5 ISRO satellites come to rescue flood-hit Kerala

Indian Space Research Organisation is playing a key role in saving lives of perople in rain devastated Kerala with five of its satellites monitoring the catastrophic flood situation and assisting relief work. Earth Observation satellites Oceansat-2, Resourcesat-2 , Cartosat 2 and 2A and INSAT 3DR are sending real-time images to the ground station which helps in assessing the extent of flooding and planning rescue operation.

"We are using the data from these satellites to provide alerts on flooding, areas of inundation during and after rain, and weather forecasts," The ISRO officials said

Instruments deployed in the seas are simultaneously tracking changes in the weather along the west coast. The data of 13 buyos deployed in the Arabian sea are helping scientists in forecasting high waves at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) in Hyderabad . It will also provide wind warnings for up to three days. Six of the buoys have been sending data from locations close to the coast at a depth of 25m-35m including two buoys off the coast of Kozhikode and Kollam. The rest are deployed in the deep sea up to a maximum depth.

Various parameters like wave period, wave direction, and wave height measured through the sensors in the buoys along with data collected from satellites are used to run a forecast model