Update: This story had earlier used an agency photo which inadvertently stated that it is of Bhubaneshwar airport. TOI regrets the error.

CHENNAI: As meteorologists observed a trough of low in the southern Indian Ocean more than a week ago, five Indian satellites kept a constant eye on the system as it brewed into cyclone Fani .As it developed into an " extremely severe cyclone ", the satellites launched by Isro sent data every 15 minutes to the ground station, helping track and forecast its movement and save hundreds of lives.According to IMD , data from satellites Insat-3D, Insat-3DR, Scatsat-1, Oceansat-2 and Megha Tropiques was used to study the intensity, location and cloud cover around Fani. There was a cloud cover around the eye of the storm up to 1000km radius, though the rain clouds were only up to a radius of 100 to 200km. The rest were at a height of around 10,000feet."Satellites play a critical role in forecasting, particularly during cyclones , helping us describe the initial parameters fed into the weather models, closer to the actual atmospheric conditions. This helps us better our forecast," said IMD director general KJ Ramesh.With IMD able to accurately forecast the exact location where the cyclone was to make landfall, officials in Odisha , Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal were able to evacuate more than 11.5 lakh people to safety. One of the main payloads from the satellites used to mark the eye of Fani was the scatterometer onboard Scatsat-1, a polar orbiting miniature satellite, and Oceansat-2, sending data about ocean surface, wind speed and wind direction.