CHENNAI: Stamping its authority in the complex area of operational oceanography in the vast Indian Ocean Region (IOR), India has earned global recognition by becoming the first country in the IOR and only the second in the world to have a Centre for Operational Oceanography, a UNESCO category-2 Institute, that deals with critical operations, including ocean state forecast, tsunami early warnings, storm surge warnings and remote sensing operations.
The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) executive council that met at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France on Tuesday approved the proposal made by India. The proposed centre will be set up at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad.
Speaking to the Express from Paris, the INCOIS director Satheesh C Shenoi said IOC approved the project proposal and it would be tabled before the UNESCO board and the General Assembly in October for final ratification.
INCOIS has been working in operational oceanography for years and this would be an international recognition that would boost research and co-operation between Indian Ocean rim countries. Only Iran has a Regional Educational and Research Centre for Oceanography for Western Asia at Tehran.
B Madhusudhan Rao, a consultant for INCOIS, told Express that INCOIS was already running an International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography since 2013.
For instance, INCOIS has already been recognised as a Regional Tsunami Service Provider for the Indian Ocean Region by the IOC.
“INCOIS encompasses a network of real-time observation networks like seismic stations, bottom pressure recorders, high-frequency radar, data from 364 seismic stations are being received and processed for real-time detection of earthquakes. Over 25 Indian tide gauges and 60 international gauges installed and maintained are being used for providing tsunami warnings,” said Madhusudhan Rao.