Ocean research in diverse disciplines is conducted from research vessels and underwater vehicles. Increasingly, value is gained by the use of automatic data collection systems, such as oceanographic buoys and stationary measurement and observation platforms.

Over the last few decades, a significant amount of information about the Ocean has been acquired using aircraft and space vehicles.

Polar ocean research has been and is being conducted from scientific stations erected on the drifting ice pack.

In the “arsenal” of tools for learning about the Ocean, oceanographic research vessels of various sizes and disciplines will continue to be the main research platforms.

The diverse research programmes in physics, chemistry, geology and biology of the Ocean and its resources obtained from these vessels, are supplemented by observations from buoys and fixed platforms, manned submersibles and remote-sensing spacecraft and satellites.

The flow of these continuously-collected data finds its way to central locations where the data are processed, indexed, stored and then used by experts to generate catalogues, databases, etc.

1 Research of thermal and ice regimes of the Ocean from aircraft 2 Rocket sounding of the atmosphere 3 Orbital (satellite) Ocean research systems 4 Meteorological probes 5 Oceanographic platform 6 Data collection and processing centre 7 Hydrographic vessels 8 Deep-sea drilling vessel.  9 Support vessel for deep-diving submersibles 10 Universal research vessels 11 Oceanographic buoy 12 Deep-water trawl and dredge 13 Underwater habitation module

Information provided by HDNO:  http://www.oceansatlas.com/unatlas/about/ContactInfoForHDNO.html