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