GIS is key to a New Paradigm for Ocean Research and Technology

[DrewStephens]

By Guy Noll and Drew Stephens

It once was, that the shipper signed a contract with the skipper, and a ship set to sea. In normal outcomes, she came to port with intact cargo and new information about the route, the weather, and improvements in other ports. Cargo was off-loaded, the ship was paid, and in the case of exploration voyages, this cargo included samples and notes from the voyage that would require months or years of compilation for final release. The current paradigm for science and commercial maritime operations is that bandwidth is the bottleneck governing the movement of large, unprocessed, or real-time data to shore. Once ashore, the science content is picked-up by various ubiquitous terrestrial systems for further processing and management, and prepared for release via delivery of multiple information products, such as research papers, environmental assessments, and further grant proposals. In a sense, any type of mission; science, defense, survey, or cargo could be fit to this old paradigm of ship-to-shore modality.

The new paradigm focuses on our ability to efficiently conduct ocean science, monitor vessel safety, and ensure the timely delivery of cargo through telepresence and IoT enabled infrastructure. Modalities are being connected to decrease transfer and processing time of cargo and data. To be clear, IoT and other connectivity technologies are only part of the new paradigm, as data enablement and information integration for oceanographic content has also become a significant focus. We now regularly see data collection and enablement examples set by NOAA’s Okeanos Explorer, Schmidt Ocean’s R/V Falkor, and Ocean Exploration Trust’s R/V Nautilus, all brilliantly allowing us to explore the oceans with them in real-time HD video online, if we know where to look. How we efficiently store, extract, analyze and deliver these data collections as useful Information Products for a variety of stakeholders is the real challenge. The commercial marketplace is beginning to experience this positive disruption.

As new sensors and more efficient transmission systems are installed at sea, new vessels are streaming data in near real-time to scientists and practitioners anywhere. Demian Bailey, Project Manager for the National Science Foundation-funded Regional Class Research Vessel initiative at Oregon State University, speaks of this concept in terms of “Ships as satellites… a new form of connectivity to shore”, calling it “data presence.”

Accepting that satellites and certain radio frequencies can carry the data transmission load, soon to be followed by less-expensive fixed and drone-based relays, we at Esri are focused on the two following areas; Marine Data Cyber Infrastructure (Big Data) requirements, and building-out the Web GIS applications to deliver rapidly-configured and real-time Information Products. These Information Products include everything from instant ENC Chart updates, to real-time sea-state and weather modeling, as well as ship instrumentation and systems monitoring for the coming reality of pilotless shipping. The modalities are linked well before the ship arrives; fueling and waste requirements are known, as well as container, trucking, and other information. The foundation of our technological approach starts with open standards and web-enablement for systems integration, and we foresee the workflow leading to automated navigation, real-time water column visualization, condition-based maintenance of equipment, more efficient shipping risk pricing, and more.

Three key forces are driving these fundamental changes. First, new marine hardware, robotics and sensor technology abound, with a range of vehicle and deployment options, assuring anything that can be measured, will be measured. Secondly, from the human dimension, we are experiencing new awareness of the Blue Economy, fostering strong collaboration across commercial, academic, and government ocean and maritime sectors. Lastly, we are now in an era of Web GIS, where these data can be sourced real-time, and integrated with other open cloud data in ways that allow us to automatically configure visualization into apps that leverage artificial intelligence to sort through Big Data. We continue to build an application and partner framework to discover and use spatial and temporal patterns that human eyes and thinking may not detect. The combination of these forces is positively affecting innovation in data collection, analysis, availability, and usability.

Powerful monitoring and modeling across 3D and multi-dimensional space creates opportunities for insight and collaboration to solve problems using transdisciplinary teams. Examples of how this may manifest in the near future include; Port Authority harbormasters and reinsurers, making navigation decisions less risky, seafood suppliers and shippers, ensuring safety of the food supply, environmental domain monitors and developers, building better coastal installations with shorter permit times, and hydrologic forecast offices and scientific research institutions performing insightful science in the complex estuaries of the world.

Our partner Earth Analytic is successfully deploying working examples of these technologies in the mapping and surveying practices along with Kongsberg Maritime. We hope you come visit us in the Ocean ICT section at Oceanology International to find out more about how your work can be enabled through ArcGIS.

Thanks to our partner CPC for the opportunity to photograph R/V Baseline Explorer!