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T. M. Balakrishnan Nair ¹, P. G. Remya ¹, R. Harikumar ¹, K. G. Sandhya ¹, P. Sirisha ¹, K. Srinivas ¹, C. Nagaraju ¹, Arun Nherakkol ¹, B. Krishna Prasad ¹, C. Jeyakumar ¹, K. Kaviyazhahu ¹, N. K. Hithin ¹, Rakhi Kumari ¹, V. Sanil Kumar ², M. Ramesh Kumar ¹, S. S. C. Shenoi ¹, Shailesh Nayak ³

Affiliations
1 Information Services and Ocean Sciences Group, ESSO-Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, 'Ocean Valley', Pragathi Nagar (BO), Nizampet (SO), Hyderabad 500 090, IN
2 CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa 403 004, IN
3 Earth System Science Organization, New Delhi 110 003, IN

Abstract

Wave fields, both measured and forecast during the very severe cyclone Phailin, are discussed in this communication. Waves having maximum height of 13.54 m were recorded at Gopalpur, the landfall point of the cyclone. The forecast and observed significant wave heights matched well at Gopalpur with correlation coefficient of 0.98, RMS e rror of 0.35 m and scatter index of 14%. Forecasts were also validated in the open ocean and found to be reliable (scatter index < 15%). The study also revealed the presence of Southern Ocean swells with a peak period of 20-22 sec hitting Gopalpur coast along with the cyclone-generated waves.

Keywords

Buoys, Phailin, Tropical Cyclone, Swell, Wave Forecast.

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