Marine geophysical data management and presentation system

Abstract

The Geophysical Data Management and Presentation System (GPDMPS) constitutes an integral part of the large Geological Oceanographic Database (GODBASE) which is under development at the Indian National Oceanographic Data Centre (INODC) of the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India. GPDMPS is designed for the computerized storage retrieval and presentation of marine geophysical data and information. For the systematic management of geophysical data and information, GPDMPS is subdivided into various databases depending upon disciplines, namely, navigation, bathymetry, magnetics and gravity. The navigational database, which contains inventory level information along with assimilation, search and presentation modules, exists on microcomputer (DCM PS/386 system) whereas the geophysical database resides on a NORSK DATA 570 (ND 570) computer system. GPDMPS is a user friendly software system that (a) processes underway marine geophysical data into a database with a common structured format (b) provides inventory and data retrieval capabilities, and (c) presents information as contour maps, anomaly maps, profiles and 3-D surface topography maps. The principle underlying the GPDMPS is examined and supportive information presentation facilities are described.