Ocean Contour illuminates oceanographic data interpretation

Boston-based company Ocean Illumination has released a new tool for simplifying oceanographic data interpretation called Ocean Contour.

Ocean Contour software is the product of extensive consultations with members of the oceanographic community, according to Ocean Illumination, able to handle and dissect huge data-sets collected by the oceanographic instruments in a variety of ways.

Robert Craig, Ocean Illumination’s Lead Software Developer, said: “Hand-crafting data processing tool-kits is time consuming and error prone. This program provides a very easy way to process data from acoustic instruments without requiring much knowledge beyond being able to run a computer application.”

The software contains a strong visual component to help simplify data comparisons, while the graphics it produces can be readily exported to create presentations in widely used applications, according to Ocean Illumination, a new company under Nortek Group umbrella.

The first version of the software is designed for use with the Signature series Acoustic Doppler Dual Current Profler (AD2CP) instrumentation from Norway-based engineering company Nortek, but future releases coming in 2017 will support data provided by different types of instruments, including those from other manufacturers.

Also, Ocean Illumination announced plans to expand its offering in coming months, by adding modules for processing turbulence data and tidal analysis.