Monday, March 4, 2002		Article

Making software for marine data
Sumesh Raizada

WHILE watching Discovery or National Geographic TV channels, one wonders how mysteries beneath the vast oceans are unveiled by researchers and sea explorers. These professionals spend hours or even months under sea to discover unknown facts about the marine life, its composition and effect on the earth surface. They study the physical, chemical, biological and geological nature of the seawater as well as seafloor. The study conducted by them has vast application in oil and mineral exploration, weather research, waste disposal and seawater pollution, naval research and tidal power generation. These professionals are known as oceanographers.

Ocean covers three-fourth of our planet earth and has vast geological and biological resources that are useful to us. Considering that most of these resources are still unknown to the mankind, oceanographers play an extremely vital role in finding out these untapped resources and utilising them in our lives. Besides this, oceans have a vast impact on maintaining ecological balance of the earth. Tornadoes, rains, drought and climates are influenced by the physical, chemical and biological composition of the sea. The career in oceanography, though relatively a new field has therefore immense potential throughout the world especially in countries that are situated on seacoast. India with its large coastline offers numerous career opportunities for oceanographers in defence, oil and mineral exploration, seafood and fisheries.

Oceanographers can further be categorised into different fields depending upon their area of specialisation or application. These are physical oceanographer, chemical oceanographer, biological oceanographer, geophysical oceanographer, ocean engineers, marine biologist and geotechnologists. In physical oceanography, professionals study the movement of seawater, its properties like temperature, density, etc. and their effect on the atmosphere. They also study the effect on coastal areas due to change in ocean characteristics like wave motions, tides and current. Chemical oceanographers are those who study the chemical composition of seawater and of various other living and non-living things. They study the effect of pollutants and desalinisation on seawater and also analyse the chemical processes within the sea.

Biological oceanographers are mainly involved in the study of different forms of ocean life. They find out the process of evolution of living beings within the sea, their food, life cycle, and how these plants or sea animals interact with the environment. Geological oceanographers explore the geological nature and structure of the sea floor and study the rocks and other minerals on the sea surface. Marine engineers are those who design specialised equipment and systems for research and exploratory work. These instruments are used for taking research samples, measurement and analysis of data, video or voice communication within sea or between ground station and the research team, etc.

With the extensive application of information technology nowadays, it is almost impossible to think of designing sophisticated marine equipment and conducting research activities without the use of computer-aided hardware as well as software. As a result, oceanographers need to be proficient in IT tools and techniques. Besides, IT experts are employed to assist the oceanographers in conducting measurement and analysis of the marine data. They also design specialised software and hardware equipment for communication and weather research and mineral exploration, etc. Operation and maintenance of GPS or GIS instrument are also done by IT-proficient oceanographers. These equipments are widely used for communication and exploration work especially when the experts are within seawaters, far away from the shores.

Computer modellers are employed in the industry for the design and research activity. They are involved in the assessment of mineral and chemical extraction from the ocean basin, development of technology to eliminate toxic elements from the ocean water, study the effect of gases generated within sea on the climatic conditions. The make use of remote-sensing techniques for collection and transfer of data. Apart from the government agencies and academic institutions, professionals are also employed in IT industry for development of hardware and software products for application in the various streams of oceanography. They make use of robotics and MIS in oceanography.

With the help of computer simulation, the professionals prepare virtual model of tides, ocean currents or tornadoes and study their effect on seacoast and buildings. Some of the software products available nowadays are SICAD and CARIS for GIS, Metaphase for enterprise PLM/PKM/PDM, Staffware for Workflow solutions, ER/X for Virtual Reality, etc. IT companies involved in development of such specialised marine products offers job opportunities for the professionals in design, development and maintenance.

Those desirous of career in oceanography should have interest and inclination towards marine life and willing to stay in ocean water for longer duration, away from family. Some jobs also require sea diving and swimming and thus a pre-requisite for the task. However other marine careers may not require outdoor job, and professionals are required to work in laboratories, understanding and analysing the simulation models.

Though oceanography is an established profession in countries like the USA where huge amount of funds are invested in government as well as private projects, it has picked up in India due to our vast coastline and huge resources potential available within the sea. Department of Ocean Development, Geological Survey of India, National Institute of Oceanography and Indian Meteorological Department are some of the government organisations that provide opportunities for the professionals. Apart from these, advanced research and doctorate projects are offered in number of universities for the postgraduate. industrial enterprises like ONGC, Oil India Ltd., BPL, Reliance Industries, etc. are some of the companies, where oceanographers have lucrative career openings.

To become a successful professional, one must have explorative bend of mind and ability to analyse data on the basis of facts and figures. They must have patience and be disciplined, as the task undertaken may not bring immediate results. Most jobs require teamwork and therefore ability to work in-group is essential. In the USA, highly advanced graduate and postgraduate courses are available for the oceanographers in various universities. In India, IIT offers graduate and postgraduate degree in ocean engineering and naval architecture. Many universities offer ME / M.Tech. courses for the science graduate in marine geophysics and ocean life sciences, etc. Some of these are Andhra University, Vishakapatnam; Annamalai University; Cochin University of Science & Technology; University of Madras, etc. Goa University offers B.Sc. in Marine sciences, while Cochin and Mangalore Universities offer M.Sc.in Marine Geology and ocean life sciences.

National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) in Goa also conducts training programmes for professionals and students from various educational institutions. The Bioinformatics Centre at the NIO, Goa, is engaged in collection and analysis of marine biological information from Indian seas. It also plays a major role in planning and establishing a Local Area Network (NIOLAN) and the Indian National Oceanographic Internet Server (INOIS). This centre has also developed new tools for Computer Aided Taxonomy (CAT) for Marine Biota. IT professionals have vast scope of working and learning in this institute. Some of the leading foreign universities where one can join higher studies are University of Hawaii at Manoa; Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory of Columbia University; School of Oceanography, Oregon State University; Department of Ocean Engineering, University of Rhode Island; Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University; University of Washington, etc.

Ocean science is now progressing fast due to intensive use of Information Technology and also due to the awareness among scientists and enterprises towards its immense potential. As a result demand for oceanographers is increasing substantially throughout the world. In the years ahead, more professionals shall be required for survey charting of coastal waters and boundaries, weather forecasting and maintaining marine data, all with the aid of computer and other communication tools. With the help of marine satellite information system they are able to forecast the possible threat to coastal areas due to storms, locate potential fishery areas and pollution zones and accordingly alert the fishermen or those concerned. Programming professionals shall be required to prepare software products for simulation and analysis of marine data. Those having background in science, mathematics or computers are likely to get majority of the jobs.

Career opportunities shall also be available for professionals in port and harbour authorities, civil engineering firms and with the manufacturers of ocean instrumentation. They can also work as freelancers or consultants on different projects carried out by private or government organisations for research on sea floor deposits, investigation of areas for sea farming and evaluation of energy generation from waves and tides.