The Full Form of NPOL is‍ Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory.

Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) , Kochi is one of the major R&D laboratories of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). It was setup in 1952 as an in-house laboratory of the Indian Navy, then called as Indian Naval Physical Laboratory (INPL), for providing scientific support to the armed services. Later it got re-christened as NPOL after the formation of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under Ministry of Defence in 1958. Today NPOL stands out with great pride for its outstanding achievements and contributions in the areas of SONAR research and development for Navy.

The core competence of NPOL is in the areas of oceanography, electro-acoustic transducers, signal processing and systems engineering. Commencing with Advanced Panoramic Sonar Hull Mounted (APSOH) in 1983, NPOL has delivered several sonar systems, such as Panchendriya, Humsa, Mihir etc. which have been fitted on to submarines, surface ships and airborne platforms of Indian Navy.

Over the years, the institute has established several infrastructure facilities for carrying out Defence R&D activities related to sonar systems.

NPOL/DRDO owns a marine acoustic research vessel named as INS Sagardhwani. It was indigenously built at M/s Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE), Calcutta and commissioned in 1994. The vessel is run and maintained by the Indian Navy for DRDO and based at Southern Naval Command, Kochi.

This ship has got many special facilities for conducting underwater ocean environmental and acoustic experiments both in shallow and deep waters. State-of-the-art equipments are fitted onboard in order to pursue research in ASW oceanography and acoustics. The ship’s laboratories house all relevant scientific equipment to make high resolution oceanographic and acoustics measurements at the sea. The ship can moor oceanographic and acoustic buoys in shallow and deep waters.