Marine Ecosystems Research Department - jamstec japan agency ...

Japan Marine Science and Technology Center
Research Activities
Computer and Information Department
Policy for Research and Development
The Computer and Information Department promotes various research and development programs aimed at
advancing computer technologies applicable to marine phenomena. These programs include database development
of various observed data, research support for development of numerical models and others for supercomputers,
visualization technologies of the results of numerical simulations, development of innovating computation methods,
and surveys on computer utilization environment.
In fiscal we continued our work on the program "Establishment of a Deep Sea Image Distribution System
on JGN (Joint Research)". We also used the supercomputer to examine parallel computation, e.g., computation of
underwater acoustic propagation.
Outline of Research and Development Themes
(1) Establishment of a Deep Sea Image Distribution
System on JGN (Joint Research)
JAMSTEC has accumulated massive volumes of
image data from marine surveys and research carried
out using manned research submersibles, e.g.,
SHINKAI , and remotely operated vehicles. The
Global Oceanographic Data Center (GODAC) in
Nago, Okinawa is responsible for digitalizing, indexing,
storing and disseminating these image data. This
enormous mission requires a high-speed network to
transmit high-definition images and videos between
GODAC and Yokohama Institute for Earth Sciences.
Initially we built a Mbps circuit test environment
using the JGN (Japan Gigabit Network; super-highspeed
optical fiber transmission and broadcasting network).
We later planned to increase this circuit to
Mbps. This fiscal year we encoded and indexed
deep-sea images, and enabled the public to access a
section of these images on a trial basis from the earth
environment portal Web (http://www.godac.jp/) using
RealVideo streaming. In November we increased
the circuit capacity to Mbps for JGN event use,
and carried out high-definition image transmission
tests. These tests were conducted concurrently with
tests for transmitting high-definition images from the
super-high-definition camera fitted on the ROV
HYPER-DOLPHIN via satellite to the National
Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. The
success of our tests confirmed that JGN is effective for
transmitting high-definition images.
Manned research submersible
Deep-sea
images
Yokohama Institute for
Earth Sciences
Indexing
Digitizing
Transfer of
high-definition video
JGN
Global Oceanographic
Data Center
Global information collection
Digital archiving
Provision of global information
over the Web
Public use of facilities
Check by researchers of information attached to images
Dissemination to users
Open access through the internet and
the Nago regional intranet
Fig. 1 Overview of the system
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