Integrated approach for ocean observation systems with development, implementation, training and education

The paper gives a brief account of the essential steps integrated and relevant to ocean observation systems, namely: development of a series of new sensors and measurement techniques, commercialization of the technology, implementation of the technology in more than 100 institutions, training to the end users and finally raising the technology as important part to the syllabus of a few related post graduate courses in university education with the objectives of developing competence among the young generation to undertake related activities confidently. Different types of sensors and observational are available and often times the end users fail to evaluate the suitability of the products matching to the location specific needs at the site. Under such circumstances, many projects requiring measurements in open marine environment are found to fail. In most cases, the details of the failures do not come to surface and hence such failures are repeated. Even though much developments do occur in the basic field of electronics & instrumentation, they do not reflect proportionally in their applied fields, because of the poor interaction and communication with the applied fields. The author describes how he tackled the issue through an integrated approach combining the essential steps harmoniously. The technical contributions are grouped as: Development of a series of sensors-many of which with new design concepts, A series of data integrators for energy related parameters for better analysis of the environment, A series of complex multidisciplinary type data acquisition systems implemented through the commercial firm at many of the prestigious institutions throughout the country, A series of national training courses exposing the theoretical and practical aspects of the technology and finally, Introduction of academic courses comprising the technical matters in university education at PG levels. The technology developed and implemented in different areas of ocean tec- nology consists of more than 50 different types of sensors and their associated observation systems formulated into numerous projects handled by user agencies. These belonged to different applied areas, namely: Underwater observation of otter trawl systems, Performance evaluation of different underwater dynamic systems, Coastal engg. processes & coastal protection, Marine meteorological & environmental observations, Underwater dynamics around oil prospecting ocean platforms, Propagation of tide and its influence on water mobility and water quality in the associated estuaries, Ship-Borne data acquisition systems, EIA related investigations in port & harbor area, Siltation & sediment transportation in river mouths and Model studies of different coastal engg. processes. Attention has been given to keep uniform signal outputs to the different types of sensors, in order to make easy integration for accommodating different types of sensors into complex multi-signal data acquisition systems. The long practical working experience resulted in the identification of two important aspects to be considered during development and implementation, namely: A. Sensors and observation techniques with location specific features matching to particular environment, and B. Resort to custom designed observational techniques, as far as possible, matching to the objectives of the particular projects. The new sensors and large applications have been elevated to academic levels with new courses as: M. Tech. on Ocean Technology in School of Marine Sciences of CUSAT-Cochin, M. Phil. in SNOM - School of Naval Oceanography and Meteorology-Cochin, M. Sc. in Climate Change Studies in KAU-Thrissur, and M.F. Sc. in Post Harvest Technology in Fisheries University-Mumbai and in many other professional training courses, in order to build up capability among the concerned to take up the related problems systematically.