INCOIS, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), has launched a a web based application Digital Ocean to share information on marine data and forecast services.

Harsh Vardhan, Union Health, Science & Technology, Earth Sciences Minister, inaugurated Digital Ocean, during a Virtual Meeting today, according to a statement.

Indian National Centre for Ocean Information provides ocean information and advisory services to various stakeholders including data based on oceanographic research, advisory services such as fishing zone advisories, ocean state forecast, high wave alerts, tsunami early warnings, storm surge and oil-spill.

It depends upon the oceanographic and marine meteorological data received from a wide variety of in situ and remote sensing ocean observing platforms in real-time established by the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

The Digital Ocean platform (www.do.incois.gov.in) includes a set of applications developed to organise and present heterogeneous oceanographic data by adopting rapid advancements in geospatial technology.

The platform will serve as a one stop-solution for all the data related needs of a wide range of users including research institutions, operational agencies, strategic users, academic community, maritime industry, policy makers and the public. It will play a central role in sustainable management of our oceans and expanding our “Blue Economy” initiatives.

It is a first of its kind platform for ocean data management and contributes to the Digital India programme and is expected to bring a sea change in how the oceanographic data is served for a better understanding of the oceans.