Oceansat to provide fishing location data ?

Hyderabad - 13 Sep 2011: Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has said development along the coastal belt should not be at the cost of affecting the livelihood of the poor, particularly of the fishermen community.

Speaking at the inauguration of the ground station to receive data from the OCEANSAT-II satellite at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services on Monday, the chief minister said, "The fishermen are worried about being displaced in the name of development and care should be taken to protect their livelihood." He, however, hailed the launch of the ground station which will benefit the fishermen community in the state.

Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Vilasrao Deshmukh who inaugurated the ground station said, science and technology should be beneficial to common man, otherwise its purpose is defeated.

INCOIS director SSC Shennoi said the Oceansat-II ground station will receive and process data from the Ocean Colour Monitor sensor on-board the satellite. The advisories generated by the INCOIS using the Oceansat-II data 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 p.m which would prove handy for fishermen, since most of them go into the sea in the evening.

The data centre at the ground station will receive raw image of the vast expanse of the land and ocean during each of the two passes the satellite would make over India daily. While one pass would cover the Bay of Bengal, the other would provide data on the Arabian Sea. Shennoi added the INCOIS advisories would help the fishermen make substantial saving on diesel for boats.

ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan said ISRO is going to launch two more satellites in October- the Megha-Tropiques and Saral. The Megha-Tropiques is aimed at precipitation measurement and help in climate research in the tropical regions. SARAL (Satellite for Argos and Altika) will help to study seasonal forecasting, oceanography and climate studies.

source: Indian Express