more-in The Indian National Centre for Oceanic Information Services (INCOIS) was able to send warning signals to seafarers out in the deep sea during Cyclone Titli. It could do it with the help of a prototype test device called Navic app, developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. The app is likely to go into mass production for distribution among fishermen to forewarn them of extreme weather, even when they are in deep sea, said Balakrishnan Nair, ISG Head, Ocean Information and Forecast Services Group of INCOIS, on Thursday. INCOIS has been closely monitoring the coasts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh and warning all the user communities, particularly fishermen, regarding the impending high waves, since October 7 with the help of latest ICT tools. In fact, its forecast had matched well with the observations, he explained. The cyclonic storm ‘Titli’ crossed north Andhra Pradesh and south Odisha coasts near Gopalpur, as a very severe cyclonic storm with an estimated maximum sustained surface wind speed of 140-150 kmph gusting to 165 kmph on Thursday between 4.30 a.m. and 5.30 a.m. INCOIS also has 16 ‘WAMAN’ (Wave Monitoring Along Nearshore) buoy network with real-time connectivity for closely monitoring such situations along the Indian coastline. Buoys deployed at Digha, Gopalpur and Visakhapatnam have been helpful during extreme weather conditions, said Dr. Nair. For instance, the buoy deployed at Gopalpur for providing real-time data of wave height and wave period showed that the wave height was 9.1 metres at 4 a.m. when the cyclone eye crossed the area. When it crossed the coast by around 6 a.m., the wave height was a little higher at 10.1 metres. Dr. Nair attributed high waves to the winds in the eye walls. The eye crossed the coastline, within a period of around two hours, and when the peak wave period was in the range of 10-15 seconds. “It signifies the presence of swells, which need to be closely monitored for their far field effects,” he said. The Gopalpur buoy recorded a maximum wave height of around eight metres during Phailin cyclone (October 5-14, 2013) whereas it had recorded a high of 3.5 metres on Thursday morning , indicating near perfect observation and deduction.

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