The Padjadjaran Ocean Data Center (PODC)
The Padjadjaran Ocean Data Center (PODC) at Universitas Padjadjaran serves as a comprehensive online database for marine and climate-related data. This platform collaborates with various Indonesian marine agencies and welcomes data from both institutional and personal research. PODC plays a crucial role in advancing oceanographic research by providing free access to datasets, which include data collected from various marine instruments such as ARHEA devices, ships, autonomous vehicles, and mooring platforms. The centre aims to support research in areas like ocean-atmosphere interactions, marine geology, and water column circulation.
We are also welcome to individual datasets from personal research or other data-related marine activities by the public. Here in PODC, the marine datasets are made freely available to the public. The datasets cover a wide range of parameters collected mainly from the ARHEA Instruments, but also from other platforms such as ocean-going ships, autonomous vehicles, moorings, and other platforms.
https://podc.fpik.unpad.ac.id/
In 2024, Universitas Padjadjaran continued to utilize and advance its ocean monitoring devices, RHEA and ARHEA, as key technologies for real time marine environmental observation. These instruments were deployed to monitor seawater quality, detect pollution levels, map oceanographic parameters, and identify fish presence across coastal and offshore waters. RHEA, which drifts naturally with ocean currents, measures parameters such as temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity, transmitting the collected data via satellite to an integrated ocean data center. ARHEA further enhances monitoring capability with its ability to dive up to 200 meters, enabling observations of deeper water layers including habitats of pelagic species like tuna. Together, the devices strengthen Indonesia’s marine ecosystem monitoring by providing continuous and reliable in situ data that fill critical information gaps. Their operation throughout 2024 supported scientific research, climate-change analysis, marine conservation initiatives, and evidence-based policy planning. Through RHEA and ARHEA, Unpad has contributed significantly to advancing sustainable ocean governance and improving national capacity for marine environmental monitoring.