Oceansat-II, scheduled to be launched on October 12, will provide information to fishermen on the optimal locations for fishing. The ground station will be in a position to issue the advisory by 5 PM which would prove handy for fishermen, since most of them go into the sea in the evening, stated SSC Shennoi, Director, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), during the inauguration of the ground station to receive data from the OCEANSAT-II satellite at the INCOIS.

Oceansat-2 is an Indian satellite designed to provide service continuity for operational users of the Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM)instrument on Oceansat-1. It will also enhance the potential of applications in other areas. The main objectives of OceanSat-2 are to study surface winds and ocean surface strata, observation of chlorophyll concentrations, monitoring of phytoplankton blooms, study of atmospheric aerosols and suspended sediments in the water.Oceansat-2 is ISRO’s second in the series of Indian Remote Sensing satellites dedicated to ocean research, and will provide continuity to the applications of Oceansat-1 (launched in 1999). Oceansat-2 will carry three payloads including an Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM-2), similar to the device carried on Oceansat-1. Data from all instruments will be made available to the global scientific community after the post-launch sensor characterization, which is expected to be completed within 6 months of the launch.

Oceansat-2 will carry two payloads for ocean related studies, namely, Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and Ku-band Pencil Beam Scatterometer. An additional piggy-back payload called ROSA (Radio Occultation Sounder for Atmospheric studies) developed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI) is also proposed to be included. The major applications of data from Oceansat-2 are identification of potential fishing zones, sea state forecasting, coastal zone studies and inputs for weather forecasting and climatic studies.

As a Cyclone Predictor

India’s Oceansat II satellite is capable to predict accurately the intensity of cyclones as well as the locations it will hit as early as three days in advance. The data is available in near real time mode (within 3 hours) through www.nrsc.gov.in, according to Dr Raj Kumar, Head of Oceanic Sciences Division, in Space Application Centre.

Links and Sources;

Geospatial World  , Wikipedia,