A portable marine geophysical data access and management system

Abstract

The marine Geophysical Data Access and Management System (GPDAMS) is a portable software system designed for computerized storage, selective retrieval and management of marine geophysical data. It constitutes an integral part of the larger Geophysical Oracle Database Management System (GPODMS) that is residing on UNIX True 64 Compaq Alpha server. GPODMS is a stable Oracle database system for long-term storage and systematic management of geophysical data and information of various disciplines. The Indian Oceanographic Data Centre (IODC) of the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) has archived 1,356,833 records (fixes) of marine geophysical data pertaining to 58 scientific cruises in GPODMS database. This dataset is of 190,690 line-km profile data and includes different marine geophysical parameters like bathymetry (corrected depths), magnetic (total magnetic field and magnetic anomaly) and gravity (observed gravity, Eotvos correction, free-air, Bouger anomalies, etc.). For the purpose of portability, geophysical data have been migrated to GPDAMS Microsoft Access-based database on compact disk. GPDAMS consists of both indigenously collected and international geophysical database, and management and presentation software modules to run on Windows PC. GPDAMS consists of four modules, namely data import module, query builder or search module, data visualization and download module, and data management (administration) module. GPDAMS is a complete marine geophysical data management system that provides user-friendly access to large volume of marine geophysical data and means to visualize and extract selected data according to need. The software requires a minimum of computing expertise as it is controlled by a system of 'pull-down' menus, backed up by a context-sensitive help system.