The Department of Meteorology and Oceanography of Andhra University has undertaken three research projects worth ₹1 crore from the Defence Research and Development Organisation and Indian Space Research Organisation.
With the first instalment of funds received from Naval Research Board, DRDO and ISRO, the groundwork pertaining to the new proposals is all set to commence in a few days.
Led by principal investigator of the projects and senior professor of the Department of Meteorology and Oceanography of AU K.V.S.R. Prasad, the new assignments will involve scientists from ISRO and three research fellows from AU.
Prof. Prasad said the socially relevant proposals include forecasting of rip currents, being a precursor of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar ( satellite for ocean studies and identifying the underwater objects by studying the sound propagation losses. “Since rip currents cannot be seen with naked eyes, using satellite images and improved numerical models, forecasting can be done a week ahead,” Prof. Prasad told The Hindu .
Parts of Yarada, Rushikonda, Ramakrishna Beach, Bheemunipatnam, Suryalanka, Perupalem, Bhavanapadu are some of the stretches that have been identified as rip current zones.
“The research will help spot the danger zones much ahead, alert the marine police to take measures and save lives by deploying adequate life guards,” he said.
While the second project focuses on studying ocean applications by using Synthetic Aperture Radar censor to track marine oil spills and detect tanker accidents, the third project concentrates on studying the sound propagation losses to spot the progress of underwater objects of the oceans, analysing the internal wave signatures. Prof. Prasad said the three projects will be completed in the next couple of years and funds for the projects will be released in three instalments.
