From May 16th to 18th, the 4th National Marine Technology Conference was held at the Zhoushan Campus of Zhejiang University. More than 600 experts and scholars from the field of marine technology across the country gathered together to discuss the future development trends and new research directions of marine technology. This conference also aimed to display and promote the latest achievements in the field of marine technology, and to further promote the development of China's marine technology. As one of the co-organizers of this conference, the SOED State Council participated in the conference and focused on promoting the laboratory's two characteristic platforms - the SatCO2 platform and the Argo platform. Sun Nan and Gao Shumin of the laboratory served as booth commentators.
The full name of the SatCO2 platform is "Ocean Remote Sensing Online Analysis Platform SatCO2". It was jointly developed by the SOED State Council and Zhejiang University. It was originally called "Ocean Carbon Cycle Remote Sensing Monitoring and Analysis System". It is a free distribution to the public and is based on remote sensing data, which is a three-dimensional sphere visualization platform that can achieve online acquisition, processing and visual analysis of multi-source data. This exhibition is the fourth exhibition tour ever since the platform was released.
The Argo platform was invested and constructed by the China Argo Real-time Data Center and has lasted for 20 years. It is responsible for the deployment of China's Argo buoys, the reception and processing of real-time data, the research and development of data quality control technology/methods. The rapid reporting to project undertaking units and relevant departments provide Argo data and promptly reflect the achievements of Chinese scientists in Argo data application research.
As the first free distribution ocean remote sensing data platform in China, SatCO2 has attracted the attention of many domestic and foreign scholars. At the exhibition, Sun Nan from the SOED National Heavy Industry Department introduced the main features and functions of the SatCO2 platform, demonstrated hands-on operation, and distributed software operation manuals in Chinese and English. At this exhibition, many marine technology scholars were very interested in ocean temperature and salinity. They said that underwater robots such as ROV and RUV are more sensitive to parameters such as temperature, salt and depth, and discussed the parameters related to the sea surface and profile observed by remote sensing technology. Engineers in the field of marine engineering construction understand the ocean geostrophic flow field and wind field data distribution through the platform. Some participants also expressed the hope that more geophysical parameters could be added in the future, such as the distribution of the earth's magnetic field and gravity field near the coast of China and the western Pacific.
Gao Shumin from China Argo Real-time Data Center introduced the Argo Center's data reception and decoding, data quality control and the release of the latest version 3.0 global ocean Argo scatter dataset to the participants, and distributed data CDs and Argo promotions. The handbook and Argo data application research collection allowed participants to understand the characteristics of Argo data such as real-time, high quality, and free sharing. During the exhibition, participating representatives believed that Argo floats loaded with chlorophyll, dissolved oxygen and other sensors have promoted research progress in marine biogeochemistry in recent years. Some representatives also said that the implementation of the Argo program has greatly saved the cost of ocean surveys, and its free sharing of Argo data has provided great convenience for basic scientific research.
Ocean satellite remote sensing technology and Argo buoy monitoring technology are the two distinctive research directions and technology brands of SOED. Satellite remote sensing has advantages: the rapid speed, the large-scale synchronization, the high spatial and temporal resolution, and continuous observations of various marine environmental information such as sea surface temperature and biomass. As an automated ocean observation equipment, the Argo profiling buoy drifts freely with ocean currents after being placed in the ocean. It can observe seawater temperature, salinity and various biogeochemical data from sea surface to 2000 meters' depth, and transmit the data back in real time through satellite data centers. At present, satellite remote sensing technology combined with Argo buoys is the most effective means to obtain global ocean observation data simultaneously over a wide range and in real time over a long period of time.
The participation of the two major platforms of the State Council in this exhibition further promotes the free sharing and widespread application of marine remote sensing data and Argo data, making the SatCO2 platform and Argo data well-known to the majority of marine science and technology workers, practitioners in related application fields, college students and the general public. This platform serves as a convenient tool and a useful data source for studying the ocean.
In 2018, the SOED National Security Office hosted the "Advanced Training Course on Marine Ecological Remote Sensing and Profile Buoy Monitoring Technology" (referred to as Sat-Argo Training Course) for the first time, attracting 24 foreign students from 13 countries. The Sat-Argo training course uses practical marine ecological remote sensing and Argo buoy monitoring technology as training content. It aims to promote exchanges and cooperation between China and marine managers and scholars in developing countries in Asia, Africa, South America and other countries, and promote the development of marine ecosystems in developing countries, cultivate talents in the field, and develop multi-form and multi-level pragmatic cooperation on this basis. At the same time, we help developing countries use ocean satellites to monitor coastal water environments, cultivate ocean satellite and Argo buoy data processing and application talents, and share global ocean remote sensing observations and the dividends brought by the global Argo ocean observation network.
