Taming the Waves

What cultivable land is to farmers, the sea is to fishermen!

Just as they play a vital role in the sustenance of life in the coastal states

it becomes important to understand the moods of the oceans.

Disasters such as cyclones originate in oceanic regions.

Enrichment of the oceanic knowledge base, for improved forecast of weather and

climate as well as sustainable development of ocean eco systems and coastal

areas therefore become essentials. Wondering what's IT got to do with oceans?

Well, not for too long...

The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS),

a leading body in oceanic studies, has a mission. It wants to provide the best

possible ocean information and advisory services to the society, industry,

government and scientific community through sustained ocean observations and

constant improvement through systematic and focused research. And no wonder, it

is taking the help of IT.

"The convergence of ocean science, ocean observing systems

(both satellite based and in-situ) and information technology is vital to the

realization of this mission," says Prakash Kumar, joint secretary, Ministry

of Earth Sciences, Government of India.

At the Ocean Development ministry, we are responsible for

collecting a large amount of data, says Kumar. "Observations keep flowing

in from space, the institutes' regional offices, etc.," he says.

"All the data that we get has to be archived and kept somewhere," he

adds.

There are very few websites in India which are based on WebJS,

says Kumar. "All software and hardware used to process and manage special

text data are posted on the web. Thanks to IT, we have a state-of-the-art

technology in the department."

Essential Services



The department is essentially involved in three kinds of services, says K
Somasundar, scientist, Ministry of Earth Sciences. Firstly, it plays a crucial

role in sustaining fisheries development plans aimed at increasing fish

production, improving the fishing community, promoting exports and providing

food security, says Somasundar.

"The fishermen community makes use of the information that

we provide them. This information which we received from satellites is

transmitted using IT through 20 electronic display boards placed at essential

points."

Department also helps the fishermen community to identify

potential fishing zones, including the availability type and fish quantity.

There are nearly 6 mn fishermen in the country. The annual fish catch in India

is approximately 3 mn tonnes. Kumar explains that the department's mission is

to make the potential fishing zone advisors as part of the value chain of

fishing community.

On the other hand, Incois is also responsible for the forecast

for the costal states. "Information relating to the state of the ocean

based on winds, waves, swells, and tidal waves is generated and then put on our

website," says Somasundar.

This information updated every three hours is valid upto five

days, he says. This forecast of the ocean state is vital to the shipping sector

and fishery sector for safe travel in the sea. The Navy, offshore industry,

ports and harbors require this information for cost effective and safe

operations, he explains.

Successful forecasting can be done using advance remote sensing

platform, argos that collect information from the oceans and than transmit to

the satellite which in turn is uploaded on the website.

Gearing Up IT Infrastructure



No wonder, maintaining IT infrastructure cannot be ignored. "Our ocean

portal is a crucial link in the chain. It is a dynamic website which is fully

automated; as you send a query you can easily retrieve information," says

Somasundar.

The software, which is now being maintained and continuously

being upgraded by Incois, was developed in collaboration with TCS. "The

website is a single window solution for the entire ocean community," says

Somasunder.

The website is being built in four phases. The first two phases

are already over and the department now is expected to have design availability

for the wireless application protocol enabled information systems.

"Fishermen in near future will receive messages on their mobiles as well.

The department has already conducted some pilot projects in Gujarat. It should

be operational in a year from now," says Somasunder.

Incois's data warehousing and data mining, called the San Raid

Storage System is too being upgraded. "We started with gigabit but now as

the database is increasing tremendously, the department is in the process of

upgrading it," says Somasunder.

As the volume of data further shoots up, in the next couple

years, the department plans to go for terabyte/petabyte storage system, he says.

Urvashi Kaul



urvashik@cybermedia.co.in