO-2 satellite, provided by ASI. This science instrument has a pointable spectropolarimetric camera that can capture digital images at multiple angles across various wavelength ranges – ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared, and shortwave infrared. These captured images will help in the accurate representation of pollutants in the atmosphere.
Aerosols: The Active Volcano Merapi
Merapi, one of the most active among the 120+ active volcanoes in Indonesia, has erupted several times recently, releasing lava and gas clouds. Located on the island of Java, near Yogyakarta, Merapi last erupted majorly in 2010, causing significant loss of life and displacement of villagers. Indonesia frequently experiences earthquakes and volcanic activities due to its position along the seismic fault lines known as the “Ring of Fire.”
World’s Fastest Single-shot Laser Camera
Scientists from Germany and the US have developed the world’s fastest single-shot laser camera, which is capable of capturing extremely short-lived events at a speed 1,000 times faster than previous models. This camera provides a detailed view of soot production in a hydrocarbon flame. Its technique, called Laser-sheet Compressed Ultrafast Photography (LS-CUP), combines laser sheet imaging with compressed sensing on a standard streak camera system.
Applications of the High-speed Camera
The LS-CUP can capture images at an astounding rate of 12.5 billion frames per second. It can be used to photograph processes like shockwaves in nuclear reactors, combustion of fine sprays, and sonoluminescence. These processes, which happen in a few nanoseconds, could not be observed so precisely before. However, the cost of this technology remains high.
Maritime Partnership Exercise:
In March 2023, the Indian Navy participated in a Maritime Partnership Exercise (MPX) with the French Navy in the Arabian Sea. The INS Sahyadri, a guided missile frigate, took part in several on-sea maneuvers during this exercise. This successful interaction reaffirmed the interoperability and cooperation between the two navies.
India-France Military Cooperation
The Indian and French armies also conducted a joint military exercise named FRINJEX-2023 in Kerala. The theme for this exercise was ‘Humanitarian assistance and Disaster relief operations in a contested environment.’ The Varuna (Naval exercise), Garuda (Air exercise), Shakti (Army exercise), and Desert Knight-21 (Air exercise) are other bilateral exercises that India and France regularly participate in.
