Integrated Ocean Information and Forecast System

Integrated Ocean Information and Forecast System for Madagascar

Madagascar is an island country in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Southeast Africa. The nation comprises the island of Madagascar (the fourth-largest island in the world), and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot; over 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. The country has a length of 4828 km. There are more than a dozen ports along the coastline.

To cater to the needs of the varied coastal activities such as fishing, mariculture, defence, tourism, ports and others, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India developed an integrated high resolution ocean forecasting system for Madagascar through Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad and Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early-warning Systems (RIMES), Thailand. The forecast is available to the users three days in advance at 3-6 hour temporal resolution for the parameters - winds, waves (wind waves and swell waves), currents, sea surface temperature, Mixed Layer Depth (MLD) and Depth of 20 deg. centigrade isotherm (D20) in map and numerical data form for the region. These forecasts are updated daily on operational basis. In addition, location specific forecast products are available for a few prime locations; at 10, 20 and 50 km away from the shoreline.

Further, High Wave Alerts would be issued during situations when the waves are likely to be high, close to the shoreline. Development of Standard Operating Procedure for providing High Wave Alerts, tidal flooding and wave surge warning is in progress for the region.