One imagines that marine researchers are out at sea in all weathers. But today the oceans are explored with sophisticated technology. Marine researchers often sit in front of a computer – in front of digital models of the ocean.

On and in the fluctuating oceans there are usually devices equipped with sensors. These sensors supply the data from their measurements to powerful computers that can simulate the ocean. The technology used for this is based on extremely powerful supercomputers that are fed with mathematical models and then perform the corresponding calculations. This provides a large amount of data that marine researchers can use their software to perform so-called big-data analyses, i.e. the analysis of a large amount of data.

The oceans, their numerous inhabitants and climate-related problems, are diverse and multifaceted.

That is why interdisciplinary teams are usually used to ask the many different questions and find answers. It is about the stocks of different fish species as well as the contamination with plastic, oil and so on.

The German Climate Computing Centre, for example, has a computer that is on the list of the fastest computers in all of Germany.

A digital atlas of the seas

With the help of such computers, a digital marine atlas is being created, which should provide information about the world, which – although we exploit it – we do not really know yet.