Dr P.R. Pisharoty

Pisharoth Rama Pisharoty (February 10, 1909 – September 24, 2002) was an Indian physicist and meteorologist, and is considered to be the father of remote sensing in India.He was the founder Director of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune in 1962. His pioneering experiment of detection of coconut wilt-root disease using Soviet aircraft and US equipment was considered to be the first success in remote sensing in India. Pisharoty served as the Director, Remote Sensing and Satellite Meteorology, at ISRO Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad during 1972-75. He was a Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of World Meteorological Organization from 1963 to 1968 and later its Chairman. He worked at PRL until the early nineties when he retired for health reasons. The Indian Society of Remote Sensing renamed the Indian National Remote Sensing Award to ‘P. R. Pisharoty Memorial Award’ in his memory.