ISRO's EOS-06 Satellite Detects Early Ocean Signatures of an Intensifying El Nino in the Pacific

13 September 2026National

Data from ISRO's EOS-06 (Oceansat-3) has recorded a marked fall in surface chlorophyll-a across the equatorial Pacific Ocean during June 2026, an early marker of weakening marine productivity as El Nino strengthens. The decline coincided with a reversal of surface winds, from the usual east-to-west trade flow to west-to-east. The readings came from two payloads - the Ocean Colour Monitor-3 (OCM-3) and the Scatterometer (SCAT-3). They complement the World Meteorological Organization's July outlook that El Nino would intensify through August-October 2026, a pattern historically linked to a weaker southwest monsoon over India.

Static GK

EOS-06 (Oceansat-3) was launched in November 2022 aboard PSLV-C54 from Sriharikota | El Nino is the warm phase of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and is usually linked to a weaker Indian southwest monsoon | ISRO was founded on 15 August 1969 and is headquartered in Bengaluru

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