National Institute of Ocean Technology

Technologies and Groups

1. Deep Sea Technology :- The deep oceans have abundant mineral resources like Polymetallic nodules; cobalt rich manganese crust and hydrothermal deposits. Utilising this mineral wealth for the benefit of mankind will be the focus of ocean mining activities in future.Polymetallic nodules have economically valuable metals such as Copper, Cobalt, Nickel and Manganese and are viewed as potential resources for the depleting land resources and increasing demand.


2. Energy and Fresh Water :- In the times when continuous use of non-renewable energy resources is upsetting the ecological balance, the world has started to increasingly focus on renewable energy resources. The energy and fresh water group of National Institute of Ocean Technology, focuses on harnessing energy from the ocean in the form of waves, seawater currents and ocean thermal gradient to generate electricity and desalinate sea water. The mandate of the group is to develop cutting edge technologies which can produce fresh drinkable water and generate electricity from ocean.The large Indian coastline makes it important to harness ocean energy and find suitable technologies onshore and offshore for augmenting depleting water sources through desalination. Development of technologies for Low Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD) using coolant water discharge from thermal power plant and offshore deep sea cold water, wave energy conversion using floating devices such as navigational buoy, marine hydrokinetic turbine development, heat exchangers for LTTD and turbines for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) are the focal areas of research.


3. Ocean Observations :- Under the Ocean Observation Network (OON) programme of ESSO MoES, the Ocean observation systems (OOS) group of NIOT is entrusted with undertaking the activities on moored buoy programme. The OOS group, erstwhile National Data Buoy Programme, was established in 1996, with the objective to operate, maintain and develop moored observational buoy networks and related telecommunication facilities in the Indian seas. Later, OOS has inherited lead responsibility for several important and well-established observational programmes in the northern Indian Ocean. Due to the remoteness of the vast open oceans, there has been a challenge to continuously observe the ocean, which was later harmonized by in-situ and satellite based observations.


4. Vessel Management Cell :- Augmenting Coastal and Oceanic Research capabilities of the country have always been a priority for the Indian Government. With this, NIOT/MoES proudly owns four Research Vessels to enhance research and exploration competencies for the benefit of the country and her citizens in multiple dimensions. Vessel Management Cell [VMC] is an operational wing of NIOT responsible for the operations and technical management of the NIOT fleet of Research Vessels viz. Ocean Research Vessel [ORV] Sagar Nidhi, ORV Sagar Manjusha, Coastal Research Vessel [CRV] Sagar Tara and CRV Sagar Anveshika.


5. Ocean Acoustics :- NIOT has developed expertise in the area of Ocean Acoustics in the last one and half decades and development of acoustic systems for ocean applications, ambient noise measurements in Indian deep and coastal waters and Polar regions, and underwater acoustic systems for source localization and strategic applications have been accomplished successfully. Further extensive data analysis on ocean ambient noise characterization and noise modelling have been carried out. A vector sensor and array has been developed and demonstrated successfully and is being enhanced towards coastal surveillance applications. The group also maintains an NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) accredited Acoustic Test Facility (ATF) for testing and calibration of underwater acoustic transducers.


6. Ocean Structures :- NIOT has been developing several offshore components for various programs like desalination, mining, data buoys etc. These include pipelines/risers, moorings in deep water for small buoys as well as large vessels. The need for developing several offshore components has been felt for most of the projects handled in NIOT. The group addresses such needs. Ocean Structures group provides innovative design solutions through continuous research to cater to the needs of the institute as well as industry in offshore installations.


7. Ocean Electronics :- Ocean Electronics group is focused in developing new ocean observation technologies. The group is involved in the development of profiling floats, Drifter with INSAT Communication, C- profiler, WXCTD, Ocean Glider, Self sustainable profiling systems using Ocean thermal energy and Fish cage ethnologies.


8. Costal Environmental Engineering :- The group functions with a mandate to develop application-oriented technology in ocean (Coastal & Environmental) related areas. The goals of the group are to promote programs consistent with the overall development perspective of the country in the infrastructure sector thereby contributing to the nation building exercise. The group's expertise and specialized facilities in scientific and technological fields cater to specific sponsored research and industrial sector projects by providing technical support and time-bound result-oriented research.


9. Marine Sensors :- Our earth, the blue planet, is covered by 71% of oceans, of which 95% is still unexplored. Our knowledge of the ocean is indeed shockingly limited. Sensing technologies serve as a tool to enhance such oceanic research and exploration. Marine Sensor Systems group at NIOT was established in September 2005 to develop transducers and imaging systems for civilian oceanic applications. The group caters the mandate of NIOT to develop and demonstrate acoustic transducers and systems for underwater applications. During the initial periods, the focus of the group was indigenous development of acoustic transducers. The group has successfully developed indigenous wide band acoustic transmitters and miniaturized high sensitive hydrophone arrays at various frequency ranges. Currently the group is focused on indigenous underwater acoustic imaging program. The group has the capability to design transducers and systems for underwater applications and the group activities have been attracting public sector industries.


10. Marine BioTechnology :- The Ocean is considered as the cradle of life, where life originated 3.5 billion years ago and formed a huge treasure-house of life and resources. Ocean has provided food and resources from time immemorial and has played a pivotal role in shaping cultural, social, and economic evolution of mankind across the globe. The unfathomable leaps made by Science and Technology in the last decade especially in the field of Biotechnology, has further helped in large-scale utilisation of marine resources. The field of ocean science and technology has witnessed steady progress in India and has gathered a lot of momentum recently. The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) is among the premier institutes in the country to develop reliable indigenous technology towards harnessing of marine living resources thorough a.dvanced engineering and biotechnological tools. The research objective of Marine Biotechnology group of NIOT is directed towards four major activities viz. Marine Algal Biotechnology, Marine Microbial Biotechnology and Open Sea Cage Culture