Regional Analysis of Indian Ocean System

About Regional Analysis of Indian Ocean System: 

• It is a data assimilation system developed in Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS).
• The previous version used only salinity and sea surface temperature, this upgraded version factors in sea surface height. The system has been under development since 2023 and was implemented in recent months.
• The new version has been incorporated with the Sea surface height anomaly (SSHA).
• In the new system, for running ocean models, observations are taken at the ocean’s surface and below the water at depths ranging from 3 metres to 2,000 metres, depending on the requirement.
• As a result, the ocean current analysis from the additional information obtained has improved the ocean current analysis.

Key facts about Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services

• It was established as an autonomous body in 1999 under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and is a unit of the Earth System Science Organization (ESSO).
• Mandate: To provide the best possible ocean information and advisory services to society, industry, government agencies, and the scientific community through sustained ocean observations and constant improvements through systematic and focused research.
• Activities:
  • It provides round-the-clock monitoring and warning services for the coastal population on tsunamis, storm surges, high waves, etc. through the in-house Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC).
  • The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO designated ITEWC as a Regional Tsunami Service Provider (RTSP) to provide tsunami warnings to countries on the Indian Ocean Rim.
  • It povides daily advisories to fisher folk to help them easily locate areas of abundant fish in the ocean while saving on both fuel and time used to search for the same.

Q1: What is Salinity?

It is the dissolved salt content of a body of water. It is a strong contributor to conductivity and helps determine many aspects of the chemistry of natural waters and the biological processes within them.

Source: For better tracking of Indian Ocean’s health, INCOIS upgrades data assimilation system