An Indian Earth Station Visibility Aspects for Near Real-Time Tsunami Monitoring

Research on the possibility of detecting a Tsunami event in the Bay of Bengal is being conducted at Jain University, Bangalore, considering the possibility of microwave altimeter configured on a number of small satellites. Tsunami events as cited in the literature are generally triggered by earthquakes with an epicenter located several kilometers below the surface of the earth near the coastal zone. This is manifested as surface waves growing and propagating at a very high-speed ranging from 200 km/hr. to 800 km/hr. In order to monitor these events, which will have a short propagating lifetime, it is necessary to observe them in near real times. Microwave altimeters in the Ku band (12 to 18 GHz) and higher show sensitivity to the ocean waves. A cluster of satellites in space such as constellation can detect these propagating waves if suitably configured in terms of orbit, inclination and number of satellites. The current research studies the feasibility of near real time observation facilitating Tsunami wave monitoring as proposed above. This study considers a large patch of 2000 km × 2000 km on the Bay of Bengal and study examines the feasibility in near real-time to support the expected observation. In order to ensure that the observations meet the expected near real-time observations, two ground stations widely spaced on the eastern coastal Indian region (Tamil Nadu and Orissa). Along with these two ground stations, the existing ISRO ground station in Hyderabad is also considered for this study. The present study confirms that the feasibility of near real-time observations by one or more combinations of ground stations along the Indian coast permitting the observation up to 2000 to 3000 km.