The invention discloses a system for effecting a control strategy in a reactive flow field of a turbulent flow system. The system is configured to analyze flow field properties such as velocity, heat release rate, or mixture fraction of a device during the onset of the oscillatory instability using measures from complex network theory such as betweenness centrality, degree, or closeness. The system identifies critical regions in the flow field responsible for the oscillatory instability. Further, the system also identifies optimal control strategies to avoid the onset of oscillatory instabilities by analyzing the relative strength of various network parameters and thereby controlling oscillatory instabilities which are detrimental to the fluid dynamic system. The disclosed method and system provide for optimization of control of oscillatory instabilities in fluid dynamic systems.