eNews

#01 2025

Waves of knowledge: Highlights from the Indian Ocean Predict Workshop in India

Philile Emelda Mvula, Gustav Rautenbach, Nasreen Burgher, Clea Welch and Tallulah Graziani, Egagasini Node, NRF-SAEON

A team from NRF-SAEON’s Egagasini Node attended the Indian Ocean Predict (IOPredict) workshop in Hyderabad, India, in December 2024. The team consisted of SAEON staff and students from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and Nelson Mandela University (NMU).

The five-day workshop was organised by the International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography (ITCOcean) and hosted by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), a Category-2-Centre of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

The Egagasini team at the IOPredict Workshop. From left: Philile Emelda Mvula (PhD Physical Oceanography student from UCT), Gustav Rautenbach (PhD Physical Oceanography student from NMU and mid-level ocean modeller at the Egagasini Node), Nasreen Burgher (PhD Physical Oceanography student from NMU), Clea Welch (MSc Oceanography student from UCT) and Tallulah Graziani (MSc Oceanography student from UCT).

Attendees at the IOPredict workshop held at the Ocean Information Services Campus in Hyderabad, India. This international event brought together experts, early career researchers and students to share new research and ideas in ocean processes, modelling and prediction to address important challenges in ocean sciences and its contribution to the Blue Economy.

Invited talks 

The workshop featured invited talks from leading experts in ocean sciences, offering insights and guidance on critical topics, including:

  • The Importance of Ocean Forecasts and Services: Safeguarding Lives, Ecosystems and Marine Operations (by S.S.C. Shenoi)
  • Major advances in space-based observations for oceanographic research (by R. Sharma)
  • High resolution (~ 1 km) simulations of the Bay of Bengal Circulation (by P.N. Vinayachandran)
  • Status of biogeochemical models for the Indian Ocean: A way forward (by V.V.S.S. Sarma)
  • How predictable is the Indian Ocean up to a decade in advance? (by M.C. Gnanaseelan)

Ocean modelling and data assimilation 

IOPredict provided an opportunity for early career researchers and students to learn various aspects of ocean modelling and data assimilation and their applications. Participants engaged in stimulating discussions, exchanging ideas and expertise and building lasting connections.

Hands-on modelling sessions using the Regional Ocean Modelling System (ROMS) were hosted by Dr B. Rohith from INCOIS. At these sessions, participants would configure and run their own idealised and regional simulations. These sessions further allowed for networking with the participants of the workshop.

Two students from the Egagasini Node, Clea Welch and Tallulah Graziani, presented their current research projects at the workshop. Clea Welch’s research project, Subsurface Manifestation of Marine Heat Waves in the South-West Indian Ocean, uses in-situ measurements and observations to evaluate subsurface heatwaves that are possibly driven by mesoscale eddies.

Clea Welch, an MSc student from SAEON’s Egagasini Node and UCT, presenting her current research project at the IOPredict workshop.

Tallulah Graziani, an MSc Oceanography student from the Egagasini Node and UCT, presenting her current research project at the workshop.

Tallulah Graziani’s research project, Evaluation of the Trends in Temperature in the Tropical Indian Ocean, investigates the increasing sea surface temperature and frequency of warming events and their potential drivers within the Indian Ocean using satellite observations.

The Egagasini team would like to thank NRF-SAEON, the BRICS project, ITCOcean and INCOIS for supporting their travel and participation in the workshop. A special thanks to the staff of ITCOcean and INCOIS for their wonderful hospitality. The team also thoroughly enjoyed their free time in Hyderabad. The accommodation was comfortable, the food spicy yet delicious, and the markets exciting.