Recognising the imperative to putin place an Early Warning System formitigation of Oceanogenic Disastersthat cause severe threat to nearly 400million of our population that live inthe coastal belt with devastation oflife and property, and further drivenby the national calamity due to theIndian Ocean Tsunami of December26, 2004, the Ministry of EarthSciences (MoES) has taken up theresponsibility of establishing theNational Tsunami Early WarningSystem. The Warning System hasbeen established by MoES as thenodal ministry at a cost of Rs.125Crore in collaboration withDepartment of Science andTechnology (DST), Department ofSpace (DOS) and the Council ofScientific and Industrial Research(CSIR). The National Tsunami EarlyWarning Centre has been set up atINCOIS, Hyderabad.

The Hon. Minister for Science, Tech-

nology and Earth Sciences, Shri. KapilSibal inaugurated the NationalTsunami Early Warning System thathas been set up at the Indian NationalCentre for Ocean InformationServices (INCOIS), Hyderabad onOctober 15, 2007. Hon. Chief Ministerof Andhra Pradesh, Dr. Y. S. RajaSekhar Reddy has graced theoccasion. Dr. P S Goel, Secretary,Ministry of Earth Sciences gavewelcome remarks and spoke aboutTsunami Early Warning System atINCOIS.

The Early Warning Centre receivesreal-time Seismic data from thenational seismic network of the IndiaMeteorological Department (IMD)and other International seismicnetworks. The system detects allearthquake events of more than 6Magnitude occurring in the IndianOcean in less than 20 minutes ofoccurrence. BPRs installed in theDeep Ocean are the key sensors to

confirm the triggering of aTsunami. The NationalInstitute of OceanTechnology (NIOT) hasinstalled 4 BPRs in the Bay

Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre inaugurated

of Bengal and the 2 BPRs in ArabianSea. In addition, NIOT and Survey ofIndia (SOI) have installed 30 TideGauges to monitor the progress oftsunami waves. Integrated Coastaland Marine Area Management(ICMAM) has customised and ran theTsunami Model for 5 historicalearthquakes and predictedinundation areas. The inundatedareas are being overlaid on cadastrallevel maps of 1:5000 scale. Thesecommunity-level inundation mapsare extremely useful for assessing thepopulation and infrastructure at risk.High-Resolution Coastal Topogra-phy data required for modelling isgenerated by the National RemoteSensing Agency (NRSA) using ALTMand Cartosat Data. INCOIS has alsogenerated a large database of modelscenarios for different earthquakesthat are being used for operationaltsunami early warning.

The Hon. Union Minister forScience, Technology and EarthSciences, Shri Kapil SibalInaugurating the Indian TsunamiEarly Warning Centre

Inaugural address by Shri. Kapil Sibal,Hon’ble Minister of Science & Technology &

Earth Sciences

In this issue❑ Inauguration of the

Indian Tsunami EarlyWarning Centre

❑ Standard OperatingProcedure for thetsunami early warning

❑ Dissemination ofTsunami Advisories

❑ Response of the InterimTsunami Warning Centreto the Earthquakes ofSeptember 12, 2007

❑ INCOIS campusdedicated to the Nation Special Issue November 2007 ISSN 0973-9971

The institute main building was designed in the form of a spiral to portray its dynamic and expanding nature. Thedesign is also a recall of the cyclonic circulation generated over the oceans. It has quiet centre manifestedthrough the information processing centre that is primary strength of the institute’s activities. The spiraling characteralso creates a very coherent and compact campus with all the components closely linked around the informationblock and all other blocks around it. The spiraling circulation pattern emanating from the circulated corridorconnects all the other functions of the campus. The internal courtyards offer excellent natural circulation of airas well as shaded quiet ambience. The design recalls all traditional built form in hot arid regions of India whichare manifested around courtyards and are tight and well knit built forms.

A Laboratoryin the Information Block

Library

Board Room in the Conference Block

Auditorium with seating capacity of 175

Amenities Block

Sub-Station

Extensive floor trunking network to avoid open wiring was provided in all areas of the Main Building for Local AreaNetwork (LAN), Data Cable wiring etc. The Main Building is equipped with the lightning arrestor system and lightninginterceptors were installed on Over Head Tank and Sub-Station for protection from the lightning.

Intensive landscaping activities were taken up and an artificial lake is being developed to create a good environment in thecampus. INCOIS has now plans for extension of INCOIS Building, construction of residential quarters, guest house andhostel accommodation.

The total plinth area of the building is about 7600 Sq. mcovering the Main Building, Amenity Building, Sub-Station,Car Parking, Covered Pathway, Amphi-theatre, SecurityBuilding, Sump and Pump House, Over Head Tank andSewage Treatment Plant.

The Main Building houses Information Block, Director andAdministration Block, Library and Tsunami Early WarningCentre Block, Conference Block, Auditorium Block. TheInformation Block comprises various laboratories viz. PFZ,OSF, Ocean Modelling & Argo Data Centre, CoastalOceanography, Web-based Services in addition to a speciallydesigned glass chamber for the High Performance ComputingFacility and Storage Systems. The Amenity Building housesCanteen, Multipurpose Hall, Guest/Transit Rooms, room forBank and First Aid facilities.

Technical services comprises of High Tension Power Supply,Transformers with High Voltage/Low Voltage Switchgears,Diesel Generator Sets, Uninterruptible Power Supply, AirConditioning, Water Supply, Sewage Treatment andRecycling Plant, etc. which included advanced and high endspecifications for further expansion in near future. State-of-the-art Access Control System, Building Management Systemand Fire Safety System and Public Address System are theimportant technical features of the Building. The Fire SafetySystem, Air Conditioning System, Access Control System andPublic Addressing System are connected to the BuildingManagement System. The system facilitates automaticattendance and controlled access to various facilities in theCampus. Video Conferencing facility was also set up atINCOIS which facilitates Video Conferencing with the MoESHead Quarters, NIOT and NCAOR.

Editorial TeamDr. Francis P. A., Shri. M. Nagaraja Kumar, Ms. K. G. Sandhya, Shri. N. Kumar

AdvisorShri. E. Pattabhi Rama Rao

ContactIndian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), P.B.No.21, ‘Ocean Valley’, IDA Jeedimetla P.O., Hyderabad - 500 055, India.

Telephone: +91-40-23895000 Fax: +91-40-23895001 E-mail: editor@incois.gov.in URL: www.incois.gov.inPublished by Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad – 500 055, India

INCOIS Campus

4 Ocean News November 2007

Communication of real-time data from seismic stations,tide gauges and BPR’s to the early warning centre is verycritical for generating timely tsunami warnings. A hostof communication methods are employed for timelyreception of data from the sensors as well as for

dissemination of alerts. Indian Space ResearchOrganisation (ISRO) has made an end-to-endcommunication plan using INSAT. A high level ofredundancy is being built into the communication systemto avoid single point failures.

A State-of-the art technology has been adopted forestablishment of all necessary computational andcommunication infrastructure that enables reception ofreal-time data from all the sensors, analysis of the data,generation and dissemination of tsunami advisoriesfollowing a standard operating procedure. Seismic andsea-level data are continuously monitored in the EarlyWarning Centre using acustomised softwareapplication jointlydeveloped with M/sTata ConsultancyServices (TCS). Thisapplication generatesalarms/alerts in thewarning centrewhenever a pre-set threshold is crossed. Tsunamiwarnings/watches are then generated based on pre-setdecision support rules and disseminated to the concernedauthorities for action, following a Standard OperatingProcedure. The National Early Warning Centre willgenerate and disseminate timely advisories to the ControlRoom of the Ministry of Home Affairs for furtherdissemination to the Public.

Tsunami Early Warning Center at INCOIS

Communication facilities to receive data from seismic stations,tide gauges and BPRs in realtime

Computational facilities at Tsunami Early Warning Centre

Tsunami Early Warning Centre

Communication facilities for Virtual Private Network forDisasterManagement Support (VPN DMS)

Standard Operating Procedure atthe Early Warning Centre

By monitoring the seismic activities in the twotsunamigenic source regions of the Indian Ocean,tsunami warning/alert/watches are generated basedon pre-set decision support rules. These warnings/alerts/watches are then disseminated to the concernedauthorities for action, following a Standard OperatingProcedure (SOP). The criteria for generation ofdifferent types of message bulletins (Warning/Alert/Watch) for a particular region of the coast are to bebased on the available travel time (i.e. time taken bythe tsunami wave to reach the particular coast). Theseare based on the premise that coastal areas fallingwithin 60 minutes travel time from a tsunamigenicearthquake source need to be warned based solely onearthquake information, since enough time will not beavailable for confirmation of water levels from BPRsand Tide Gauges. Those coastal areas falling outsidethe 60 minutes travel time from a tsunamigenicearthquake source could be put under a watch statusand upgraded to a warning only upon confirmationof water-level data. To reduce the rate of false alarmseven in the near source regions, alerts are generatedby analysing the pre-run model scenarios, so that, thewarnings are issued only to those coastal locations thatare at risk.

Response of the Interim Tsunami Warning Centre(ITWC) to the Earthquakes of September 12, 2007

The interim tsunami warning centre, which was operational atINCOIS before setting up of TEWC, once again proved to be effectiveas it responded quickly to a potential tsunamigenic earthquakeoccurred in the Andaman-Sumatra subduction zone at 16.40 hrs on12th September 2007. The magnitude of the earthquake was 8.4. TheITWC team went into action as soon as the centre received theearthquake information. The centre monitored the water levelchanges at different locations using the real-time tide gauge dataand issued the first tsunami information bulletin which containedan ‘alert’ for Andaman and Nicobar islands within 30 minutes afterthe occurrence of the earthquake. The second tsunami informationbulletin issued at 18.28 hrs also contained alert signals for Andamanand Nicobar islands as the observed water level at Padang (60 cm)and Cocos Island (50cm) indicated that a minor tsunami wasgenerated. In the third information bulletin issued at 19.35 hrs thealert for Andaman and Nicobar islands continued and a watch signalwas issued for Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamilnadu. Since thewater level deservating showed only minor variations, later an “allclear bulletin” was issued at 21.15 hrs. The efficiency of the end-to-end system was successfully proved during this event.

Dissemination ofTsunami Advisories

The TEWC will generate anddisseminate timely advisories tothe Control Room of the MHA aswell as the State EmergencyOperations Centres for furtherdissemination to the Public. Asatellite-based virtual privatenetwork for disaster managementsupport (VPN DMS). In addition,messages will also be sent byPhone, Fax, SMS and e-mails toauthorised officials. In case ofconfirmed warnings, the TEWC isbeing equipped with necessaryfacilities to disseminate theadvisories directly to theadministrators, media and publicthrough SMS, e-mail, Fax, etc. Thecyclone warning network of IMDand electronic ocean informationboards of INCOIS which are beingused for Potential Fishing Zone(PFZ) and Ocean State Forecast(OSF) advisories could beeffectively used for disseminationof warnings directly to the public.

Periodic workshops will beorganized for the user communityto familiarize them with the use oftsunami and storm surgeadvisories as well as inundationmaps. Easily understandablepublicity material on earthquake,tsunami and storm surges havebeen prepared and will bedistributed to the general public.DST, DoS and CSIR would givetimely advisories to the MHA todisseminate warnings to thepublic as well as to the stateemergency operations centres. Ared alert relayed by warningsystem requires the citizens andthe administration to be preparedfor evacuation while in the eventof an orange alert theadministration has to remainvigilant.

Hon’ble Union Ministerfor Science, Technologyand Earth Sciences, Shri.Kapil Sibal formallydedicated the IndianNatoinal Centre for OceanInformation Services(INCOIS) to the nation onOctober 15, 2007. Dr. P. S.Goel, Secretary, Ministry ofEarth Sciences and Dr.Shailesh Nayak, Director,INCOIS, were present onthe occasion.

The permanent campus for INCOISwas developed in a 50 acre land(acquired from the Government ofAndhra Pradesh in 1999) atGajularamaram, QuthubullapurMandal, Ranga Reddy District,Hyderabad) with state-of-the-artfacilities and the right ambience foran S&T institution. This campus,named as “Ocean Valley”, has beenconceived with a vision and realizedwithin a short span of two years. The

INCOIS campus dedicatedto the Nation

Hon’ble Union Minister for Science, Technology andEarth Sciences, Shri. Kapil Sibal dedicated the INCOIS

campus to the Nation

construction of the building withstate-of-the-art technical supportfacilities commenced in March 2003with 18 months-schedule for itscommissioning i.e. August 2004.INCOIS started functioning from itspermanent campus from August 19,2004. The Civil Engineering Divisionof the Department of Space (CED/DOS) carried out the projectmanagement of the constructionactivity.

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