INCOIS

Case study

Preventing tsunami disasters on India’s shores

When the Indian Ocean tsunami struck in December 2004, the only warning most people in the region had was the sight of a giant wave heading towards them. Today, a state-of-the-art Tsunami Early Warning Center monitors the Indian Ocean 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with the help of a Barco DLP display system.

INCOIS: providing accurate ocean information
The 2004 tsunami devastated many coastal areas around the northern Indian Ocean and claimed at least 150,000 lives. Soon after the destructive event, the Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences decided to set up a Tsunami Early Warning System. Its role would be to monitor seismic activity and abnormal sea levels, evaluate potentially tsunamigenic waves and disseminate tsunami alerts or warnings to the areas in danger. The System would be installed at INCOIS, the Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services, located at Hyderabad.

INCOIS was looking for an advanced computational and communication infrastructure to enable the smooth reception of real-time data from all sensors, a thorough analysis, processing and visualization of the data, fast generation and dissemination of tsunami-related warnings, etc. One of the components needed was a visualization system to display the data the Center receives from multiple sources.

24/7 reliability
Dr. Shailesh Nayak: “We required a display system that would deliver a clear and sharp image and consistent performance throughout the product life cycle with 200% reliability, 24/7. Additionally, we wanted the display wall to look like a seamless wall, instead of a mere collection of cubes, to make sure we’d get the best possible view.”

After putting out a tender, INCOIS selected Barco as its visualization supplier. The center ordered a system specifically designed for use in a 24/7 mission-critical environment: six 67’’ dual-lamp video wall systems, to be installed in a 3x2 linear set-up. 

A one-shot view
The National Tsunami Early Warning System was inaugurated in October 2007. Barco’s display wall is a crucial system component that monitors the ocean and provides timely tsunami warnings. “Data from multiple sensors is continuously monitored and displayed on the Barco screens, thus providing a clear, one-shot view of all the seismic activities, 24/7. On the basis of the incoming data, model scenarios, etc., we can assess the risk. In case of high risk, a sophisticated warning system swings into action.”