Among the Indian Ocean rim countries, India is endowed with a very long coastline of over 7500 km (including Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands). With the Arabian Sea to the west and the Bay of Bengal to the east and the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean to the south, a wide range of marine activities dominate the maritime zone of India.

Prior information on the state of the seas surrounding the Indian subcontinent is vital for the smooth operational activities not only for hose who are venturing out into the sea but also for those at the sea shore. The users can take appropriate informed decisions based on the forecast sea state conditions, saving life and property. There is thus an inherent economic benefit to the users of the ocean state forecast information. The type of activities that takes place along the coastline is also very diverse, varying from traditional fishing to high tech oil exploration. Dotted along the Indian coastline are numerous ports (both major and minor) which have contributed greatly to the economic growth of the country; most of the major ports are located along large coastal cities. For the efficient operation of these ports, one critical factor is information on sea state parameters in the vicinity, like locally generated wind waves, remotely generated swell waves, currents, winds and tides. The entry and exit of the vessels to the port, be it a small fishing boat or a huge oil tanker is governed by these factors and prior knowledge of these parameters will greatly help the operations at the port.

Even offshore port activities like Single Point Mooring operations, which is a loading buoy anchored offshore, that serves as a mooring point and interconnect for large tankers loading or offloading gas or liquid products to the shore based facilities requires accurate sea state information.Another subtle application of sea state forecast information is recreational tourism at the sea side, including the operations of sea planes, recently introduced at some locations along the Indian coastline. Marine activities in the seas around India, is not restricted to port activities alone and ranges from conventional fishing to high-tech oil-natural gas-mineral explorations; transportation of goods, marine research, and defence activities. Further, this information is important during contingencies like search and rescue operations in the sea and oil spills. During cyclones and other extreme situations, based on the forecast information, alerts are issued to the general public as well as the administrators of the coastal stretch under risk so that that the population under threat is relocated to safer places.

Forecasting of oceanographic parameters (both surface and subsurface) at different time scales is thus extremely important for a wide spectrum of users ranging from fishermen to offshore industries. Keeping this in mind, Earth System Science Organisation - Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (ESSO-INCOIS) established the integrated INDian Ocean FOrecasting System (INDOFOS), capable of predicting the surface and subsurface features of the Indian Ocean reasonably well in advance (5 to 7 days presently).