Federal Plan for
Marine Environmental
Prediction
FEDERAL COORDINATOR FOR
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL
PREDICTION
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ^-
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
FISCAL YEAR 1973
■■■■■■
FEDERAL COORDINATOR
Richard E. Hallgren
INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE FOR MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION
Richard E. Hallgren, Chairman
Donald P. Martineau
Department of Commerce
Cdr. Jack E. Geary
Department of Defense
Joseph E. Upson
Department of the Interior
Henry S. Andersen
Department of State
Capt. Rudolph E. Lenczyk
Department of Transportation
Thomas M. Beasley
Atomic Energy Commission
Willis B. Foster
Environmental Protection Agency
Morris Tepper
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Albert P. Crary
National Science Foundation
Dai I W. Brown
Smithsonian Institution
Thomas C. Winter (Observer)
Council on Environmental Quality
Harold S. Bassett (Observer)
Office of Management and Budget
F. Gilman Blake (Observer)
Office of Science and Technology
Robert E. Morrison, Secretary
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, D.C. 20402— Price 75 cents
S*TES O* *
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Peter G. Peterson, Secretary
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
Robert M. White, Administrator
FEDERAL COORDINATOR FOR
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL
PREDICTION
INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE FOR
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL
PREDICTION
Federal Plan for
Marine Environmental
Prediction
FISCAL YEAR 1973
I
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n
WASHINGTON, D.C.
March 1972
PREFACE
This Federal Plan is published to provide the Executive
Branch with a coordinated, overall summary of Marine Environ-
mental Prediction (MAREP) Services and of relevant research
and development programs to improve those Services. Such
Services include monitoring, assessment, and timely predic-
tions of the ocean, its living resources, its pollutants, and the
adjacent overlying atmosphere which affect man's activities,
interests, and well-being; included are forecasts, warnings of
hazardous conditions, and data summaries and studies issued
for the benefit of commerce, navigation, fisheries, offshore
drilling and mining, recreation, defense, and other marine
activities.
On November 7, 1969, the Vice President, as Chairman
of the Marine Science Council, assigned a lead agency role to
the Secretary of Commerce for the coordination and planning
of Federal civil programs in marine observations and predic-
tions. Because of the interactions between programs dedicated
to support civil interests and the marine environmental activi-
ties of the Department of Defense, close liaison is maintained
with that Department to ensure that elements of Defense
activities are included, jointly coordinated, and planned with
the civil MAREP program.
The principal tasks of coordinating Government MAREP
activities and of preparing and maintaining the Federal Plan
are performed by the Interagency Committee for Marine En-
vironmental Prediction. This Committee and its subgroups
conduct systematic reviews of basic and specialized marine
monitoring and prediction techniques and services and of
relevant research in support of MAREP. Long-range specialized
plans in specified areas of MAREP that need improvement and
coordination are also developed under the auspices of the
Committee.
This Plan covers programs for FY 1972 and FY 1973 of
all participating Federal agencies. Data for FY 1973 are those
included in the President's FY 1973 budget.
The first section of the Plan identifies applications for
MAREP services, reviews the activities of the Interagency Com-
mittee for Marine Environmental Prediction, and reflects on
related international MAREP activities. A summary of fiscal
data is also presented. Two sections present the Basic MAREP
Services and the several Specialized Services, identifying con-
templated improvements to these Services in FY 1973. The
final section discusses relevant research programs that will
contribute immediately and in the long term to the improve-
ment of individual MAREP Services. The acronyms used in the
Plan are summarized in a glossary which appears as an
appendix.
-faJUuJ} C.^Jv
Richard E. Hallgren
Federal Coordinator for
Marine Environmental Prediction
in
CONTENTS
Preface ii
Overview l
MAREP applications 2
ICMAREP activities 3
International activities 4
Summary of fiscal data 7
The Basic Marine Environmental Prediction Service 10
Description of the Basic MAREP Service 10
Plans for improvement in the operation
of the Basic MAREP Service 32
Specialized Marine Environmental Prediction Services 34
Marine Environmental Prediction Service
for Maritime Navigation 34
Marine Environmental Prediction Service
for Water Pollution Assessment 36
Marine Environmental Prediction Service
for Living Marine Resources 39
Marine Environmental Prediction Service
for Mineral Exploration 42
Marine Environmental Prediction Service
for National Security 43
Research Relevant to Marine Environmental Prediction 48
Introduction 48
Research for understanding basic marine processes 48
Research for improvement of MAREP functions 69
Appendix. Glossary 79
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U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mendota under
rough-sea conditions on Ocean Station Delta.
VI
Overview
"The oceans represent the last great frontier for
natural resources on our planet. They are, and will
continue to be, essential to communications, secu-
rity, and the well-being of a very substantial por-
tion of the world's population."1
". . . realization of the full potential of the
oceans will require a long-term program of explo-
ration, observations, and study on a worldwide
basis . . ."2
Accordingly, one of our Nation's most urgent
and economically significant scientific needs today
is that of marine environmental prediction
(MAREP).
"Improved understanding of ocean processes
would enhance the protection of life and property
against severe storms and other hazards, would fur-
ther the safety of maritime commerce, would di-
rectly contribute to the development of coastal
areas of the Nation, would benefit the Nation's fish-
eries and mineral extractive industries, and would
contribute to the advancement of a broad range of
scientific disciplines."3
Immediately recognized are the interrelations be-
tween the ocean and the atmosphere. Scientifically,
the oceans and the atmosphere together constitute
a single geophysical system. The long-term behav-
ior of either the atmosphere or the ocean cannot be
understood or predicted without reference to the
other. Recent technological advancements have en-
hanced the potential for data acquisition, data
collection and relay, data processing and product
formulation with electronic computers, and prod-
uct dissemination. It is obvious that both meteorol-
ogy and oceanography must move forward together
— scientifically, technologically, and operationally.
1 U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Subcommittee on International Organizations and Move-
ments, The Oceans: A Challenging New Frontier, 90th
Cong., 2d sess., October 9, 1968, H. Rept. 1957, p. 2R.
2 U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Commerce,
Ocean Exploration. 90th Cong., 2d sess., July 26, 1968,
S. Rept. 1476, p. 3.
3 Ibid., p. 2.
Oceanographers and meteorologists have learned
much about the physical, chemical, and biological
properties and processes of the ocean and the adja-
cent overlying atmosphere, their interactions, and
their dynamic behavior. There have been techno-
logical advances in acquiring, transmitting, process-
ing, and disseminating marine environmental infor-
mation and in formulating better mathematical
models and prediction methods. Nevertheless,
MAREP has had difficulty keeping pace with the
increasing need for services by the national secu-
rity, maritime industry, commerce, and other ma-
rine-related economic activities. Basically, ocean
monitoring and prediction are identified as impor-
tant areas in which action should be taken. This
Federal Plan is intended to provide a continuing
mechanism to identify public needs and user re-
quirements for prediction products and services, to
formulate through joint activities the agencies' pro-
grams required to provide these services, and to
coordinate their implementation at the Federal
Government level.
For this Plan, Marine Environmental Prediction
or MAREP is defined as the monitoring, assessing,
and forecasting of the physical, chemical, biologi-
cal, and hydrodynamic states of the ocean and its
interaction with the overlying atmosphere and the
adjacent terrestrial boundaries. The marine envi-
ronment is broadly interpreted not only to include
the open oceans and sea, but also the Great Lakes
and all air, sea, and land interactions in coastal re-
gions involving marine-related variables.
The growing number of persons concerned with
the oceans both for pleasure and livelihood, the in-
creasing amount of our economy engaged in ma-
rine activities as the Nation looks to the effective
use of the oceans as a source of resources, and the
full spectrum of national defense operations have
an expressed need for accurate and timely MAREP
Services. The areal extent of the need for such
Services includes the coastlines from Maine to
Texas and from California to Alaska where 80 per-
cent or more of our marine activities take place.
the Great Lakes where over 50 percent of our in-
land waterborne commerce occurs, and the open
seas where a very considerable amount of U.S. in-
terests are vested in marine transportation, com-
merce, oceanic research and exploration, and na-
tional defense operations.
The steady increase in these areas of marine
activity vividly demonstrates the increasing need
for effective and improved MAREP Services. To
give a few examples:
• the waterborne commerce increased by approxi-
mately 11 percent in 1970 from 426 to 473 mil-
lion tons.
• the estimated 8.5 million recreation boats are
projected to increase by nearly 50 percent (to 12
million) during the next 10 years.
• the total number of people who make use of wa-
terways and lakes will grow from 43 million to
more than 60 million by 1980.
• the offshore oil and mining industries increased
by 10 percent in 1970, from 525 to 575 million
barrels.
• the commercial fishing industry, with a current
annual harvest of 6.5 million tons, is projected to
increase during the next decade.
• saltwater sport fishermen have increased by over
one million to 9.5 million persons between 1965
and 1970 and spent $1.4 billion on their sport in
1970.
The nature of the benefits extends from the tech-
nological and the scientific through the economic
to the political. Improved data gathering and proc-
essing will increase man's knowledge of the oceans
and atmosphere and of the complex processes that
occur in and at the boundaries of the geophysical
system. Improved and expanded prediction services
can reduce losses of life and property and can in-
crease effectiveness of planning in industry, com-
merce, mariculture, transportation, public utilities,
recreational activities, national defense, and man-
agement of natural resources.
Tangible benefits from environmental prediction
programs are not readily translated into quantita-
tive terms. The number of lives saved from drown-
ing would be most difficult to estimate. Total costs
for ship-operating time range from a few hundred
to one thousand dollars per hour. Predictions of
waves, currents, or winds can enable ship operators
to select a least-time-track, effecting savings of sev-
eral hours along a coastal route or up to one or
more days on transoceanic routes. Similar predic-
tion services for fisheries operations can assist in
preventing the loss of many thousands of dollars
worth of fishing gear, in increasing the effectiveness
of ship-operating time, and in helping the saving of
lives. Prediction services for operators of recrea-
tional facilities and equipment in the marine envi-
ronment can allow for an avoidance of hazardous
conditions to personnel and equipment and, in fact,
can prevent the loss of lives by controlling the use
of such facilities whenever hazardous conditions are
forecast. Prediction services for offshore mining
and similar operations can provide the operators
with a means to anticipate and to prepare for dam-
aging and hazardous weather and sea conditions in
sufficient time to curtail operations and to avoid
placing lives in jeopardy. Monitoring and predic-
tion of the pollution and state of degradation of
marine waters is essential in view of present, im-
pending, and long-range threats to marine ecosys-
tems, to living marine resources, to esthetic and
recreational values of the marine environment, and
to man's ultimate survival.
Principal goals of the Federal effort in MAREP
are:
□ Provide an integrated program for marine pre-
diction and information services, including
timely warnings of hazardous environmental
conditions — both natural and manmade — on
the high seas, in coastal waters, and on the
Great Lakes for the protection of life and prop-
erty.
□ Develop an integrated environmental monitor-
ing system that will satisfy effectively the needs
for physical, chemical, biological, and certain
geological data from oceanic and contiguous re^
gions to support service-oriented programs and
to facilitate effective control of environmental
pollution.
□ Provide assessments and predictions of the dis-
tribution and abundance of the living marine
resources that are of principal importance to
the United States.
MAREP APPLICATIONS
The accompanying table summarizes, in matrix
display, the wide range of prediction products and
services as they relate to the needs of various user
groups. These are products and services that are or
might be provided by the Federal Government.
The table identifies the user groups that will apply
the prediction variables; subsequent columns iden-
tify the variables for which predictions are re-
quired. These variables fall into two groupings —
oceanic variables and those atmospheric variables
above the sea surface which are integral to the ma-
rine environment and are interactive with the
oceanic variables at or below the sea surface.
MAREP PRODUCTS AND SERVICES-AS RELATED TO THE NEEDS OF VARIOUS USER GROUPS
Ocean shipping
Coastal and
lake shipping
Fishing
Predic
Recreational
activities
tion Product Appl
Offshore
operations
cation
Pollution
management
Defense
operations
Nearshore and
estuary activity
Research and
development
o
1
Surface wind
Air temperature
Visibility
Humidity
Ice conditions
Precipitation
o
o
u
<X
o
.in. Him' flushing rate
Beach erosion
Wind waves
Swell
Tide height
Surf
Storm surge
Tsunamis
Seiches
Internal waves
Ocean currents
Tidal currents
Sea temperature
Salinity
Ice conditions
Biological variables
Chemical variables
Turbidity
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■■■■■■■a
■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■
Present demand product,
presently available.
Present demand product,
limited availability.
Present or future demand product,
presently unavailable.
ICMAREP ACTIVITIES
The magnitude of Federal responsibilities for
prediction products and services and for relevant
research and technology development reflects
action needed in response to a wide range of cur-
rent and potential user applications in Marine En-
vironmental Prediction (MAREP). The Depart-
ments of Commerce, Defense, the Interior, State,
and Transportation, the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), the Atomic Energy Commission
(AEC), the National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration (NASA), the National Science Foun-
dation (NSF), and the Smithsonian Institution ei-
ther conduct or fund efforts in or related to
MAREP, and efforts are generally integral ele-
ments of programs being conducted in fulfillment
of the respective agency missions.
The Interagency Committee for Marine Envi-
ronmental Prediction (ICMAREP) was formed in
1970 to aid in planning effective MAREP Services,
to prevent unnecessary overlapping of products and
services, and to promote advanced MAREP Sen-
ices and relevant research. The Federal agencies
mentioned above comprise the membership of
ICMAREP.
To define MAREP Services further, it was
deemed necessary by ICMAREP members to assign
definitive MAREP problems to subcommittees with
appropriately appointed representation from each
Federal agency. In recognition of the need for var-
ious planning efforts, the following ICMAREP
subcommittees were formed:
□ Subcommittee on Marine Environmental Base-
lines and Monitoring.
□ Subcommittee on the Integrated Global Ocean
Station System (IGOSS) ; IGOSS is a United
Nations (UN) program and is, in many ways,
an international counterpart of MAREP.
□ Subgroup on Buoys.
□ Task Group for MAREP Techniques Develop-
ment.
n Task Group for Collection, Exchange, and Dis-
semination of Real-time MAREP Data.
The permanent Subcommittee on Marine Envi-
ronmental Baselines and Monitoring was estab-
lished in 1971. The objectives and responsibilities
of this Subcommittee include reviewing and pro-
viding recommendations on studies and proposals
prepared by agency, national, and international or-
ganizations that relate to marine environmental
baselines and monitoring; developing those parts of
the annual Federal Plan for MAREP which are
applicable to the Subcommittee; and preparing for
ICMAREP the proposed U.S. position papers for
international meetings scheduled to consider items
on marine baselines and monitoring.
The accompanying diagram illustrates the
agency membership on the ICMAREP parent
committee and its subcommittees and groups.
Currently, four specialized Federal Plans are
being developed under the auspices of the IC-
MAREP:
• A "Plan for Improvement of Marine Environ-
mental Prediction Techniques."
• A "Plan for Collection, Exchange, and Dissemi-
nation of Data in Real-time for Support of Ma-
rine Environmental Prediction."
• A "Plan for Marine Environmental Baselines and
Monitoring."
• A "Plan for Environmental Data Buoys."
The various subcommittees and groups have
been charged with the responsibility for preparing
these Plans.
Aside from coordinating the activities of the
ICMAREP subcommittees and groups, the parent
committee has also been involved in other tasks.
An Ad Hoc Committee on Biological Requirements
developed a report which highlighted potential
MAREP resolution for biological research, fishery
oceanography, and marine resources programs.
ICMAREP is the interagency organization for
monitoring the International Field Year for the
Great Lakes (IFYGL). This is a joint United
States-Canadian program to study water quality
and water quantity in Lake Ontario during 1972.
ICMAREP has agreed on an annual basis to as-
sist the U.S. Coast Guard in the assembly of re-
ORGANIZATION OF THE ICMAREP,
SHOWING AGENCY MEMBERSHIP
AND SUBCOMMITTEES
Federal
Cordinator
ICMAREP
Chairman
Executive
Secretary
COMMERCE
DEFENSE
INTERIOR
STATE
TRANSPORTATION
AEC
EPA
NASA
NSF
SMITHSONIAN
.
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(Observer)
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(Observer)
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(Observer)
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SC/M8M
SC/ IGOSS
SG/B
TG/MTO
TG/CED
quirements for logistic support to data buoy pro-
jects.
An international project, the IGOSS Pilot Pro-
ject for Collection, Exchange, and Evaluation of
Bathythermograph Data, began in early 1972. The
ICMAREP Subcommittee on IGOSS has been
actively involved in giving aid to the preparation of
an international operations plan and in coordinat-
ing the U.S. participation in the Pilot Project.
To reflect the association of Federal activities
with comparable international activities, a brief de-
scription of the latter is also included.
INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES
Because man's physical environment respects no
national boundaries, the problem of environmental
prediction cannot be solved effectively along nar-
row national or regional lines. Many ocean prob-
lems require international cooperation.
Monitoring of marine pollutants and the effects
of pollutants on the marine environment are sub-
jects of considerable current interest to the interna-
tional community. An international joint Group of
Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Pollu-
tion (GESAMP) , sponsored by specialized agencies
of the UN, was established in 1969 to provide
advice on the scientific and technical aspects of ma-
rine pollution problems and to develop proposals
for cooperative programs of action with respect to
pollution monitoring and control. In addition,
other groups have focused on monitoring and as-
sessment requirements for pollution :
• A Technical Conference on Marine Pollution
and its Effects on Living Resources and Fishing,
convened in December 1970 by the UN Food
and Agriculture Organization, adopted several
resolutions directed toward improved interna-
tional cooperation in monitoring techniques and
urged increased efforts in pollution reesarch.
• The UN Conference on the Human Environ-
ment, to be held at Stockholm, Sweden, in June
1972, has two working groups — one on Marine
Pollution and the other on Monitoring or Sur-
veillance— developing plans in these areas for
consideration at the Conference.
• The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commis-
sion (IOC), at its 7th Session held in October
and November 1971, resolved to establish an in-
ternational program, Global Investigation of Pol-
lution in the Marine Environment (GIPME), as
a major project of the International Decade of
Ocean Exploration (IDOE).
It is generally acknowledged that global oceanic
monitoring will evolve from a series of regional net-
works which themselves will develop from national
systems. Because pollution problems are generally
multidisciplinary — physical, chemical, and in part
biological — the need for close cooperation between
specialized agencies of the UN has been empha-
sized. The major UN-sponsored international ma-
rine monitoring and prediction program is the In-
tegrated Global Ocean Station System (IGOSS)
which was initiated by IOC.4 The IGOSS program
is viewed as the international counterpart of the
Marine Environmental Prediction (MAREP)
Services of the United States. Appropriate elements
of the MAREP program constitute the principal
contributions by the United States to the IGOSS
program.
The purpose of IGOSS is to bring together var-
ious national environmental monitoring and pre-
' IOC Resolution V-20, adopted in September 1967.
diction systems in a responsive dynamic worldwide
system for measuring or observing the marine envi-
ronment; for collecting, processing, and communi-
cating the data; and for providing or disseminating
to marine interests a variety of operational prod-
ucts for their use. This service-oriented program
concentrates on the marine environment, although
it is being planned and developed in close conjunc-
tion with the World Weather Watch program of
the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The IGOSS program was established to meet the
growing need for oceanic data on a global scale by
groups in forecasting services, research, engineer-
ing, navigation, commerce, and fisheries. An inter-
national committee, made up of the Member States
most active in the field, was established to plan and
to coordinate the development of the IGOSS pro-
gram, both within IOC and jointly with WMO
and other interested international organizations.
A pilot project for the collection, exchange, and
evaluation of selected oceanographic data on an in-
ternational basis was initiated in January 1972.
The project marks a significant milestone in inter-
national oceanographic cooperation under the aegis
of the UN. The project inaugurated the exchange
of bathythermal observations by the high-speed tele-
communications systems that have been set up
under UN agreements. The Global Telecommuni-
cations System of the WMO World Weather
Watch is being used as the principal means for op-
erational data exchange. For a number of years,
the U.S. has cooperated with North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO) countries in ex-
changing oceanographic information vital to the
national security. This exchange program was the
military counterpart and the predecessor to
IGOSS.
Oceanographic research resulting from and con-
tributing to the ongoing development of IGOSS is
identified within the Long-Term and Expanded
Program of Ocean Exploration and Research
(LEPOR), which is being implemented in accord-
ance with UN General Assembly Resolution 2414
(XXIIL of December 17, 1968, and Resolution
2560 (XXIV) of December 13, 1969. Serving as a
stimulus and acceleration phase for LEPOR, the
IDOE also includes oceanographic research of ben-
efit to the development of IGOSS.
There is also the possibility of conducting ocean-
ographic experiments of potential benefit to the de-
velopment of IGOSS in conjunction with the
Global Atmospheric Research Program (GARP^
Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GATEV sponsored
jointly by the International Council of Scientific
Unions (ICSLM and WMO. Problems of occan-at-
mosphere interaction have been identified as part
of LEPOR and work on these problem areas is also
interrelated with GARP.
Several regional investigations are expected to
contribute toward the further development of
IGOSS and MAREP. Among such investigations
are:
• The Cooperative Investigation of the Caribbean
and Adjacent Regions (CICAR) for air-sea in-
teraction studies, current and water mass varia-
tion studies, geological studies, and biological
studies. The organization and implementation of
CICAR was coordinated by IOC.
• The Cooperative Investigation of the Northern
part of the Eastern Central Atlantic (CINECA)
for studies of upwelling phenomena and nutrient
distributions. The organization and implementa-
tion of CINECA is being coordinated by the In-
ternational Council for Exploration of the Sea
(ICES) in cooperation with the Food and Agri-
culture Organization, the WMO, and the IOC.
On the basis of a bilateral agreement, there was
established in 1964 a United States- Japanese Coop-
erative Program in Natural Resources Develop-
ment (UJNR) . Within the UJNR program on ma-
rine science, there is a U.S. and Japanese Panel on
Marine Environmental Observations and Forecast-
ing. Following the initial meeting of the U.S. Panel
with its counterpart in Japan in 1970, the following
recommendations were made : ( 1 ) tocontinue close
coordination of the two Panels; (2) to encourage
the exchange of scientists; (3) to promote the ex-
change of data, technical reports, and other related
information; and (4) to coordinate plans for the
monitoring of large-scale features of the dynamics
of the Pacific Ocean. A second meeting of the
counterpart Panels is being planned for late 1972
in the United States.
Summary of Fiscal Data
The following tables summarize fiscal informa-
tion for programs of the Federal Government asso-
ciated with Marine Environmental Prediction
(MAREP). The funds shown are those used to
provide services and to support relevant research
that has both long- and short-term objectives for
improving services. Information on observations
made from land and marine stations for the unique
purpose of collecting data for the Basic Meteorologi-
cal Service is not included in this Plan, but is re-
ported in the annual Federal Plan for Meteorologi-
cal Services and Supporting Research. The Marine
Meteorological Service, discussed as a Specialized
Meteorological Service in the preceding Plan, is in-
cluded as an integral part of this Plan for
MAREP; appropriate sections contain funding in-
formation for and descriptions of the Marine Me-
teorological Service.
The fiscal information for operations in MAREP
and for relevant research is presented by agency
and by service in the first two tables, "Federal Plan
for Marine Environmental Prediction, by Agency"
and "Federal Plan for Marine Environmental Pre-
diction, by Service"; data for FY 1972 programs
and for planned activities in FY 1973 are included
as proposed in the President's budget. The total
Federal expenditure in MAREP planned for FY
1973 is $211,399,000, with an increase of
$22,375,000 over FY 1972. Most Federal agencies
plan activities at level funding or with modest in-
creases. The largest increases are those of the De-
partment of Commerce.
In the operations area, total MAREP costs for
FY 1973 are expected to be $79,410,000, a net in-
crease of $4,451,000 over FY 1972. The largest
planned increases are those of the Department of
Commerce and are accounted for by expansions
and improvements in marine weather and ocean
forecasting services, in services of the National
Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), in the Ma-
rine Resources Monitoring, Assessment, and Pre-
diction (MARMAP) Program, and in satellite
operations for the acquisition and processing of
oceanic data.
The planned expenditures for FY 1973 research
and development programs relevant to MAREP
FEDERAL PLAN FOR MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION, BY AGENCY
(in thousands of dollars)
Operations
Relevant research
Total
FY72
Commerce 24,182
Defense 30,326
Interior 1,205
Transportation 12,397
AEC
EPA 5,922
NASA
NSF 352
Smithsonian 575
Total 74,959
FY73
Net dif-
ference
FY72
FY73
Net dif-
ference
FY72
25,888
32,207
1,206
12,911
250
625
+ 1,706
+ 1,881
+ 1
+ 514
6,323 + 401
- 102
+ 50
48,339
23,631
1,923
6,898
6,679
3,734
2,212
20,399
250
61,514
25,027
1,966
9,758
6,048
4,384
4,027
18,840
425
+ 13,175
+ 1,396
+ 43
+ 2,860
- 631
+ 650
+ 1,815
- 1,559
+ 175
72,521
53,957
3,128
19,295
6,679
9,656
2,212
20,751
825
FY73
87.402
57,234
3,172
22.669
6,048
10,707
4,027
19.090
1,050
Net dif-
ference
+ 14,881
+ 3,277
+ 44
+ 3.374
- 631
+ 1,051
+ 1,815
- 1.661
+ 225
79,410 +4,451 114,065 131,989 +17,924 189,024 211.399 +22.375
FEDERAL PLAN FOR MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION, BY SERVICE
(in thousands of dollars)
Operations
Relevant research
FY72
FY73
Net dif-
erence
FY72
FY73
Net dif-
erence
FY72
Total
FY73
Netdif-
erence
Basic 27,134
Maritime navigation 2,818
Water pollution assessment 7,956
Living marine resources . . 8,196
Mineral exploration 125
National security 28,730
Total 74,959
29,644
3,082
8,081
7,839
175
30,589
+ 2,510
+ 264
+ 125
- 357
+ 50
+ 1,859
56,795
1,111
26,257
16,200
272
13,430
62,828
1,372
32,350
21,165
462
13,812
+ 6,033
+ 261
+ 6,093
+4,965
+ 190
+ 382
83,929
3,929
34,213
24,396
397
42,160
92,472
4,454
40,431
29,004
637
44,401
+ 8,543
+ 525
+ 6,218
+ 4,608
+ 240
+ 2,241
79,410 +4,451 114,065 131,989 +17,924 189,024 211,399 +22,375
INTERAGENCY FUND TRANSFERS FOR MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION,
Funds trans-
ferred from
Defense
AEC
EPA
NASA
NSF
Total 395
Commerce
BY
(i
Defense
AGENCY, FY 1972
n thousands of dollars)
Funds transferred to
Interior Transpor-
tation
Smith-
sonian
Total
Opera- Re-
tions search
Re-
search
Ooera- Re-
tions search
Opera-
tions
Re-
search
Opera-
tions
Re-
search
Both
..43 12
10
800 '
37 45
43
10
40 2
250 2
120
10
352
57
298
1,100
675
177
245
298
10
300
1,100
. . 352 425
1,027
982
900
47
40
250
482
2,130
2,612
1 NASA supports a Remote Sensing Oceanography (RSOC) Project under Defense management. The research aim of this Project is the
development of civil applications of remote sensing of the marine environment.
2 Smithsonian is a quasi-governmental agency, and funds reported as transfers are acquired through contracts with the private sector of
the Institution.
Services total $131,989,000, showing an increase of
$17,924,000 over FY 1972. The $13,175,000 in-
crease for the Department of Commerce results
from new or expanded efforts in connection with
the International Field Year for the Great Lakes
(IFYGL), the Global Atmospheric Research Pro-
gram (GARP) Atlantic Tropical Experiment
(GATE), the National Data Buoy Project
(NDBP), MARMAP research, and a variety of
projects in physical oceanography. In addition, a
FY 1973 major initiative which involves broad par-
ticipation by a number of National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) components
is the Marine Ecosystem Analysis (MESA) Pro-
gram costing $2,090,000.
The major programs of the Federal agencies
which contribute to the several MAREP Services
listed in the table, "Federal Plan for Marine Envi-
ronmental Prediction, by Service," are discussed,
together with planned improvements, in succeeding
sections of the Plan.
The "Interagency Fund Transfers for Marine
Environmental Prediction, by Agency, FY 1972,"
shows the extent to which some Federal agencies
AGENCY OPERATIONAL COSTS, BY FUNCTION
(in thousands of dollars)
General
Data Communi- Data Information agency
acquisition cations processing dissemination support Total
FY72 FY73 FY72 FY73 FY72 FY73 FY72 FY73 FY72 FY73 FY72 FY73
Commerce 11,307 11,993 1,021 1,037 5,750 6,104 2,770 3,217 3,334 3,537 24,182 25,888
Defense 11,106 12,498 2,651 2,460 4,959 6,426 3,389 3,289 8,121 7,534 30,326 32,207
Interior 1,085' 1,086' 120 120 1,205 1,206
Transportation 10,857 11,193 711 711 127 133 180 337 522 537 12,397 12,911
EPA 2,961 3,158 987 1,055 987 1,055 987 1,055 5,922 6,323
NSF 352 250 352 250
Smithsonian 205 225 310 330 40 45 20 25 575 625
Total 37,621 40,153 5,370 5,263 12,485 14,298 7,366 7,943 12,117 11,753 74,959 79,410
1 The funds listed are about 50 percent of total marine data acquisition costs of the U.S. Geological Survey, the remainder being
provided by States and local agencies through cooperative agreements. These costs include data processing, not identified by the
Survey as a separate function.
AGENCY MANPOWER ENGAGED IN MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL
PREDICTION OPERATIONS, BY FUNCTION
(in man-years)
Data
acquisition
FY72 FY73
Commerce 232 218
Defense 318 301
Interior 200 200
Transportation 1,074 1,086
EPA
Smithsonian 3 4
Total 1,827 1,809
Communi-
cations
Data
processing
Information
dissemination
General
agency
support
Total
FY72 FY73
FY72
FY73
FY72
FY73
FY72
FY73
FY72
FY73
324
341
89
103
106
106
751
768
222 197
361
330
246
220
622
20
559
20
1,769
220
1,607
220
10 10
51
51
9
9
53
53
1,197
1,209
25
30
25
30
50
60
8
10
2
3
3
3
16
20
232
207
769
762
371
365
804
741 4,003 3,884
are making use of each other's capabilities in ar-
ranging for MAREP Services or relevant research
by interagency transfers in FY 1972.
The MAREP products and services are gener-
ated through the operation of a system made up of
four interlocking functions plus a support function.
As treated in this Plan, these five functions are:
data acquisition, communications, data processing,
information dissemination, and general agency sup-
port. These functions are further explained in the
next section under the description of the Basic
MAREP Services; however, a summary of fiscal in-
formation arranged according to functions is also
given in the tables: "Agency Operational Costs, by
Function" and "Agency Manpower Engaged in
Marine Environmental Prediction Operations, bv
Function."
Tables showing agency support of the Basic and
Specialized Services are included in succeeding sec-
tions. In the final section on relevant research,
there is a summary table presenting "Agency Rele-
vant Research Costs, by Function."
The Basic Marine Environmental Prediction
Service
The general public, specialized segments of the
economy, and national defense require marine en-
vironmental monitoring and prediction information
to perform their daily activities effectively and
safely. Many of these needs are fulfilled through
the Basic Marine Environmental Prediction
(MAREP) Service of the United States, which is
intended to meet the needs of the public, to fulfill
those requirements common to two or more user
groups, or to provide the foundation for the Spe-
cialized MAREP Services.
Specialized MAREP Services provide the facili-
ties, products, and distribution mechanism neces-
sary to serve specific user groups. Such Services in-
clude those for maritime navigation, water pollu-
tion assessment, living marine resources, mineral
exploration, and national security; they will be dis-
cussed in succeeding sections of the Plan, while this
section will describe the Basic Service and the con-
templated plans for its improvement.
The Basic Service must be viewed in conjunction
with the Specialized Services to recognize the full
BASIC MARINE
ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION
SERVICE, BY AGENCY
(in thousands of dollars)
Operations
Relevant
research
Total
FY72
FY73
FY72
FY73
FY72
FY73
Commerce
15,105
17,145
27,465
33,042
42,570
50,187
Defense . .
406
450
2,363
2,657
2,769
3,107
Interior . .
1,200
1,200
1,610
1,636
2,810
2,835
Transporta-
tion . . .
9,496
9,974
2,777
2,801
12,272
12,775
AEC
530
530
NASA ....
1,551
3,677
1,551
3,677
NSF
352
250
20,249
18,590
20,601
18,840
Smith-
sonian .
575
625
250
425
825
1,050
Total
27,134 29,644 56,795 62,828 83,929 92,472
10
spectrum of the environmental monitoring and pre-
diction program.
DESCRIPTION OF THE BASIC MAREP
SERVICE
The Basic MAREP Service provides fundamen-
tal observations and forecasts used by interested
members of the general public, governmental agen-
cies, specialized user groups, and many segments of
the economy. This Basic Service also provides many
of the observations, analyses and forecasts, and
communications common to the Specialized Serv-
ices in MAREP. It is recognized that certain
meteorological observations, analysis and forecast
centers, and their communication links, which are
provided primarily for the Basic Meteorological
Service, furnish invaluable support to the Basic and
Specialized MAREP Services.5
The principal observation networks, communica-
tions networks, analysis and forecast centers, and
other facilities of the several Federal agencies
which contribute wholly or in part to the specific
support of the Basic MAREP Service are listed
below :
□ Oceanographic and related meteorological ob-
servations by the Department of Defense, using
naval vessels, research ships, ships of opportu-
nity, and reconnaissance and patrol aircraft.
□ Oceanographic and meteorological observations
by the U.S. Coast Guard, using aircraft, fixed
platforms, and vessels engaged in the Ocean
5 A full description of the Basic and other Specialized
Meteorological Services is contained in The Federal Plan
for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research,
published annually by the Federal Coordinator for
Meteorological Services and Supporting Research. De-
scription of these Basic and Specialized Meteorological
Services and the associated facilities will appear only in-
cidentally in this Plan as they interface with MAREP
Services, except in the case of the Marine Meteorological
Service and tropical cyclone warnings which are integral
parts of MAREP Services.
Station Vessel (OSV) Program, Standard
Monitoring Sections, and other operations.
□ Meteorological and related oceanographic ob-
servations of the Cooperative Merchant-Ship
Observational Program of the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
□ Satellite programs of NOAA and the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) research for the remote sensing of the
marine environment, with eventual extension to
the collection and transmission of data from
in-situ platforms.
□ Tropical region reconnaissance by the coopera-
tive efforts of NOAA, Defense, and the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA).
□ Scheduled Defense and Coast Guard flights
over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to collect
sea-surface temperature and bathythermo-
graphic data from which mean monthly sea-
surface temperature charts and Gulf Stream
charts are produced for distribution.
□ Special procedures activated by the National
East Coast Winter Storms Operations 'Plan
which depend upon the cooperative reconnais-
sance and the surface observation, analysis, and
warning capabilities of NOAA, Defense, FAA,
and the Coast Guard.
□ Tide and tidal current prediction and Great
Lakes water-level monitoring services of
NOAA.
Q The Pacific Tsunami Warning System of
NOAA.
□ Marine data collection and relay by high-speed
circuits and teletypewriter systems operated by
the Departments of Commerce, Defense, and
Transportation.
□ Processing, analysis, and forecast centers for
marine services of NOAA and Defense.
□ Tropical analyses and storm and hurricane
warnings by NOAA and Defense.
□ Dissemination of marine forecasts and warnings
by means of continuous very high frequency/
frequency modulation (VHF/FM) radio
broadcasts of NOAA and those of commercial
facilities.
□ Dissemination of marine forecasts and warnings
by means of Defense and Coast Guard radio fa-
cilities.
□ The Coastal Warning System, a network of vis-
ual displays (flag and light) at locations on
the seacoast, Great Lakes, and inland water-
ways, operated cooperatively by the Depart-
ment of Commerce, Coast Guard, State and
local governments, and private interests.
□ Disaster service for civilian communities, per-
formed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
under its statutory mission of flood preven-
tion, that includes prevention services for re-
ducing the impact of an anticipated disaster
and assistance to the Office of Emergency Pre-
paredness for providing relief to a community
struck by a disaster.
□ Storage and retrieval of marine data and publi-
cation of marine atlases by NOAA, Defense,
and the Smithsonian Oceanographic Sorting
Center (SOSC).
□ Monitoring of streamflow and water quality
in estuaries, in the coastal zone, and in the
Great Lakes by the United States Geological
Survey (USGS), Defense, and NOAA.
□ Hydraulic, hydrologic, and sedimentation study
of the Army Corps of Engineers and USGS and
the flood management services of the Army.
□ Establishment of techniques and secondary ref-
erence standards for the assessment of oceano-
graphic instrument performance and for infor-
mation on performance and on instrument de-
velopment programs by the National Oceano-
graphic Instrumentation Center (NOIC) of
NOAA.
MAREP has been defined as the monitoring, as-
sessing, and forecasting of the physical, selected bi-
ological, chemical, and hydrodynamic states of the
ocean and its interaction with the overlying atmos-
phere and adjacent terrestrial boundaries. It is
therefore treated as a total system, made up of four
interlocking functions (see diagram) and a support
function. In general, the functions involved in the
production of MAREP Services are the following:
□ •Data acquisition — periodically sensing, measur-
ing, or otherwise determining or describing the
state of the ocean and its overlying atmosphere.
Methods of data collection, recording, and pre-
processing; interfaces with communications sys-
tems; and deployment and maintenance of ob-
servational platforms are included.
|~| Communications — transmitting, with minimum
delay, raw data acquired by various sensors to
11
DATA
DATA
DATA
PRODUCT
ACQUISITION
COLLECTION/
PROCESSING
DISSEMINATION
PLATFORMS
COMMUNICATION
TECHNIQUES
FUNCTIONS
MEDIA
SATELLITES
HORIZONTAL-
SOUNDING BALLOOr
__ — ( CABLE )— |
NS ^ '
AIRCRAFT
OCEANOGRAPHIC SHIPS
SHIPS OF OPPORTUNITY
MANNED BUOYS
UNMANNED BUOYS
FIXED PLATFORMS
SUBMERSIBLES
RADIO PAThV
— — ^SATELLITE J—
q
VOICE
PRINTED WORDS
(Alphanumeric)
GRAPHIC
DIGITAL FORMAT
ARCHIVING
a
MAREP systems concept.
the processing centers; processed data from
center to center; and predictions, warnings, and
other information to the user. This function in-
cludes message composition, handling, relaying,
and receipt of data as well as those mainte-
nance tasks directly related to communications
systems.
□ Data processing — correlating the data collected
from the various participating elements and
preparing analyses, assessments, and forecasts
for the marine environmental phenomena. Also
included are related operations such as data
plotting, forecast verification, archiving, and
statistical analyses and summarization.
□ Information dissemination — the delivery of
products and environmental services, involving
output from data processing to the ultimate
users so that users can make operational deci-
sions or conclusions partly on the basis of the
information provided.
] General agency support — activities which agen-
cies must perform, such as training of person-
nel, maintenance of equipment and facilities,
internal support, and management above the
operating level so that the total system can be
operated to provide MAREP Services effec-
tively and efficiently.
Some MAREP Services do not include real-time
forecasts; consequently, all of the functional steps
are not always applicable. A general summary of
Federal programs in the Basic MAREP Service,
presented in terms of each of the functions, follows.
DATA ACQUISITION
Observations for the Basic MAREP Service are
obtained through a number of agency programs,
using a variety of observing platforms and sensors.
The diversity of requirements for the Basic Service
and the variety of sampling or monitoring methods
result in mixed and multi-purpose data-collection
platforms and sensors. These factors, coupled with
the need for standardization and the increase in
definition of optimum-space and time-sampling in-
tervals, are necessary considerations which are rec-
ognized in planning a complex yet responsive ob-
servational network for the Service.
Existing environmental data acquisition tech-
niques partially satisfy requirements for both
oceanic and meteorological information which are
pertinent to MAREP. Measurements of meteorol-
ogical parameters are made by ships, aircraft, satel-
lites, coastal radar, and horizontal balloons and by
radiosonde methods from ships and island stations
as part of the Basic Meteorological Service. The
Basic Meteorological Service provides observations
of the atmosphere and the sea surface that are es-
sential for MAREP, but which are reported in de-
tail in the annual Federal Plan for Meteorological
Services and Supporting Research and in the Fed-
eral Plan for Marine Meteorological Services.
12
These observations are :
• Surface observations from land and oceanic areas
to support broad-scale analyses and forecasts.
• Surface observations from the Cooperative Mer-
chant-Ship Observational Program to supple-
ment data coverage over the oceans.
• Surface observations from the Cooperative
Coastal Observing Network to support detailed
analyses for coastal and offshore areas.
• Upper air observations from land and ocean sta-
tions as fundamental inputs to atmospheric anal-
ysis and prediction.
• Weather radar observations of thunderstorms
Release of radiosonde at sea to obtain upper
air measurements. (National Weather
Service)
and precipitation over the coastal regions of the
United States and observations of tropical
cyclones and dangerous storms over the offshore
areas.
• Weather satellite observations of the earth's
cloud patterns on a daily basis as an aid to locate
and to estimate the intensity of storms and tropi-
cal cyclones, especially in the less frequently trav-
eled portions of the oceans, and of the sea-sur-
face temperature.
13
Seattle
Astoria ♦
♦ Portland
*
Newport
♦ Eureka
Oakland
_♦
® San Francisco
Redwood City
▲ Marine Centers with Meteorological Facilities
O Port Meteorological Officers
♦ Limited Port Meteorological Office
Cleveland
Portland*
Boston ♦
♦Bridgeport
® New York
* Philadelphia
San PedroO * Los Angeles
San Diego#
Beaumont
Houston O **
*
„, Galveston
Christi*
Mobile
Baton Rouge O ♦ Pensaeola
®New Orleans
Lake Charles Tampa#
♦
Baltimore
O Norfolk
♦ Wilmington
♦ Charleston
♦ Savannah
♦ Jacksonville
Ft. Myers '
♦ Brownsville
♦ W Palm Beach
♦ Coral Gables
♦ Key West
Juneau
o
Honolulu
HAWAII
PUERTO RICO
San Juan
♦
CANAL ZONE
o
Cristobal
Shore facilities associated with the Coopera-
tive Merchant-Ship Observational Program
of the National Weather Service.
• Aircraft reconnaissance measurements of the de-
tailed characteristics and locations of tropical
cyclones and of major storms over the oceans to
support accurate, timely warnings to mariners
and coastal occupants.
Also reported in detail in The Federal Plan for
Meteorological Services and Supporting Research
is the information on marine stations tabulated
below, from which surface meteorological data are
obtained.
Satellite observations of large-scale synoptic
weather patterns over oceanic areas add substan-
tially to the forecaster's information on atmospheric
conditions and thus enhance the predictions of
oceanic storms. Pictures of sea-ice coverage are also
useful in preparing information on the character
and distribution of sea-ice fields.
Military users also depend upon the Basic Me-
teorological Service for observational support, but
MARINE SURFACE METEOROLOGICAL
OBSERVATIONS
Number of locations
Agency FY 1972 FY 1973
Department of Commerce (Moving Vessels With
Meteorological Personnel) 15 0
Department of Commerce (Cooperative Merchant-
Ship Observational Program) 1,650 1,650
Department of Transportation (Coast Guard) ... 109 1 101 1
Department of Defense (Ships With Meteorologi-
cal Personnel) 38 38
Department of Defense (Reporting Ships Without
Meteorological Personnel) 550 550
Departments of Commerce and Transportation
(Ocean Stations) 7 6
1 In addition, 163 shore stations support marine meteorological
activities.
14
NMW
IKLB
WBLI
IWCC
WAD l
WMI
NMY»
■ wsc
WSL
NMC«
IKPH
IKFS
* National Marine Fisheries Service
■ Commercial
• Coast Guard
KOKB
• NMQ
WWD*
ALASKA
• NOX .>•»
• N
NMV
MINUS
KLC. "WPA *NMG
• NOY
IWLO
WAX I
<
WOE I
• NMA
■ KQM
NMO
HAWAII
PUERTO RICO
Radio stations which receive environmental
information from ships.
the worldwide scope and frequently more demand-
ing needs of these users require more observational
data than provided by the Basic Meteorological
Service programs. To meet this need for supple-
mental data, the U.S. Navy operates a marine ob-
servational program in which commissioned naval
vessels record and report surface meteorological
data when underway and, under certain conditions,
while in port. Surface observations are made at 6-
hour intervals as an additional duty by nonmeteo-
rological personnel aboard these ships. Antisubma-
rine Warfare (ASW) ships and other selected ships
also report bathythermograph observations at 6-
hour intervals. To fulfill requirements for more
accurate and detailed observations and to perform
other essential functions, meteorological personnel
have been assigned and more sophisticated meteo-
rological equipment have been provided to 38
ships. All of these ships make scheduled surface ob-
servations for synoptic and aviation purposes ; 35 of
them are equipped to make upper air observations.
Defense also obtains data from Navy Oceano-
graphic/ Meteorological Automatic Devices
(NOMAD). These NOMADs are unmanned
buoys, currently undergoing research and explora-
tory development, and are instrumented to observe
and to transmit environmental data from oceanic
areas. Although the Defense marine observational
program is conducted primarily to fulfill military
requirements, observational data are made availa-
ble to other Federal agencies.
The Department of Defense conducts an air-
borne measurement program to collect synoptic
sea-surface temperature data by flying mondily
tracks over the north wall of the Gulf Stream with
an airborne radiation thermometer. In another
program with a cost of $2,756,000 in FY 1972,
oceanographic information — consisting of sea-sur-
15
A Coast Guard survey east of Cape Hatteras on 15
and 16 September and ship reports east of 71°W. at
the end of the month indicated 50km northward
movement of the Gulf Stream edge east of 69°W.
Temperature contrasts at the edge of the stream in
mid-September ranged from 1° to 2°C, but were too
small to delineate the edge south of 33°N. Contrast
along the Slope Front near Cape Cod was 2° to 3°C on
16 September.
A large eddy centered near 39°00'N. 69°30'W. at the
beginning of September moved slowly westward and
was centered near 39°00'N. 70°30'W. at the end of the
month. On 28 and 29 September, the Coast Guard
Oceanographic Unit observed the northern portion of
the eddy along 70°30'W. (A-B). Surface temperature
contrast around the eddy was minimal; however, the
profile shows warm water (greater than 15°C) to nearly
350 meters at the center of the eddy.
face temperatures, bathythermal pronlings, drop-
sonde samplings, and oceanic reconnaissances — was
acquired from weather reconnaissance and patrol
aircraft.
Defense operates the largest subsurface synoptic
oceanographic net, mostly in the Northern Hemi-
sphere; yet, quantities of high-quality synoptic
oceanographic observations are insufficient from
most areas of the oceans. Larger quantities of daily
temperature-depth profile observations are required
to describe and to predict properly the subsurface
thermal features. Selected ships, both commercial
and military, are equipped to make the necessary
Gulf Stream position — September 1971.
(National Oceanographic Office)
observations; some naval aircraft provide the
needed types of observations. During FY 1972, the
Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVOCEANO) op-
erated research ships specifically to acquire subsur-
face oceanographic MAREP data at a cost of
$4,694,000. '
Improvements are being made in instrumenta-
tion to collect high-quality oceanographic data. In
recent years, the Navy has introduced new and
more precise devices — such as Near-Surface Refer-
ence Temperature (NSRT) devices and airborne
and surface expendable bathythermograph equip-
ment— to provide higher quality data. As more
16
naval and civil vessels are equipped and then par-
ticipate in oceanographic programs, data coverage
can be improved. Approximately 70 civil, fishery,
and research ships were equipped with expendable
bathythermographs in the Ships of Opportunity
Program of the Navy as of January 1, 1972, with
10 more being outfitted during Calendar Year
1972.
In FY 1972, a total of $49,000 was spent by the
Army Corps of Engineers for data acquisition in
support of a variety of engineering studies in the
coastal zone. These include observations required
for stream gaging, sedimentation studies, and infor-
mation on the hydroclimatic network.
The Department of Commerce, through the Na-
tional Weather Service (NWS) of NOAA, acquires
atmospheric and sea-surface data which are used
more specifically for MAREP. Appropriations for
these observations amounted to $3,911,000 in FY
1972 and included radar observations over the
ocean from coastal sites, radio relay of ship reports,
and management of the Cooperative Merchant-
Ship Observational Program. Trained personnel
and appropriate equipment are placed aboard
OSVs to provide upper air, surface, and subsurface
observations as synoptic and climatic "anchor
points."
The Experimental Environmental Reporting
Buoy (XERB-1), operated by the National Data
Buoy Center of the National Ocean Survey (NOS1 ,
is moored east of Norfolk, Va. The XERB-1 takes
hourly meteorological and ocean-temperature ob-
servations and transmits these every 3 hours, or
more frequently, upon interrogation from the Shore
Collection Center at Miami, Fla. The XERB-1 has
been used to support the interagency National East
Coast Winter Storms Operations Plan during the
1970-71 and 1971-72 winter seasons; data are also
used during periods of tropical cyclone activity and
will be used to support the National Hurricane
Operations Plan.
The NOS of NOAA operates a continuous con-
1 JULY 1971
Control tide stations. (National Ocean Survey)
17
Recording mechanism of standard tide gage.
(National Ocean Survey)
Great Lakes water-level monitoring stations
(National Ocean Survey)
trol network of 120 tide gages. along the coasts anc
within the major embayments of the United States
Puerto Rico, other U.S. territories and possessions
and the U.S. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
Temporary secondary stations are occupied on ai
intermittent basis to increase the effective coveragi
of the control network, to support hydrographii
operations, and to conduct special studies.
Currents are measured by NOAA at station
along coastal areas and in estuaries to provide in
formation for tidal current predictions ; current sta
tions are also tended in support of estuarine studies
The total data-acquisition costs of NOAA's tid>
and tidal current programs in FY 1972 amountec
to approximately $650,000.
The Coast Guard acquires sea-surface tempera
ture measurements by means of aerial reconnais
sance on a monthly basis off both the Atlantic anc
Pacific coasts, using airborne radiation thermome
ters. Coast Guard icebreakers are also equipped fo
occasional oceanographic operations to providi
access to polar regions for scientific observers fron
many disciplines. In FY 1972, the Coast Guan
18
Flight track of U.S. Coast Guard aircraft on monthly airborne
radiation thermometer flights to determine sea-surface temperature.
19
60°
HUDSON
BAY
50°
CANADA
LABRADOR SEA
y
NEWFOUNDLAND
40°
21
UNITED STATES
H.
30°
BERMUDA
20°
ATLANTIC OCEAN
90 •
60°
80°
70°
60°
50°
40°
30°
45°
BERING SEA
CANADA
30°
U.S.
JAPAN
15°
PACIFIC OCEAN
HAWAII
120°
150°
180°
150°
120°
Ocean Station Vessel (OSV) locations and
tracks for Standard Monitoring Stations.
20
Surface inflow to Great Lakes
measured at about
100 US gaging stations
.
• Estuary which carries more than
9,000 cu. ft. per sec. to the sea.
* Estuary which carries less than
9,000 cu. ft. per sec. to the sea,
but which is the site of a city with
population greater than 100,000.
O Marks estuary where water-quality
data are collected.
January 1972
procured, at a cost of $1,870,000, satellite naviga-
tion equipment for its vessels which collect oceano-
graphic data for water-mass analysis.
Subsurface data were acquired at a cost of
$3,063,000 in FY 1972 by the Coast Guard in
connection with the operation of OSVs and Stand-
ard Monitoring Sections, the locations of which are
identified on an accompanying figure. Four of the
five Atlantic OSVs and one Pacific OSV, operated
by the United States in accordance with interna-
tional agreements, provide continuous time-series
oceanographic data from Nansen and from salini-
ty-temperature-depth (STD) casts. The Coast
Guard disestablished Ocean Station Victor in the
western Pacific Ocean during FY 1972. Standard
Monitoring Sections are taken en route to and
from the OSVs so that vertical profiles can be con-
structed across several regions of major interest.
Data acquisition activities of the Department of
the Interior USGS in marine hydrology and hy-
draulics are limited to the coastal zone. Here the
Survey operates coastal-gaging stations; makes ob-
servations of dissolved mineral and organic constit-
uents; obtains similar background data on water
quality in estuaries, canals, and adjacent natural
channels ; operates tide-gage stations for special
purposes; and monitors the extent and magnitude
of saltwater encroachment at certain localities.
Under the Office of Management and Budget
Major estuaries in conterminous
States where streamflow is gaged
(U.S. Geological Survey)
United
(OMB) Circular A-67, USGS has the responsibil-
ity for coordinating all water-data activities in estu-
aries. Research activities of USGS in the coastal
zone are described later in this Plan under the sec-
tion, Research Relevant to Marine Environmental
Prediction.
As of 1970, the USGS data-collection network
comprised over 600 stations at which fresh water
inflow to estuaries is or could be computed. The
accompanying map shows the major estuaries for
which inflow is gaged. In addition, surface in-
flow to the Great Lakes from the United States is
measured at about 100 stations. Most of the sta-
tions have a record of adequate length (20 to 25
years), but it is estimated that about 50 additional
stations would be needed to define total inflow to
the sea to a degree sufficient for today's needs.
In recent years, efforts have been made to in-
crease substantially the amount of point-data
collection in coastal waters and to initiate studies
into the hydrology and hydrodynamics of typical
estuaries. This data-collection network is largely
multi-purpose, but also supports the Specialized
MAREP Service for Water Pollution Assessment.
Some form of water-quality data is observed at
about 300 stations. Some provide only temperature
and /or sediment concentrations, but at about 250
21
Salinity-temperature-depth (STD) S3
being lowered through the ice from
Coast Guard Cutter Westwind.
22
stations, there are regular observations of tempera-
ture, specific conductance, and the concentrations
of common anions and cations.
The Smithsonian Institution employs marine sci-
entists who are engaged in making collections of
marine organisms throughout the world. In FY
1972, $180,000 was spent for the collection of sam-
ples used in making biological predictions.
COMMUNICATIONS
The Basic MAREP Service depends heavily for
support upon the communication systems of the
Basic Meteorological Service just as it does upon
that Service for observational data. The communi-
cation media shared jointly by these Basic Services
are listed below :
• Teletypewriter networks (Services C and O) op-
erated by FAA.
Radar Report and Warning Coordination Sys-
tem (RAWARC) — a teletypewriter system op-
erated by NOAA.
Teletypewriter and high-speed circuits, both do-
mestic and with overseas terminals, operated by
the Departments of Commerce and Defense.
NOAA Weather Wire Service — a teletypewriter
network to distribute forecasts and warnings to
the press, radio, and television.
Facsimile networks operated by the Departments
of Commerce and Defense.
Continuous VHF/FM radio broadcasts operated
by NOAA. These broadcasts on 162.55 or 162.40
MHz have a range of about 20 to 40 miles; 58
facilities at coastal or inland water locations are
now in operation.
Eight NWS marine radio stations of NOAA in
Alaska. Broadcasts are announced on 2182 kHz,
• Seattle
Portland*
Eugene A
• Eureka
• Sacramento
• San Francisco
AMonterey
\.m
Buffalo
Detroit
Milwaukee •
Chicago*
Sandusky
Erie
Cleveland
Portland*
Boston A
Hartford A Hyannis
• New York
Washington
A
Atlantic City
• Norfolk
OxnardA
Los Angeles*
San Diego <
Lake Charles.
Galveston*
♦ Corpus Christi
• Brownsville
HAWAII
Honolulu*
Mobile* A
• Wilmington
• Charleston
A Savannah
•Jacksonville
Ft Walton Beach
New Orleans
Maui*
Mt. Haleakala
Tampa* AW Palm Beach
• Miami
KEY
A 162.40 MHZ
• 162.55 MHZ
Weather Service Offices providing marine
forecasts by VHF/FM radio. (National Weather Service)
23
but broadcast on 2382 kHz or 2512 kHz ampli-
tude modulation/single sideband (AM/SSB).
• Marine continuous-wave (CW) radio broadcasts
operated by the Navy.
Although these communications media supply a
large measure of the communications support, they
must also be supplemented by specialized civil and
military facilities. There is an increasing reliance
upon available high-speed civil and military com-
puter-to-computer data relay-and-exchange facili-
ties. These facilities include the Defense global au-
tomated environmental data networks. Commerce
operates five international circuits to exchange me-
teorological data between the United States and
Canada, the U.S.S.R., Great Britain, Japan, and
Brazil. These include a Washington-Toronto high-
speed circuit ; a Washington-Moscow circuit for ex-
change of satellite information ; and three other cir-
cuits— Washington-Bracknell, England, Washing-
ton-Tokyo, and Washington-Brasilia — as part of
the World Weather Watch program.
Automatic marine telephone-answering services
are operated by NOAA throughout the year at 40
coastal locations. These are employed to provide
the latest forecasts and warnings for marine users
in their areas. Similar information may be obtained
on request from other NWS coastal offices of
NOAA through listed telephones.
More than 2,000 commercial radio and television
stations broadcast marine weather information sev-
eral times daily without charge to the Federal Gov-
ernment as a public service of considerable benefit
to smallboat operators. Storm warning information
for the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans,
prepared by the NWS of NOAA, is broadcast
hourly over the National Bureau of Standards time-
signal stations WWV and WWVH. Forecasts and
warnings for coastal and offshore areas and the
Great Lakes are also transmitted through 46 Coast
Guard and 47 commercial marine radiotelephone
and radiotelegraph facilities. These stations, though
generally low-powered, serve a broad spectrum of
the maritime community. High-seas forecasts and
warnings are transmitted to merchant ships opera-
ting in the western North Atlantic and eastern and
central North Pacific Oceans by Defense, Coast
Guard, and commercial radiotelegraph and radio-
telephone broadcasts. Graphical analyses and fore-
casts are also made available through Coast Guard
and Navy facsimile transmissions to suitably
equipped merchant ships.
The Department of Transportation (Coast
Guard) cooperates with the Department of Com-
merce (NWS of NOAA) by broadcasting coastal
marine weather information to shipping and other
maritime users. Broadcasts emanate from 46 loca-
tions along the coasts and, although conducted on
a not-to-interfere basis, constitute a major effort by
the facilities concerned. Broadcasts — usually plain-
language voice transmissions — are scheduled at 6-
or 12-hour intervals, with warnings of hazardous
conditions transmitted upon receipt and repeated
periodically. Texts for these broadcasts are pre-
pared by NWS and delivered to the nearest Coast
Guard communications office.
The Naval Communications System provides
oceanographic support. Meteorological traffic is
handled in the same manner as general traffic;
there are no centers or units dedicated exclusively
to serve as meteorological communications facili-
ties. Additionally, the Naval Environmental Data
Network (NEDN) provides for the dissemination
of meteorological and oceanographic computer-
generated products from the Fleet Numerical
Weather Central (FNWC) at Monterey, Calif., to
specially equipped locations in the United States
and overseas.
Environmental information is transmitted to op-
erating naval forces by means of radio (telegraph,
teletypewriter, facsimile, and voice) broadcasts.
Products for these broadcasts are prepared by the
Fleet Weather Centrals and Facilities and include
observations, analyses, forecasts, and warnings. In
preparing such products, the Centrals and Facilities
make use not only of their own specialized prod-
ucts, but also — insofar as possible — products of the
Basic Meteorological Service and other data as re-
ceived from the weather teletypewriter networks of
FAA, the National and High-Altitude Facsimile
Networks of NOAA, and the Automated Weather
Network (AWN) and teletypewriter systems of the
U.S. Air Force.
In addition, NAVOCEANO operates an experi-
mental oceanographic forecasting central that ob-
tains synoptic oceanographic data from a specially
equipped research aircraft, from various patrol air-
craft, and through cooperative programs with cer-
tain shipping lines.
Communications are required to transmit marine
data in relatively short time for a number of asso-
ciated agency programs. The National Oceano-
graphic Data Center (NODC) of NOAA operates
a teletypewriter exchange service (TWX) data link
with selected scientific institutions. This TWX serv-
ice includes terminals at the Woods Hole Oceano-
graphic Institution, at the Scripps Institution of
Oceanography, at the National Climatic Center
(NCC) , and at other activities.
In connection with its Pacific Tsunami Warning
System, NOAA required $88,000 in FY 1972 for
24
PORT ANGELES
ONOW
COOS BAY*
D KTJ
EUREKA •
DKOE
SEATTLE
ONMW 43, KOW
NOTES: Schedules and frequencies for the indicated stations
are contained in publication Weather Service for
Merchant Shipping.
The NOAA VHF FM radio stations include marine weather
information in the continuous broadcasts
DULUTH*
O WAS
A WAS
■ WAS
PORT WASHINGTON*
OWAD
A WAD
■ wad
S STE MARIE
ONOG \
■ '. , 1
ROGERS CITV
DWLC
AWLC
■ ■VI '
BELLE ISLE
DNMD 20
■ NMD 20
BUFFALO
OWBL. NMD 4;
AWBL
■ WBL. NMD 47
WILMINGTON
OWEH. WLF
CHICAGO
D WAV
A WAV
■ way
MARBLEHEAD
ONMD IS
■ NMD IS
• SAN FRANCISCO
#KPH, KFS, NMC
QNMC. KLH
AkMI
LOS ANGELES*
*Kl)h NMQ
ONMQ, kou
•SAN DIEGO
Awwo
QWWD
LEGEND
TRANSMISSION MODE
* Radiotelegraph (Morse)
O Radiotelephone, Medium Frequency
A Radiotelephone, High Frequency
■ Radiotelephone, VHF FM
ARadiofacsimile
• FT MACON
ONMN 37
BOSTON
* NIK NMF
Onmf wou
A NMF
A NMF
CHATHAM
*WCC
AMAGANSETT
* WSl
NEW YORK
*NMY. WSF
ONMV WOX
OCEAN GATE
QWAQ
A woo
TUCKERTON
*WSC
CAPE MAY
Q NMK
• CHARLESTON
DNMB. WJO
PORT ARTH
BARROW* \
* WPA
ALASKA
D KCB 53 ^
\
\^ CORPUS CHRISTI*
N\ P KCC
NOME •
D KCI 94
^v *POF
YAKUTAT \
OCEAN CAPE \ D KGD 91 \
D NMJ 19
>»» JUNEAU \.
KING SALMON*
• D KCI 97 \^
D KCI 98
KODIAK
BIORKA IS* .KETCHIKANN.
• O NOJ
D NMJ 18 * *NMJ X
• ATTU
• CAPE
5ARICHEF
\ Qnmj
NMJ 22
ANNETTE
n «ADAK
COLD BAY
Q NRW
O KGD 58
D NMJ
21 D KCI 95
NEW ORLEANS
* NMC WNU \
O NMG, WAK i
GALVESTON
* KLC, NOY
D KQP. NOY
O NCH
MOBILE
( *WL0
J OWLO
ST PETERSBURG
ONOF \^
TAMPA*
* WPD
D WFA
JACKSONVILLE
* NMJ
O NMV. WNJ
LATANA
• *WOE
• MIAMI
4c WAX, NMA
AWOM
□ NMA, WDR
PUERTO RICO
HONOLULU •
AND VIRGIN ISLANDS
* KNK. NMO
O NMO. KBP
Akqm
SAN JUAN
*NMR
□ NMR
HAWAII
Commercial and U.S. Coast Guard radio sta-
tions that make marine weather broadcasts.
communication purposes. These funds were used in
partial support of a cooperative arrangement for
data collection and watch-and-warning services
using FAA, NASA, military, and other communica-
tion channels.
Coast Guard communications facilities are used
for International Ice Patrol broadcasts, for report-
ing oceanographic and meteorological observations,
and for broadcasting high-seas bulletins as reported
earlier. Equipment includes teletypewriter, facsim-
ile, and high-speed data links. In FY 1972, commu-
nications for such Coast Guard activities amounted
to $127,000.
Six high-frequency bands in the maritime mobile
service were designated by the 1967 International
Telecommunications Union's Maritime World Ad-
ministrative Radio Conference for use in the collec-
tion of data relating to oceanography. The Inter-
governmental Oceanographic Commission/World
Meteorological Organization (IOC/WMO) has a
Group of Experts on Telecommunications whose
work in preparing an interim plan for the use of
these frequencies has also laid the groundwork for
the development of a long-term coordinated plan.
In the United States, an Interdepartmental Radio
Advisory Committee (IRAC) Ad Hoc Group No.
100, under the Office of Telecommunications
Policy, Executive Office of the President, is coordi-
nating inputs to this plan which promises to be the
major communication system for the National Data
Buoy System and for various research programs
and which should also be of considerable value to
programs such as the Integrated Global Ocean Sta-
tion System (IGOSS).
DATA PROCESSING AND INFORMATION
DISSEMINATION
Agency activities involving data processing and
information dissemination functions are described
25
here to present a more cohesive summary of the
product generation services of MAREP. Facilities
for such services are designed to accommodate the
wide range of services required and to cope with
the varied stages in the development of observa-
tional and prediction techniques.
There are three major types of data processing
centers — primary, area and guidance, and special-
ized. Primary centers are facilities which prepare
general analyses and forecasts on a hemispheric or
national basis for use by other centers. Area and
guidance centers have analysis, forecasting, and
warning responsibilities on an area, regional, or
command basis and use the outputs of primary cen-
ters, supplemented by their own processing func-
tions, to provide detailed product services to users.
Specialized centers provide data management or
analyses, long-term predictions, or single-purpose
services not available from other centers to specific
users or user groups.
Information dissemination includes the distribu-
tion of local marine forecasts, advisories, and warn-
ings; the operation of facilities engaged in the dis-
semination of these products; the provision of
briefing services ; the operation of visual display sys-
tems; and the delivery of data summaries, marine
atlases, and results of special studies. The principal
means for disseminating marine .products to civil
users are by commercial communications media
(radio and television), Government communica-
tions facilities (voice, radiotelegraph, teletypewrit-
er, and facsimile broadcasts) , automatic telephone-
answering systems, and through various Govern-
ment publication services.
NOAA contributes significantly to marine mete-
orological predictions and warnings through its anal-
ysis and forecast centers and by means of a variety
of information dissemination capabilities. Commu-
nication facilities of the Coast Guard and Navy as
well as those of commercial facilities are used for
the dissemination of marine meteorology products
from NOAA. Currently available are forecasts of
marine weather, sea state, breakers and surf, sea
ice, storm surges, and seiches. The hurricane fore-
casting service also constitutes an essential element
of the Basic MAREP Service.
NOAA operates four primary centers which pro-
vide products and support to marine meteorology
in addition to their larger role in the Basic Meteo-
rological Service. The National Meteorological
Center (NMC) at Suitland, Md., provides broad-
scale analyses and forecasts on a hemispheric basis
and graphic products for facsimile transmission to
high-seas users. The National Environmental Satel-
lite Service (NESS), also at Suitland, operates the
national operational environmental satellite system
to provide global cloud-cover mosaics, atmospheric
and sea-surface temperature data, and interpretive
products on a daily basis. This system also provides
direct local readouts of cloud-cover pictures from
weather satellites to suitably equipped shore sta-
tions and ships. The National Hurricane Center
(NHC) at Miami issues warnings of tropical
cyclones (hurricanes) in the North Atlantic Ocean
(west of longitude 35°W.), the Caribbean Sea, and
the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricane Centers at San
Francisco, Calif., and Honolulu, Hawaii, provide
similar services in the eastern and central North
Pacific Ocean east of longitude 180°. In addition,
warnings of severe local storms (thunderstorms and
associated winds, hail, and tornadoes) over coastal
waters are issued by the National Severe Storms
Forecast Center (NSSFC) at Kansas City, Mo.
Weather Service Forecast Offices (WSFO), op-
erated by NOAA in the 50 States and Puerto Rico,
provide analyses, forecasts, and warnings on a re-
gional basis, including coastal areas and the Great
Lakes, which contribute to the Marine Meteorolog-
ical Service. Twenty WSFOs issue forecasts and
warnings for coastal waters and the Great Lakes.
Coastal area responsibilities are met by WSFOs at
Portland, Maine, Boston, Mass., New York City,
NY., Philadelphia, Pa., Washington, Raleigh,
N.C., Columbia, S.C., Miami, New Orleans, La.,
San Antonio, Tex., San Juan, P.R., Los Angeles,
Calif., San Francisco, Portland, Oreg., Seattle,
Wash., Honolulu, and Anchorage, Alaska. Offshore
and fishing activities in the Pacific and Atlantic are
supported partly by the coastal and high-seas prod-
ucts provided for that area. Forecasts and warnings
for the Great Lakes are issued by WSFOs at
Chicago, 111., Cleveland, Ohio, and Detroit, Mich.
High-seas marine condition forecasts, broadcast
through Coast Guard radio facilities including fac-
simile, were initiated by NOAA in 1971 from the
east coast; similar services will commence in 1972
from the west coast. These forecasts are in addition
to those on radiotelegraph and voice broadcasts
presently being disseminated through commercial
facilities. Major WSFOs at Washington, San Fran-
cisco, and Honolulu provide support to meet the
minimum analysis and forecasting requirements in
the areas of U.S. responsibility for shipping forecasts
and warnings (which include large designated por-
tions of the North Atlantic and North Pacific) as
part of the Convention on Safety of Life at Sea
(SOLAS) and in response to agreements reached
within the World Meteorological Organization
(WMO). In the western North Pacific, the De-
partment of Defense provides these services
26
Areas of U.S. responsibilities for shipping
forecasts and warnings under international
agreements.
through the Fleet Weather Central at Guam in the
Mariana Islands. The areas of U.S. responsibility
are shown on the accompanying chart.
The MAREP Services of the Coast Guard, in
addition to participation in the Coastal Warning
System discussed below, include voice and radio-
teletypewriter broadcasts of marine weather to the
boating public, fishing vessels, and merchant
fleets. The Coast Guard Oceanographic Unit
processes data and provides technical and scientific
support for Coast Guard marine programs. The
Coast Guard also provides preliminary reduction
and processing of environmental data from all of
its sources at east and west coast centers to meet
the requirement for operational continuity of its
oceanographic programs.
The Coastal Warning System is a cooperative
network of visual (flag and light) displays main-
tained at prominent locations along the seacoasts,
the Great Lakes, and inland waterways to advise
boating and other marine interests whenever small
craft, gale, storm, and hurricane warnings, issued
by the NWS of NOAA, are in effect. Yacht clubs,
marinas, other private marine activities, State and
local governments, the Coast Guard, and NWS
participate in this System of 475 display stations.
The Department of Transportation (Coast Guards
has 144 lighthouses, lifeboat stations, lightships,
and other facilities participating in the Coastal
Warning System. The Department of Commerce.
(NOAA) operates 75 displays; the remainder are
operated on a cooperative basis by non-Federal in-
terests. In addition, small-craft pennants are dis-
played by State police patrol craft on Chesapeake
Bay, in the New York City area, and on Lake
Michigan.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning System, operated
by NOAA, involves coordination of activities at
several administrative and governmental levels and
a complex range of responsibilities. The Warning
Center is at Honolulu where data are received
from a network of 22 seismograph stations and 44
tide stations, where analyses and warnings are for-
mulated, and from where warnings are disscmi-
27
nated to 15 countries and territories in the Pacific
Ocean Basin. The accompanying chart shows the
stations in the System.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning System required
$362,000 for data processing and internal support
in FY 1972. These funds support staffs at the Hon-
olulu Observatory, the International Tsunami
Warning Center, and the Pacific Tides Party in
Hawaii, and the staff's at the Palmer Regional
Warning Center in Alaska. Staffs at Observatories
at College and Sitka, Alaska, Newport, Wash.,
Tucson, Ariz., and Guam are also funded. These
staffs provide continuous monitoring of seismic and
tsunami activity; install, maintain, and service the
instruments ; locate earthquakes ; activate the warn-
ing system; issue watches, warnings, and cancella-
tions; and provide historical and advisory scientific
information.
Included in MAREP are nonreal-time informa-
tion services where the usual total sequence of
functions, from data acquisition to product dissemi-
nation (particularly high-speed communications)
which characterizes real-time environmental proc-
essing and predictions, are not always applicable.
Such services include data management and publi-
cations of climatological summaries, atlases, tide
and tidal current predictions, and long-term studies
of effects on the environment of particular geo-
graphical regions.
The NOS of NOAA makes tide predictions— the
times and heights of high and low waters resulting
from astronomical tides — for 54 locations in the
United States and its territories and possessions and
for 39 locations in 18 different nations and in the
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands under U.S.
jurisdiction. Predictions for approximately 6,000
secondary locations are computed through the ap-
plication of empirical constants. Tide predictions,
based on harmonic analysis of records of 29 days or
longer, are made by computer and are published
annually in four volumes. The NOS also provides,
but does not publish, tide predictions at seven addi-
1 I
1 ' ■ ^college' l 1
PalmerA.
1
60°
Seward* *akutat
.Sitka
CoM Bay * K°diak *
Attu ^ •
Shemya Adak Tohno.A'ctona
A A
Newport
40°
• Hachinohe
Crescent City*
—
ATokyo
Shimizu*
Berkeley A
Pasadena
San Pedro *^ A
Tucson
Mmamitorishima
Midway •
20°
•
Manila
Nawiliwili* HONOLULU
Wake* •
Johnston* Hilo
■ Illllliilifcli "**<
A«Legaspi ^Guam
Acaiutla*
KEY
Balboa
• Kwaialem
•
• •
• Tide stations
Malakal Moen
* Tide stations having automatic
0°
wave detectors
a Seismograph stations
Baltra •
Huancayo
A» Pago Pago .
La Punta«A
20°
£ Tahiti (Papeete)
Anca •
•a Suva
Noumea • Rlkltea A
Antofagasta*
% Easter
Marsden Point
Valparaiso
•
•
SantiagoA
Talcahuano*
40°
_ June 30, 1971
1 1
1 1 1 1 1 1
Puerto Montt •
160°
100°
Reporting stations of the Pacific Tsunami
Warning System.
28
tional foreign locations. The tide data are also ana-
lyzed for the harmonic constants used in predic-
tions, in datum plane determinations, and in secu-
lar changes of the sea level.
Tidal current predictions are made for 35 coastal
and harbor locations in the United States. These
predictions include times of slack waters and the
times, speeds, and directions of maximum tidal cur-
rents. Empirical constants provide predictions at
about 2,000 additional locations. Unpublished pre-
dictions of tidal currents for two Korean locations
are provided to that Nation. Charts showing the
areal distribution of tidal currents for each hour in
the tidal cycle are available for nine major U.S.
harbors and estuaries; charts are under construc-
tion for additional estuaries. Tide and tidal current
data-processing costs, including use of computer
techniques, amounted to about $740,000 in FY
1972.
Publication and distribution of documents pro-
duced by NOS cost $38,000 in FY 1972. Such pub-
lications include the four tide tables and two tidal
current tables published annually, two tempera-
ture-density tables produced every 5 years, tidal-
benchmark sheets, 1 1 tidal current charts, a
Monthly Bulletin of Great Lakes water levels, and
other information issued in response to special re-
quests during the year.
The NODC of NOAA acquires, processes, stores,
and disseminates nonreal-time data involving bio-
logical, chemical, geological, and other selected
oceanographic parameters on a global basis. These
data are used by the scientific community for the
development of models and for the upgrading of
such models to produce or to complete a descrip-
tion of the oceans. All data and information re-
ceived by the Center are given an accession number
and are then processed into files and storage media
for quick retrieval. Using its Generalized Informa-
tion Processing System (GIPSY), NODC can pro-
vide 48-hour turnaround time for routine requests.
New data management techniques for improved
processing are being developed for data compres-
sion, file structure, analog-to-digital conversion,
and computer graphics. In FY 1972, personnel and
facilities for acquisition, processing, quality control,
storage, and retrieval of marine environmental data
were augmented at an increased cost of $102,000.
The NODC provides data and data products
from storage files to the total spectra of users in the
national marine community and in response to in-
ternational exchange agreements. Services include,
but are not limited to, the provisions of listings,
tapes, microfilm, statistical and analytical summa-
ries, computer graphics, charts, and atlases. In FY
Hazardous conditions at sea. (U.S. Navy)
1972, product dissemination of NODC cost
$248,000.
The NCC at Asheville, N.C., also a specialized
data center, is responsible for the processing, ar-
chiving, and retrieval of marine climatological data
— including reports from naval and merchant ves-
sels— on a reimbursable basis for other Federal
agencies and private concerns. The NCC is respon-
sible for recording and describing the climate over
the oceans in support of national requirements.
Ship weather logs are received at NCC from about
2,100 merchant vessels each year. Observations en-
tered in these logs are checked, recorded, summa-
rized, and archived. Summaries are included in
various Commerce, Coast Guard, Defense, and
WMO publications. In addition, as part of a
WMO program, marine observations are ex-
changed with other major maritime nations and
summaries of observations by OSVs are provided.
The NCC also provides summarized marine me-
teorological data to private, public, academic, and
governmental users. It is responsible for publication
of the Mariners Weather Log and for information
included in Pilot Chart revisions for Defense, in ar-
ticles and climatological summaries in the Defense
Sailing Directions and planning guides, and in the
NOAA Coast Pilot. Defense provides a large share
of the budgetary support to NCC, although NAV-
OCEANO prepares oceanographic charts, publi-
cations, atlases, and related materials as required
for the operational readiness of the fleet and for
29
Plankton sample is prepared for sorting at
the Smithsonian Oceanographic Sorting
Center (SOSC)
the use of the merchant marine. The Marine
Branch of the Center also has the responsibility for
publishing the climatology of tropical cyclones on a
worldwide basis and is involved in the publication
of tropical cyclone summaries and in the answering
of requests for data and other information on such
storms. In FY 1972, marine product preparation
and dissemination at NCC cost $120,000 in addi-
tion to significant reimbursable efforts.
The Great Lakes Data Center of NOAA has a
program directed toward the processing, storage,
retrieval, dissemination, and analysis of hydraulic,
hydrologic, limnological, hydrometeorological, and
ice and snow data. Such data are used extensively
in research on fisheries, pollution, shore processes,
currents, and ice formation and movement in the
Great Lakes.
Operating as part of the Smithsonian Institution
Office of Oceanography and Limnology, SOSC
provides a service function for coordinating and
processing collections of marine specimens to expe-
dite their rapid analysis. This function, which in-
cludes the sorting, cataloging, and distribution of
marine biological and geological collections, cost
$460,000 in FY 1972 and is partially funded by the
National Science Foundation (NSF) through its
Office of Polar Programs.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of the De-
partment of Defense conducts a number of pro-
jects, categorized as specialized processing of ma-
rine environmental data, in connection with its as-
signed marine engineering studies. In support of
basic and applied hydraulic and hydrologic studies
are the development of stage-discharge relations in
outflow rivers and the determination of the ef-
fects on the levels and outflows of the Great
Lakes of such factors as: natural and manmade
changes in the outflow rivers, diversions into and
out of the Great Lakes Basin, and fluctuations be-
tween the Lakes. General hydrologic studies involve
the analyses of rainfall-runoff relations, snowmelt
studies, flood forecasting, analyses of past floods,
infiltration indexes, and unit hydrographs as well as
the development of flood hydrographs and other
studies related to hydrology. The NWS of NOAA
prepares meteorological studies required by the
Corps for the planning, design, and operation of
water-control structures.
The Army Corps of Engineers is providing tech-
nical services on request to State and local govern-
ments that cost $570,000 in FY 1972. These serv-
ices constitute furnishing information on the use of
flood plains of the coastal zone.
The Department of the Interior analyzes and
processes data collected at estuarine and coastal
stations by USGS in support of its projects in hy-
drology and hydraulics. The USGS also provides
data on stream discharge and water quality which
are processed in its own Computer Center Division.
The Survey supplies water-quality information to
the Storage and Retrieval (STORET) System op-
erated in cooperation with the Office of Water Pro-
grams in the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) . These data are available to all users.
GENERAL AGENCY SUPPORT
General agency support is the function that
covers activities which Federal agencies must per-
form to operate efficient MAREP Service programs
and to provide effective, reliable support to their
users. This function includes training, maintenance,
internal support, and management above the oper-
ating level.
Training in marine observations, communica-
tions, maintenance, and similar technician-level
30
skills is accomplished in schools operated by Fed-
eral agencies; professional-level training is obtained
at accredited colleges and universities.
Maintenance costs cover those measures taken to
keep equipment in proper operating condition and
to repair such equipment when it fails. Included in
costs are salaries and travel expenses of mainte-
nance personnel, funds to furnish test equipment,
and monies to purchase spare or replacement parts
for meteorological and ocean-sensing equipment.
Maintenance costs for communications systems are
included in the cost figures for programs reported
earlier. Maintenance is performed in central over-
haul facilities and in regional shops. The largest
portion of maintenance is allocated to swift emer-
gency actions for restoring vital facilities to opera-
tion.
General mission-related activities in support of
MAREP operations within a Federal agency in-
clude the following types of programs:
• Engineering support for planning, preparing
specifications, surveying equipment sites for suit-
ability, and inspecting and calibrating new
equipment.
• Scientific studies and consultant services to deter-
mine the feasibility of new programs and to in-
crease the effectiveness of current programs.
• Quality control of products to assure the mainte-
nance of standards for accuracy and productiv-
ity-
• Employee housing and housekeeping or utility-
type equipment at remote-area locations.
Coast Guard personnel receive advanced train-
ing at Navy schools to support Coast Guard partici-
pation in the Basic Meteorological Service observa-
tional program and to meet Coast Guard require-
ments. Basic meteorological training is conducted
specifically as a part of the Marine Science Techni-
Refueling operation under adverse conditions
at sea. (U.S. Navy)
\*J
31
cian Service School curriculum. The Coast Guard
also supports postgraduate training in oceanogra-
phy at several universities and provides an ocean
sciences major within the curriculum of the U.S.
Coast Guard Academy.
Selected forecasters from the NWS of NOAA are
receiving oceanography training in university pro-
grams. Such training, in addition to that already
received in meteorology, is valuable for producing
sea, swell, surf, storm surge, and other marine serv-
ices.
Commerce maintenance programs in meteorol-
ogy are operated and funded as a part of the Basic
Meteorological Service. Maintenance of other
equipment by the several activities of NOAA is
funded under other functional categories discussed
earlier.
Internal support activities within Commerce are
consolidated largely under the Basic Meteorological
Service and are provided by NOAA staff elements
of NWS and its Regional Headquarters, when nec-
essary, for specialized marine user programs. Exec-
utive management, supervision, administration,
planning, and logistical support provided from
above the operating unit level to support MAREP
Services are accomplished within Commerce by
full- or part-time marine specialists in the various
components of NOAA.
Executive management and supervision of the
marine sciences operations of the Coast Guard are
accomplished by Headquarters and Area personnel
who oversee oceanographic endeavors and provide
liaison with other Federal agencies and the scien-
tific community.
PLANS FOR IMPROVEMENT IN THE
OPERATION OF THE BASIC MAREP SERVICE
The FY 1973 operational program for the Basic
MAREP Service reflects an overall increase of
$2,510,000 from FY 1972. A number of programs
planned for FY 1972 have been carried over into
FY 1973 because of earlier budget restraints. Con-
versely, some budgets have been reduced because of
the completion of facility construction or the ex-
pansion and other nonrecurring expenses funded
through FY 1972 or because of the curtailment of
services.
The FY 1973 increases are programmed to sup-
port the continuation and expansion of the existing
Basic MAREP Service by providing replacement
equipment, taking certain personnel actions, modi-
fying or improving facilities required to support
such Service, and providing for new and added im-
provements in the Service.
Research programs in support of the Basic
MAREP Service are funded principally by the De-
partments of Commerce and Defense6 and by NSF.
Smaller programs in terms of funding are con-
ducted by the Departments of the Interior and
Transportation and by the Atomic Energy Com-
mission (AEC), EPA, NASA, and the Smithsonian
Institution. These programs will be discussed in the
section of the Plan entitled, Research Relevant to
Marine Environmental Prediction.
Areas in which significant improvements or new
MAREP Services are planned for FY 1973 are as
follows:
fj] Improvement of the marine weather and sea
forecast and warning services of NWS by add-
ing marine forecasters and staff support at an
estimated increase of $305,000.
□ Expansion of the capabilities of NESS at an in-
creased cost of $137,000 to develop and pro-
duce new and improved specialized analyses
and products applicable to MAREP, based on
high-resolution data from the Improved
TIROS Operational Satellite (ITOS-D) and
Geostationary Operational Environmental Sat-
ellite (GOES) spacecraft.
□ Expansion of the data-processing capabilities of
NODC requiring $200,000 in new funds for in-
creased efforts in the acquisition, processing,
quality control, storage, and retrieval of data
from pollution and baseline studies and from
international oceanographic programs.
□ Augmentation of product-dissemination activi-
ties of NODC at an increased cost of $150,000
through increased production of atlases and
summaries, dissemination of a greater variety of
data and information resulting from a broad-
ened data base and referral services.
□ Establishment of a Regional Calibration Center
on the west coast by NOIC of NOAA. This is
the first of these Regional Centers which are to
be operated by NOIC and placed at existing in-
stallations appropriate to key geographical re-
gions.
PI Improvement of the tide and water-level pre-
diction services of NOS through automation of
50 tide stations and expansion of data reduction
6 All Defense research is directed toward national
security; however, a large portion of this research is di-
rectly applicable to the improvement of basic environ-
mental services which contribute to both the civil and the
national security sectors.
32
and analyses capabilities requiring $606,000 in
new funds.
□ Performance by the U.S. Navy of a series of
oceanic surveys between Halifax, Canada, and
Bermuda, using surface expendable bathyther-
mographs taken from a cruise ship on periodic
runs to describe the thermal features of this
area in terms of characteristics, variability, and
movements.
1 ] Purchase of a variety of oceanographic instru-
ments costing $433,000 that are required to
equip follow-on Navy reconnaissance aircraft.
] Development of stage-discharge relations in
outflow rivers and determination of effects on
the levels and outflows of the Great Lakes by
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requiring
$49,000 in new funds.
□ Expansion of the Permit Management Program
of the Corps of Engineers to evaluate the
impact of all discharges into the Nation's navig-
able waterways so as to protect the ecosystems
in the coastal zone.
] Improvement of knowledge on the tidal, hy-
draulics and on the general coastal environment
in the Arctic region of Alaska by the Corps of
Engineers at a cost of $200,000.
] Improvement in technical services to State and
local governments by the Corps of Engineers
costing an additional $105,000.
□ Expansion of the environmental data collection
program of the Corps of Engineers to improve
baseline data for engineering analysis in the
planning, design, construction, operation, and
maintenance of projects through the use of re-
mote-sensing techniques.
□ Expansion of the USGS network of stream-
gaging stations and water-quality observation
points in coastal areas are permitted in Feder-
al-State cooperative programs at an additional
cost of $460,000. (This amount will be matched
in approximately equal funding from State or
local cooperating agencies.)
□ Expansion of the Smithsonian Institution pro-
gram in collection of marine biological data
and in increased services of SOSC at a total
cost of $225,000.
Principal decreases in FY 1973 funding for the
Basic MAREP Services have resulted from the fol-
lowing curtailments:
□ Disestablishment of Ocean Station Victor in the
western Pacific Ocean and subsequent decom-
missioning of vessels by the Coast Guard.
□ Decommissioning of U.S. Coast Guard cutter
Rockaway, a vessel dedicated to oceanographic
operations and fisheries enforcement.
□ Termination of the Moving Ship Radiosonde
Program in the Pacific by NOAA as of June 30.
1972.
□ Disestablishment of a Navy weather reconnais-
sance squadron in the Pacific resulting from
Department of Defense budgetary constraints.
33
Specialized Marine Environmental Prediction
Services
The description of the Basic Marine Environ-
mental Prediction (MAREP) Service and of the
planned improvements to the Service are contained
in the preceding section of the Plan. As noted in
that section, the Basic Service provides support for
the Specialized MAREP Services which include
those for Maritime Navigation, Water Pollution
Assessment, Living Marine Resources, Mineral Ex-
ploration, and National Security. These Specialized
MAREP Services will be described in this section
along with planned improvements to their opera-
tional programs. Relevant research designed to im-
prove the Specialized MAREP Services will be
identified in the final section of the Plan.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION
SERVICE FOR MARITIME NAVIGATION
Many Federal operations in MAREP, because of
their applicability to a number of users and because
of their support to other Specialized MAREP Serv-
ices, are included as integral parts of the Basic
MAREP Service; yet, their particular significance
to maritime navigation is apparent. Nearly all ma-
rine forecasts, advisories, and warnings produced
under the Marine Meteorological Service are of
importance and of direct application to navigation.
The shipping industry, fishing fleets, and recrea-
tional boatmen use these products mainly for the
protection of life and for the altering of ship tracks
so as to minimize damage to vessels and cargo and
to effect optimum transit between ports. Elements
of the Basic MAREP Service of importance to
maritime navigation include sea-and-swell fore-
casts, storm surge and seiche forecasts, tropical and
extratropical storm forecasts, and studies of sedi-
mentation in channels and harbors. Also of primary
importance are marine atlases, sailing directions,
tide and tidal-current prediction tables, and other
special publications. Conversely, nautical charts,
navigational tables, periodic navigational publica-
tions, and electronic navigation materials are not
considered to be part of these MAREP Services;
consequently, they are not included in this Plan.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION
SERVICE FOR MARITIME NAVIGATION,
BY AGENCY
(in thousands of dollars)
Relevant
Operations research Total
FY72 FY73 FY72 FY73 FY72 FY73
Commerce 1,710 1,841 45 52 1,755 1,893
Defense 300 350 725 737 1,025 1,087
Transportation ... 808 891 181 583 989 1,474
NASA 160 160
Total 2,818 3,082 1,111 1,372 3,929 4,454
DESCRIPTION OF THE SERVICE
Programs of the Departments of Commerce, De-
fense, and Transportation which uniquely serve the
specialized requirements of a MAREP Service for
Maritime Navigation include those concerned with
ice forecasts and warnings and with ship-routing
and channel-maintenance services.
The Department of Defense maintains a capabil-
ity for sea-ice observations and forecasts by flying
BIRDSEYE and fleet ice-reconnaissance aircraft
flights over the Arctic icepack and by providing
observers for aerial ice-reconnaissance of the Arctic
and Antarctic regions. In FY 1972, Defense spent
$899,000 on ice observations. The Naval Oceano-
graphic Office (NAVOCEANO) prepares experi-
mental long-range ice forecasts of 15 and 30 days
in support of ship operations conducted by De-
fense, the U.S. Coast Guard, and other Federal
agencies. These forecasts include data on initial
formation, growth, movement, and decay of sea ice
in the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans. A seasonal ice
outlook, describing the ice conditions expected
throughout the shipping season, is also prepared for
selected areas. Another program provides experi-
mental predicted wind-drift current charts and has
as its objective the development of techniques for
prediction of detailed features of the surface-cur-
34
-
1— V
!«•« ^""niwmm/m,,^,^
rent field. The Fleet Weather Facility at Suitland
provides specialized ice-forecasting services for the
Arctic and Antarctic.
The Fleet Numerical Weather Central (FNWC)
at Monterey and Fleet Weather Centrals at Nor-
folk and Guam operate the U.S. Navy Optimum
Track Ship Routing (OTSR) Program. The
OTSR Program offers a high probability of one or
a combination of the following: ( 1 ) least steaming
time en route; (2) best weather route; and (3) by-
passing of areas where storm damage may be ex-
pected. This Program service is available to naval
ships, to Military Sea Transportation Sen-ice ships,
and to vessels under contract to the Government.
The Navy OTSR Program provided routing serv-
ices to approximately 2,400 ships for Defense dur-
ing 1971. Major processing activities of the Depart-
ment provide over 3,000 separate oceanographic
prediction products daily to meet existing require-
ments. As technology progresses and data acquisi-
tion becomes more adequate, the number and type
World's most powerful icebreaker, first addi-
tion to the U.S. Coast Guard Icebreaking
Fleet since 1954, will be in operation by 1974.
of products increase and the modes of product ap-
plication also expand.
The Coast Guard manages and operates the In-
ternational Ice Patrol, established by the maritime
nations of the Inter-Governmental Maritime Con-
sultative Organization (IMCO) to advise shipping
of the ice menace in the northwestern North Atlan-
tic Ocean. Aircraft reconnaissance and shipboard
oceanographic observations support a program of
reporting icebergs that enter the shipping lanes
near the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and of
predicting the drift of these icebergs. In FY 1972,
the International Ice Patrol activities of the Coast
Guard cost $630,000.
The Department of Commerce, through its Na-
tional Weather Service (NWS), cooperates with
Defense and Transportation in the monitoring and
prediction of ice coverage and movement in the
35
Great Lakes as well as in the Arctic Ocean off the
North Slope, in Cook Inlet, and in other Alaskan
waters. The NWS provides data and analyses that
support the provision of ship-routing services to
civilian merchant ships.
PLANS FOR SERVICE IMPROVEMENT
In FY 1973, the Department of Commerce will
augment its capabilities for marine forecasts by
providing marine forecast specialists at Washing-
ton, Miami, San Francisco, New Orleans, Detroit,
and Honolulu Weather Service Forecast Offices
(WSFO). Although part of the Basic MAREP
Service, these added personnel will contribute to
improved marine forecasts which are of particular
value to maritime navigation.
Within the Department of Defense, the U.S.
Army plans increased funding over the next few
years for improvement of services related to the ex-
tension of the navigation season in the Great Lakes.
This funding should also result in improved predic-
tive capabilities for snow, ice, and ice fog. An inter-
agency group has been established under the lead
of the Army Corps of Engineers to develop plans
for a demonstration of the feasibility of extending
the navigation season, and the Corps also intends
to undertake deep-water port studies which are de-
signed to improve navigation. These studies will in-
volve consideration of requirements for expanded
prediction services. Prediction services will also
benefit from continuing Navy support in FY 1973
of the development and improvement of satellite-
positioning systems. In addition, NAVOCEANO
will establish an automated ice-data archive, per-
mitting rapid access to ice information for the
Arctic and the Antarctic as obtained from ship and
shore station and by aircraft.
It should be understood that Coast Guard ex-
penditures in support of the International Ice Pa-
trol depend on actual costs incurred ($630,000 in
FY 1972), which could conceivably increase or de-
crease in FY 1973.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION
SERVICE FOR WATER POLLUTION
ASSESSMENT
The problems of water pollution are great, par-
ticularly in the coastal zone and in the Great Lakes
where man's activities have significant, immediate
impact on environmental quality. These waters, al-
ready seriously affected, face prospects of further
environmental degradation unless some form of
management, based on adequate monitoring and
prediction services, is maintained.
DESCRIPTION OF THE SERVICE
The principal Federal water pollution assessment
service is provided through the Water Quality Sur-
veillance Program of the Office of Water Programs
in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) .
This Program includes the collection of samples pe-
riodically from estuaries and the coastal zone. The
samples are analyzed in regional laboratories and
data are disseminated as required for implementing
water-quality standards, for establishing water-
quality baselines, and for supporting various plan-
ning and management programs. In FY 1972,
$750,000 was spent by EPA in this Program for
analysis of water samples and dissemination of wa-
ter-quality data. In addition, $100,000 was spent to
develop programs for implementation of fail-safe
design criteria, operating procedures, personnel
training, and reliable detection and safety equip-
ment in connection with the handling of oil and
hazardous-material spills in marine areas.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL
PREDICTION SERVICE FOR WATER
POLLUTION ASSESSMENT,
BY AGENCY
(in thousands of dollars)
Operations
Relevant
research
Total
FY72 FY73 FY72 FY73 FY72 FY73
Commerce
Defense . .
665
540
5,820
6,238
8,218
6,826
5,820
6,903
8,218
7,366
Transporta-
tion . . .
1,369
1,218
3,940
6,374
5,309
7,592
AEC
6,149
6,048
6,149
6,048
EPA
NASA ....
5,922
6,323
3,734
226
4,384
250
9,656
226
10,707
250
NSF
150
250
150
250
Total ....
7,956
8,081
26,257
32,350
34,213
40,431
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) of the De-
partment of the Interior coordinates activities with
EPA to meet needs for basic data on water quality.
About 55 stations are operated near the heads of
estuaries in the conterminous States under fund
transfer from EPA. In addition, at a number of sta-
tions in Puerto Rico, samples of water and sedi-
ment are taken biannually for pesticide determina-
tion. Temperature, conductance, and the concen-
tration of common ions are generally measured at
more than 200 USGS stations. These provide data
to the Basic MAREP Service on streamflow into
36
coastal waters. At a small number of these stations,
turbidity, pH, nutrients, dissolved oxygen, coli-
forms, and biochemical oxygen demands are ob-
served. There are 35 water-quality stations oper-
ated by USGS in estuaries and canals ; and, at most
of these stations, only temperature, conductance,
common ions, and pH are being measured.
Selected U.S. Coast Guard vessels, equipped
with salinity-temperature-depth (STD) sensors and
sampling devices, are used in a variety of in-house
and cooperative programs for the analysis of var-
ious parameters. Properties of coastal waters are
measured by fixed-station sensors. In FY 1972, the
Coast Guard sponsored an expanded monitoring
service in support of the MAREP Service for
Water Pollution Assessment. The Coastal Zone
Pollution Baselines and Monitoring Project, costing
$1,983,000, contributed to the national quest for
knowledge on this critical zone; the Project made
use of the multimission facilities of the Coast
Guard that are strategically located in the coastal
zone. Funds are being used to provide airborne and
in situ sensors and operational personnel.
The Department of Defense conducted a com-
prehensive assessment of the environmental impact
of past Deep Water Dump operations involving
conventional munitions cargos in FY 1972. Two
representative disposal sites were surveyed at a cost
of $573,950. An assessment of the environmental
impact of past dumping operations off New Jersey,
involving primarily chemical munitions cargos, is
being planned for the final quarter of FY 1972 and
the first half of FY 1973. An initial cost estimate
for this operation is $400,000.
In response to Executive Order 11057, a U.S.
Navy-wide program has been established for the
prevention, control, and abatement of air and
water pollution ashore and afloat as well as the
development of methods for the prediction and en-
hancement of environmental quality. While a ma-
jority of the present Navy programs are oriented
toward the development and installation of equip-
ment to eliminate pollutants at their source, several
programs are directly linked to environmental
measurement and are being pursued both inde-
pendently and in concert with other Federal agen-
cies. An environmental data base program has been
established to assess the present waste discharges
and the measures being taken to reduce water pol-
lution. New instrumentation, analytical methods,
and operational procedures for monitoring the en-
vironment are being developed. A pilot monitoring
program, now underway for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii,
should provide the basic test for subsequent routine
monitoring procedures. To assess the environmen-
tal impact of past bulk disposal of obsolete muni-
tions at sea, a survey of representative past dump
sites is being conducted. Future monitoring require-
ments are being developed as a result of measure-
ments taken in FY 1972. The Navy is in close coor-
dination with EPA efforts to assess the fate and ef-
fects of known hazardous substances.
From 1966 to 1969, the U.S. Army Corps of En-
gineers conducted studies and investigations in the
Great Lakes to improve water quality by develop-
ing technology for the containment of polluted
dredge spoil into selected deposit areas. This pro-
gram is now operational and the Corps is in the
process of obtaining spoil-disposal sites.
The National Oil and Hazardous Substances
Pollution Contingency Plan has been developed in
compliance with the Federal Water Pollution Con-
trol Act, as amended. The Plan is effective for all
U.S. navigable waters, their tributaries, and adjoin-
ing shorelines. Coverage of the Plan includes the
inland rivers, the Great Lakes, the coastal terri-
torial waters, the contiguous zone, and the high
seas where there exists a threat to U.S. waters,
shoreface, or shelf bottom.
The objectives of the Plan are to provide for
efficient, coordinated, and effective action to mini-
mize damage from oil and hazardous substance dis-
charges, including containment, dispersal, and re-
moval. It establishes a pattern of coordinated and
integrated response by Federal departments and
agencies to protect the environment from the dam-
aging effects of pollution spills. The Plan also pro-
motes the coordination and direction of Federal,
State, and local response systems and encourages
the development of local government and private
capabilities to handle such pollution spills. Federal
agencies have responsibilites established by Statute.
Executive Order, or Presidential Directive which
bear on the Federal response to a pollution spill.
The Plan promotes the expeditious and harmoni-
ous discharge of these responsibilities by those Fed-
eral agencies having the most appropriate capabil-
ity to act in each specific situation. Responsibilities
of the several Federal agencies relevant to the con-
trol of pollution spills are:
□ The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)
is responsible for the preparation, publication,
revision, or amendment of the Plan in accord-
ance with Executive Order 11548. The CEQ
will receive the advice of the National Response
Team (NRT) and will insure that disagree-
ments arising among members of the NRT are
settled expeditiously.
37
□ The Department of Commerce provides sup-
port to the NRT, to the Regional Response
Team (RRT), and to the On-Scene Coordina-
tor (OSC) with respect to marine environmen-
tal data; living marine resources; current and
predicted meteorologic, hydrologic, and oceano-
graphic conditions for the high seas, coastal,
and inland waters; design, construction, and
operation of merchant ships; and maps and
charts, including those for tides and currents of
coastal and territorial waters and of the Great
Lakes.
□ The Department of Health, Education, and
Welfare is responsible for providing expert
advice and assistance relative to those spills or
potential spills that constitute or may constitute
a threat to public health and safety.
□ The Department of Defense, consistent with its
operational requirements, may provide assist-
ance in critical pollution spills, in the mainte-
nance of navigation channels, and in the sal-
vage and removal of navigation obstructions.
□ The Department of the Interior supplies exper-
tise in the fields of oil drilling, production, han-
dling, and pipeline transportation. Also, Inte-
rior has access to and supervision over continu-
ously manned facilities which can be used for
the command, control, and surveillance of spills
occurring from operations conducted under the
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act. Addition-
ally, Interior will provide, through its Regional
Coordinators, technical expertise to the OSC
and RRT with respect to land, to fish and wild-
life, and to other resources for which it is re-
sponsible. The Department is also responsible for
the administration of American Samoa and the
U.S. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
□ The Department of Transportation provides ex-
pertise regarding all modes of movement for oil
and hazardous substances. Through the Coast
Guard, a Department representative serves as
vice chairman of NRT; Transportation also
supplies support and expertise in the domestic
and international fields of port safety and secu-
rity, marine law enforcement, navigation, and
in the construction, manning operation, and
safety of vessels and marine facilities. Addition-
ally, the Coast Guard maintains continuously
manned facilities that are capable of command,
control, and surveillance for spills occurring in
the U.S. navigable waters or on the high seas.
The Coast Guard can also be responsible for
the chairmanship of RRT and for the imple-
mentation, development, and revision, as neces-
sary, of regional plans for those areas in which
it has been assigned the responsibility to furnish
or to provide for OSCs . EPA will provide guid-
ance to and coordination with Transportation
regarding pollution control and protection of
the environment in the preparation of such
plans.
□ The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
has the responsibility to chair the NRT. In this
capacity, EPA will assure that the Plan is effec-
tively and efficiently implemented with opti-
mum coordination among Federal agencies; the
Agency will recommend changes in the Plan to
CEQ, as deemed necessary. The EPA can also
be responsible for the chairmanship of RRT
and for the development, revision, and imple-
mentation, as necessary, of regional plans for
those areas in which it has been assigned the re-
sponsibility to furnish or to provide for OSCs .
Through the resources of the Office of Water
Programs, EPA will provide technical expertise
to the NRT and RRTs relative to environmen-
tal pollution-control techniques, including the
assessment of damages and environmental resto-
ration.
□ The Department of Justice can supply expert
legal advice to deal with complicated judicial
questions arising from spills and from Federal
agency responses.
□ The Office of Emergency Preparedness (OEP)
will maintain an awareness of pollution inci-
dents as they develop. Normal OEP procedures
will be followed in the evaluation of any request
for a major disaster declaration received from a
Governor of a State. If the President declares
that a pollution spill constitutes a major disaster
under Public Law 91-606, the Director of OEP
will provide coordination and direction of the
Federal response in accordance with OEP poli-
cies and procedures.
□ The Department of State can provide assistance
and coordination whenever a pollution spill
transects international boundaries or involves
foreign-flag vessels.
PLANS FOR SERVICE IMPROVEMENT
Within the Department of Defense, efforts in
water pollution assessment by the Navy during FY
1973 will center on the fate and effects of oil spills
in the nearshore environment. In addition, the
Navy plans to implement a routine monitoring pro-
38
gram at Pearl Harbor during the fourth quarter of
FY 1973 as an extension of the pilot program now
underway at that site.
In FY 1973, the Coast Guard will implement, in
a limited number of coastal areas, a technique
which has been developed in support of its respon-
sibilities for monitoring oil spills. This technique
will employ air-deployable surface current-measur-
ing probes recently developed.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION
SERVICE FOR LIVING MARINE RESOURCES
Federal responsibility for providing a MAREP
Service for Living Marine Resources to those who
utilize such resources or are responsible for their
management and conservation rests with the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service
(NMFS) of the Department of Commerce and
with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of the De-
partment of the Interior in respect to the Great
Lakes. However, the products, warnings, and other
broadcast or published information of the Basic
MAREP Service as they apply to fishing interests
are also emphasized here. This information, al-
though particularly important for the safety of lives
and the protection of property at sea, also aids fish-
ermen in the judicious selection of areas where the
fish are likely to be concentrated and where the
conditions of weather and sea state will permit
efficient operations.
DESCRIPTION OF THE SERVICE
Fishery biology predictions are of two kinds and
may be categorized as tactical and strategic. The
tactical predictions, issued on a close-time schedule,
deal with day-to-day and week-to-week changes in
the locations of fish concentrations and of the envi-
ronmental conditions that influence their move-
ments. These predictions are principally of value to
fishermen and fishery scientists during times when
they are actually at sea. In NOAA, NWS is respon-
sible for that portion of the tactical predictions
containing the meteorological and physical oceano-
graphic conditions. Tactical forecasts are exempli-
fied by the Fishery Advisory Bulletins that are
broadcast by radio daily to the albacore fleet in
the eastern Pacific Ocean waters by the NMFS
Southwest Fisheries Center at La Jolla, Calif.
The strategic predictions are designed to be valid
for a longer term and deal with: (1) the abund-
ances of year classes and populations of fishery spe-
cies; and (2) the major changes in environmental
conditions that influence the abundances and dis-
tributions of the species. The abundance forecasts
are based primarily on survey cruises from which
estimates are made of the numbers of larval, juve-
nile, or adult fish and shellfish. These strategic pre-
dictions are of fundamental importance to the
management and conservation of fishery resources.
Albatross IV — typical research vessel en-
gaged in ichthyoplankton survey operations.
(National Marine Fisheries Service)
\i h i*^-
ft
V /
39
40*
JANUARY 1-31, 1972
MEAN SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE (°F )
180°
140° 130° 120°
Sea-surface temperature chart for the
Northeastern Pacific Ocean.
In addition, 15-day sea-surface temperature
charts of the eastern Pacific are compiled from in-
formation supplied by the U.S. Navy, by the U.S.
Coast Guard, by the NWS, and by the fishing in-
dustry. These charts, now in the ninth year of pub-
lication, are distributed to assist fishermen in select-
ing optimum fishing areas. An example of one of
these charts is shown in the accompanying figure.
Strategic predictions by NMFS, some in coopera-
tion with international commissions and various
States, are made on the abundances of shrimp in
the Gulf of Mexico, of several groundfish species
and sea scallops off the New England coast, of
menhaden off the U.S. east coast, of red and pink
salmon and halibut in the Pacific Northwest fisher-
ies area, of dungeness crabs off the California coast,
of sardines off Baja California, and of skipjack
tuna in Hawaiian waters.
The NMFS advises the States, which receive
Federal aid under Public Laws 88-309 and 89-304,
in implementing the various projects concerned
with research, development, conservation, and
management of commercial and sport fishing re-
sources ; NMFS also cooperates with the States and
with international commissions in determining the
abundance and distribution forecasts of fish and
shellfish stocks. Twelve major installations and 10
ships that are involved in coastal and offshore re-
search are also employed in these activities.
The Coast Guard conducts monthly flights over
the Continental Shelf off the east coast to record
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION
SERVICE FOR LIVING MARINE RESOURCES,
BY AGENCY
(in thousands of dollars)
Commerce
Defense
Interior
Transpora
tion
NASA
Total
Operations
Relevant
research
Total
FY72 FY73 FY72 FY73 FY72 FY73
7,367
6,902
14,907
19,910
22,274
26,812
100
103
705
825
805
828
5
6
313
331
318
337
724
828
724
828
275
100
275
100
. 8,196
7,839
16,200
21,165
24,396
29,004
40
sea-surface temperatures and surface-swimming an-
imals. A similar program is conducted by the Coast
Guard on the west coast in cooperation with the
NMFS Tiburon (Calif.) Coastal Fisheries Re-
search Laboratory of NOAA. Charts of sea-surface
temperatures are prepared and mailed monthly to
fishermen, various institutions, and other potential
users. Through its Oceanographic Unit, the Coast
Guard conducts spring and autumn oceanographic
surveys of the Northwest Atlantic fisheries area as
part of its coastal monitoring and studies effort.
These surveys, funded at $171,000 for FY 1972, in-
clude Nansen and STD casts and analyses for inor-
ganic nutrients.
A major new program, initiated in FY 1972 by
NMFS, is the Marine Resources Monitoring, As-
sessment, and Prediction (MARMAP) Program.
The overall objectives of this Program are to:
• Develop techniques for obtaining accurate mea-
sures of the abundance and geographic distribu-
tion of living marine resources available to the
United States.
• Monitor seasonal and annual fluctuations in the
distribution and abundance of the various life
stages of pelagic and demersal fishery resources
and relate them to environmental factors and ex-
ploitation by man.
• Assess the productive capacity of these resources
on a sustained yield basis and develop models for
predicting future yields.
• Establish a comprehensive description of the ma-
rine ecosystem in terms of the distribution, com-
position, and interrelation of biological commun-
ities.
To achieve these MARMAP objectives will re-
quire:
• Conducting continuing surveys of the major bio-
logical communities of living marine resources in
sufficient geographical and temporary detail for
assessment and prediction purposes.
• Obtaining the environmental data necessary to
formulate models of the large-scale relations be-
tween physical environmental factors and biolog-
ical communities, with emphasis on distribution
and abundance of the resource species.
• Acquiring information from special studies to
clarify specific biological and environmental rela-
tions within marine ecosystems.
• Developing an integrated national system for
acquisition, compilation, analysis, and dissemina-
tion of information on the resource populations
and their environment.
The MARMAP initiative involves three kinds of
surveys: (1) ichthyoplankton, (2) groundfish, and
(3) pelagic fish. These surveys differ principally in
the method of sampling and in the techniques of
data analysis. Simultaneously with the biological
sampling, a variety of physical and chemical varia-
bles of the environment are measured. The surveys
are performed aboard ships of the NOAA fleet,
together with those of the Coast Guard, cooperat-
ing States, laboratories, and private organizations.
Supplemental data will be obtained from buoys,
satellites, and ships of opportunity.
The accompanying chart shows the Atlantic por-
tion of the MARMAP area to be surveyed in FY
1973.
The overall MARMAP service Program in FY
1972 cost $5,147,000 and concentrated on: (1) the
establishment of MARMAP operational control ;
Marine Resources Monitoring, Assessment,
and Prediction (MARMAP) survey coverage
in the Atlantic, FY 1973; Survey I— ichthyo-
plankton. (National Marine Fisheries Serv-
ice)
41
(2) the development of detailed survey plans for
the ichthyoplankton and groundfish surveys; (3)
the initiation of a substantial portion of the ichthyo-
plankton survey; (4) the continuation of ongoing
components of groundfish and pelagic fish surveys;
and (5) the development of a system to make full
use of the diverse environmental data and
information that is made available from numerous
Federal, State, private, and international organiza-
tions. The technology thrust of MARMAP falls
broadly into three categories: (1) development of
ship-based systems for monitoring the living marine
resources and the environment; (2) development
of aircraft and satellite-based remote-sensing sys-
tems for similiar use; and (3) development of in-
formation extraction systems.
Data-acquisition activities in FY 1972 for MAR-
MAP involved giving support to the biological and
environmental data-acquisition phases of ichthyo-
plankton surveys off the east and west coasts and
developing plans for acquisition of additional data
and information at a total cost of $1,632,000.
Processing and analysis of biological speciments
and of environmental data to produce the needed
information (or products) of MARMAP is a major
requirement at all NMFS Laboratories involved in
the Program. Information or products needed in-
clude the sorting of planktonic fish eggs, planktonic
larvae, and other planktonic organisms; the identi-
fication, counting, and measurement of specimens;
the analysis of data derived from specimen samples
— for example, sizes and ages — and from the re-
mote sensing of resource species ; and the reduction,
compilation, interrelation, analysis, and distribution
of environmental data. The sorting, identification,
and analysis activities accomplished in connection
with MARMAP required $3,722,000 in FY 1972.
PLANS FOR SERVICE IMPROVEMENT
Implementation of MARMAP in FY 1973, with
additional funds of $821,000 over the FY 1972 ad-
justed base, will include:
• Acquiring materials and equipment necessary to
achieve interim operational capability for Survey
I (ichthyoplankton).
• Starting the interim operational capability phase
of Survey I. Species of importance to both com-
mercial and sport fishermen will be included in
the Survey.
• Conducting tests to demonstrate the feasibility of
various types of sampling gear to provide pro-
gram-wide Survey II capability, including
acceptance or rejection of multiple-gear types for
full-scale development.
• Conducting tests to demonstrate the feasibility of
various sensors to provide the means of remote
underwater assessment of benthic and demersal
sport and commercial species (Survey II), in-
cluding acceptance or rejection of some sensors
for full-scale development.
• Conducting tests to demonstrate the feasibility of
various direct-sampling and remote-sampling
methods for surveys of pelagic fish (Survey III).
• Entering into cooperative contracts with Federal,
State, and private institutions for the processing,
analysis, and production of the formatted output
of ichthyoplankton and environmental data ob-
tained during MARMAP survey cruises.
• Training of personnel in the sorting and identifi-
cation of iththyoplankton.
• Acquiring equipment for environmental process-
ing and analysis groups.
• Bringing together and integrating historical
oceanographic data and analyses from all rele-
vant sources to support the interim operational
capability phase of Survey I. The analytical work
is detailed under research in physical oceanogra-
phy in the section, Research Relevant to Marine
Environmental Prediction.
• Expanding the staff of the MARMAP Program
Manager and adding personnel for field coordi-
nation of surveys.
MARMAP surveys are planned to reach full op-
erational status by 1976.
The National Environmental Satellite Service
(NESS) of NOAA will assist MARMAP by pro-
viding specialized environmental products — espe-
cially sea-surface temperature maps.
In addition to MARMAP, there are plans un-
derway for the Basic MAREP Service to increase
the number of expendable bathythermograph ob-
servations from fishing vessels and from ships of op-
portunity in the Cooperative Merchant-Ship Ob-
servational Program. These data will be used by
NMFS in its analyses and mathematical models
that relate fish concentrations and distributions to
ocean-temperature conditions and will also contri-
bute to the enhancement of the data base for the
Basic MAREP Service.
The activities performed by the Bureau of Sport
Fisheries and Wildlife of the Department of the In-
terior are described under research in biological
oceanography in the section, Research Relevant to
Marine Environmental Prediction.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION
SERVICE FOR MINERAL EXPLORATION
No Federal agency operational programs are spe-
cifically directed toward the MAREP Service for
Mineral Exploration, although most facets of the
Basic MAREP Service are applicable. Of particu-
42
lar relevance to this Specialized MAREP Service
are forecasts and warnings of tropical and extra-
tropical storms, sea-and-swell, storm surges, tsun-
amis, ocean currents, and sea ice.
Two research projects, designed to support this
Service uniquely, are discussed in the section, Re-
search Relevant to Marine Environmental Predic-
tion, of this Plan. One of these projects is conducted
»by the Marine Minerals Technology Center
(MMTC) of the Environmental Research Labora-
tories (ERL) of NOAA, with the objective of de-
veloping techniques to predict the effects of marine
mining on the environment. The other project is
conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
with the objective of assessing offshore deposits of
sand and gravel for use in beach nourishment.
In addition, the U.S. Navy Ocean Engineering
Program includes major research and development
programs in undersea search and rescue, construc-
tion, and occanographic instrumentation. The as-
sessment of the severity and variability of the envi-
ronment associated with these engineering projects
as well as the advances in technology are applicable
to the development of the MAREP Service for
Mineral Exploration.
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION
» SERVICE FOR NATIONAL SECURITY
There are special requirements of the Depart-
ment of Defense for a wide range of MAREP Serv-
ices which do not serve other user groups. The di-
versity and specialization of these Services are re-
flected in the many kinds of platforms, sensor,
weapon systems, and vehicles operated by Defense
throughout the total marine environment.
DESCRIPTION OF THE SERVICE
Defense activities involving a need for specialized
marine environmental knowledge include search,
rescue, and salvage ; antisubmarine warfare
(ASW) ; amphibious operations; mine warfare;
polar operations; and ocean and coastal engineer-
ing. In addition, routine fleet operations require a
large volume of marine information and predic-
tions not otherwise obtainable in the Basic MAREP
Service. To meet these Service requirements, De-
fense allocated $42,160,000 in FY 1972, represent-
ing the largest share and 19.9 percent of the Fed-
eral MAREP program.
Examples of marine environmental parameters,
in addition to weather conditions, forecast for spe-
cial defense matters include: sea, surf, and swell;
sea-surface temperature; thermocline depth; sub-
surface thermal structure ; subsurface current vec-
tors; special factors related to underwater sound;
sea-ice cover; optimum conditions for ship routing;
and biological factors such as false targets, deep-
scattering layer, and organisms producing reverber-
ation.
Much of the Defense effort in MAREP is ap-
plied in support of various ASW systems. This sup-
port is essential because the propagation of under-
water sound is central to most aspects of ASW and
because the behavior of sound in sea water is
strongly influenced by marine environmental fac-
tors. As more understanding is gained of the com-
plexity and variability of the ocean, it is evident
that the controlling environmental conditions must
be monitored and projected into the future on a
broad basis for ASW purposes.
The MAREP Service for National Security is the
only Specialized MAREP Service containing all el-
ements of the basic MAREP systems concept, that
is, data-acquisition platforms, data collection and
communications, data-processing functions, and
product dissemination media. In some cases, the
MAREP Service for National Security of the De-
partment of Defense complements and provides es-
sential support for the Basic MAREP Service. An
example of this support is the hundreds of ship ob-
servations and scores of aircraft observations made
available to the Basic MAREP Service on a daily
basis. Most Defense MAREP activities, however,
support unique defense needs of the Nation. In
■meeting these needs, the Department has developed
programs in the following MAREP areas:
• Ice Forecasting
• Hurricane and typhoon reconnaissance
• Ship routing
• Surf forecasting
• Typhoon and hurricane evasion
• Sea-surface temperature fields
• Sea conditions (wave heights)
• Meteorological forecasts over worldwide ocean
areas
• Subsurface ocean-water properties
• Acoustic conditions
• Biological effects on acoustics
• Ocean-floor characteristics and beach condi-
tions.
The U.S. Navy operates a full-service, wide-
range Federal MAREP system for defense needs.
The core of this system is the Fleet Numerical
Weather Central (FNWC) located at Monterey.
Dissemination of products from the main computer
processing component of FNWC is provided by the
Naval Environmental Data Network (NEDN)
through interconnected digital computers and on-
line communications equipment. The FNWC proc-
esses, disseminates, and displays meteorological and
43
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE MAREP PRODUCTS
OF THE
NAVAL WEATHER SERVICE COMMAND
Title
Product
Cycle
1. General weather forecast
a. Waves — direction, period, and height
b. Swell — direction, period, and height
c. Combined sea height
d. Surface currents
e. Surface weather factors — such as wind,
temperature, fog, and precipitation
f. Cloud coverage
g. Oceanic fronts
h. Oceanic dispersion
i. Air-ocean heat exchange
j. Gale, hurricane, and storm warnings
2. Optimum Track Ship Routing (OTSR) and weather advisories
3. Search and rescue drift forecast
4. Marine Climatic Atlas
5. Ocean-Area Observations
6. Sea-surface temperature
7. Mixed-layer depth
8. Below layer gradient
9. Upper sound channels
10. Probability of transients (thermal gradients)
11. Bathythermograph and sound-velocity profiles
12. Acoustic Sensor Range Prediction (ASRAP)
13. Ship-Helicopter Acoustic Range Prediction System (SHARPS)
14. Detailed propagation loss
15. SHARPS-horizontal-range depictions
16. ASW Oceanographic Environmental Services (NWS 3360/1)
17. Oceanographic Outlooks
Synoptic analysis/forecast
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
Daily
As requested
As requested
As requested
As available
Individual forecast
As requested
Individual forecast
As requested
Book (series)
As available
Book (series)
As available
Synoptic analysis/forecast
Daily
Synoptic analysis/forecast
Daily
Synoptic analysis/forecast
Daily
Synoptic analysis/forecast
On request
Synoptic analysis/forecast
On request
Synoptic analysis/forecast
On request
Individual forecast
On request
Individual forecast
On request
Individual forecast
On request
Synoptic analysis/ forecast
On request
Booklet
As available
Booklet (series)
Quarterly
oceanographic analyses and forecasts on a hemi-
spheric basis to meet Defense needs. Through the
facilities of FNWC, real-time products are contin-
ually updated and tailored to fleet and other re-
quirements of Defense. The FNWC products are
distributed through NEDN to Fleet Weather Cen-
trals and Facilities strategically located throughout
the world. The accompanying charts show NEDN
terminals. The FNWC is the master center for col-
lecting and processing worldwide data inputs of
meteorological and oceanographic parameters. Re-
sponsibilities for providing fleet support through-
out the oceanic regions of the world are shared by
Fleet Weather Centrals at Guam, Pearl Harbor,
Norfolk, and Rota, Spain. Computers at these Cen-
trals receive processed data fields from FNWC,
augment these fields with the latest observed data,
and produce environmental support products tai-
lored to naval forces at sea and ashore. The Cen-
trals use the broad-scale products from FNWC
and, where available and applicable, the products
from the National Meteorological Center (NMC)
44
COMWEST
SEAFRON
NWSED
BRUNSWICK'
NWSED
MOFFETT*
FWF-
QUONSET PT
/
/ NMC'
\ SUITLANO /
FWC
ALAMEDA
\
OCEANO
WOODS HOLE
v
\
WEST COAST TIE LINE
\
WSFO*
SAN FRANCISCO
S^
AFGWC
OFFUTT AFB
FWF
SUITLANO
COAST GUARO
AMVER CNTR
NEW YORK
PMR
PT MUGU
NATTC
LAKEHURST
MCAS
PRIMARY
FNWC
MONTEREY
. U.S. TRUNK _
FWC
NORFOLK
PRIMARY
FWC NORFOLK
(FLT SRV)
EL TORO
CONTROLLER
"~ CONTROLLER
NAT. MARINE
FISHERIES SERVICE
LA JOLLA
w
EAST COAST TIE LINE
NAVOCEANO
NWSED
LOS ALAMITOS
CINCLANT
OPCON NFK
\ AFB (AWN)
FWF
SAN DIEGO
NWSEO
PATUXENT R*
•DATA SOURCE
SAN DIEGO
STATE COLLEGE
FWF*
JACKSONVILLE
NWSED
KEY WEST*
Naval Environmental Data Network (NEDN)
— conterminous United States.
FWC GUAM
*NOTE
FWC
PEARL HARBOR
== DATA SOURCE AND SYSTEM
INTERFACE WITH USAF AUTOMATED
WEATHER NETWORK (AWN)
CARSWELL AFB"
^
> i
FNWC MONTEREY
FWC ALAMEDA
FWF SUITLAND
—IT
II
FWC NORFOLK
AFGWC*
OFFUTT AFB
FWF LONDON
"I-
I I
FWC ROTA
Naval Environmental Data Network (NEDN)
— overseas.
45
of NOAA to prepare detailed analyses, forecasts,
and warnings for their areas of responsibility. The
Fleet Weather Central products are disseminated
to naval operating forces, to smaller naval environ-
mental units, and to other components of the De-
partment of Defense through the Naval Communi-
cations System.
More than 60 weather offices at shore stations
and aboard larger ships provide MAREP Services
for naval operations. The focal point for environ-
mental support is at the operating level. The pri-
mary purpose of this support is to provide meteo-
rological and oceanographic information and
advice to operational commanders. Briefings gener-
ally are conducted in person, but they may also be
provided by telephone or closed-circuit television.
Oceanographic observations are collected by re-
gional centers and are edited, cataloged, and trans-
mitted through NEDN to FNWC for hemispheric
analyses. Data are also forwarded to NAV-
OCEANO, San Diego State College, Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution, U.S. Coast Guard,
NMFS and National Oceanographic Data Center
(NODC) of NOAA, Canadian Forces, British
Royal Navy, and other countries for forecasting
purposes, for support of research projects, and for
archiving. The FNWC performs hemispheric-scale
oceanographic analyses and forecasts every 12
hours, using a complex forecasting model based on
TYPICAL FNWC FLEET
SUPPORT SERVICES
1. Numerical weather and oceanographic analysis and forecast
charts for fleet facsimile broadcast.
2. Edited data summaries for channel 8 of the fleet multi-
channel broadcast.
3. Ballistic wind and density forecasts for strategic support.
4. Route-wind forecasts for long-haul airlift.
5. Sound-propagation loss forecasts for ASW operations.
6. Wave forecasts for replenishment planning, long-haul OTSR,
and high-seas warnings.
7. Radiological fallout forecasts for naval operating areas.
8. Drift computations for vessels and aircraft in distress.
9. Swell forecasts for surf prediction.
10. Tide predictions for amphibious and logistic operations and
storm-surge warnings.
theoretical considerations, climatology, and empiri-
cal equations. These analyses and forecasts are
made available to those Naval Weather Service
Command (NWSC) activities that are engaged in
immediate fleet support. Oceanographic products
are distributed to users by a variety of communica-
tion systems, such as fleet broadcasts, and by
means of radioteletypewriter or facsimile, digital
data links, and nonelectronic means.
The NAVOCEANO prepares experimental
oceanographic forecasts in support of complex or
specialized operations where an operational tech-
nique has not yet been developed. These forecasts
include information concerning waves, currents,
thermal structure, and ice and are tailored to a spe-
cific application. In addition to specialized forecast-
ing activities, NAVOCEANO prepares oceano-
graphic charts, publications, atlases, and related
materials required by the fleet and Defense plan-
ners.
The major portion of the Federal training effort
in support of MAREP is performed by the Depart-
ment of Defense. The Naval Postgraduate School
at Monterey conducts an Environmental Sciences
Program to qualify commissioned officers as ocean-
ographers and meteorologists through advanced-de-
gree studies and independent research. A limited
number of officers from other military services, the
Coast Guard, and from selected foreign countries
also attend. A limited number of naval officers are
also selected for advanced-degree studies at civilian
universities. The Postgraduate School curricula
cover at least a 24-month period and include lec-
ture and laboratory courses in air-sea interaction
and its use in forecasting ocean currents, sea, swell,
sea temperature, and acoustical parameters as well
as courses in accepted meteorological forecasting
methods. Emphasis is placed upon prediction meth-
ods having applications to ASW.
Regional centers also play an important role in
the training and indoctrination of NWSC Environ-
mental Detachment officers and of mobile oceano-
graphic teams. One of the important training func-
tions performed by NWSC regional centers is the
indoctrination of fleet ASW operators in the tac-
tical application of oceanographic predictions.
Ice observers are trained at NAVOCEANO.
This Office also sends selected scientists to universi-
ties for advanced training in oceanography, mathe-
matics, computer science, and other disciplines
which will enhance their contributions to projects
having an application to MAREP. Naval officers
from other nations are trained at NAVOCEANO
in those aspects of oceanography that are impor-
tant to analysis and prediction. These naval officers
46
k^i^'ii'.
Hi #%l "
"r
from foreign nations and selected U.S. officers re-
ceive training on the application of MAREP to
naval operations.
The Naval Air Technical Training Center at
Lakehurst, N.J., offers meteorological technician
training at three levels for enlisted personnel; this
Center also provides specialized technical training
in meteorology and oceanography. A limited num-
ber of personnel from the Coast Guard and other
military services are accommodated.
A Meteorological and Oceanographic Equip-
ment Maintenance (MOCEM) course for Elec-
tronics Technician (ET) personnel was established
at the Naval Air Technical Training Center in
1969. The Center has a 17-week ET school where
naval personnel are trained in the maintenance of
shipboard, airborne, and land station equipment
designed for the measurement of marine parame-
ters.
Routine maintenance of meteorological and
oceanographic equipment in the Navy is a com-
mand responsibility; maintenance is provided by
the local organization, that is, the ground electron-
ics shops at shore activities and the electronics divi-
sion aboard naval vessels. To provide support for
field commands and ships, a Meteorological and
Oceanographic Equipment Program (MOEP) was
established to assist in the handling of chronic
maintenance problems and installation planning.
The MOEP is a responsibility of NWSC and con-
sists of specially trained officers, civilians, and en-
listed personnel.
U.S. Naval Postgraduate School oceanographic
Research Vessel, Acania.
Internal support activities within Navy include:
technical support provided by NWSC and by the
Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIRSYS-
COM ) ; engineering support provided by the Naval
Industrial Management Offices and by the Public
Works Offices; and management, supervision, ad-
ministration, and logistical support provided at the
local operating level. Management above the oper-
ating level within the Navy is provided through
staff efforts at the Office of the Oceanographer of
the Navy, at the NWSC, at the NAVAIRSYS-
COM, and at the NAVOCEANO.
PLANS FOR SERVICE IMPROVEMENT
The FY 1973 Defense budget for the MAREP
Service for National Security is $44,401,000. Im-
provement of this Specialized MAREP Service in
FY 1973 will be achieved, at a cost of $2,241,000,
by installing the most modern data-acquisition
equipment in additional naval ships, by providing
temperature-sensor support to new observation ves-
sels, and by expanding computer facilities and sup-
port of oceanographic analysis and forecasting. De-
velopment of an automated shipboard system fore-
casting for command ships will permit the combi-
nation of local synoptic bathythermograph observa-
tions with historical ocean-station data to display
the predicted three-dimensional thermal structure.
An extensive research program will be conducted
by Defense for improvement of this Specialized
MAREP Service; this program is discussed in the
final section of the Plan which follows.
47
Research Relevant to Marine Environmental
Prediction
Descriptions of the Basic and Specialized Marine
Environmental Prediction (MAREP) Services and
of the plans by the Federal agencies for improving
these Services are contained in the preceding sec-
tions of this Plan. The Basic MAREP Service pro-
vides the foundation for the Specialized MAREP
Services, which include those designed for maritime
navigation, water pollution assessment, living ma-
rine resources, -mineral exploration, and national
security. Relevant research programs, including de-
velopment efforts, supported by Federal agencies
that will contribute to the future improvements in
MAREP Services are presented in this section.
INTRODUCTION
Federal funds spent in FY 1972 and planned for
expenditure in FY 1973 in relevant MAREP re-
search are summarized in the table, "Federal Plan
for Marine Environmental Prediction, by Agency,"
in a preceding section of the Plan, Summary of
Fiscal Data. Federal agency funds spent for rele-
vant research in support of the several MAREP
functions are shown in the accompanying table,
"Agency Relevant Research Costs, by Function."
Because many research projects do not contribute
per se to these functions, a separate heading in the
table gives information on funding which supports
those research projects that are expected ultimately
to contribute to MAREP through a better under-
standing of the basic environmental processes. Ex-
penses incurred by Federal agencies through ad-
ministrative support of research projects have been
supplied by some agencies and are included in the
table. Funding information on research in support
of the Basic MAREP Service and of the several
Specialized MAREP Services is contained in sepa-
rate tables under the respective Services in the pre-
ceding sections of this Plan.
Major research efforts by Federal agencies rele-
vant to improvements in MAREP Services are de-
scribed in the following paragraphs. The presenta-
tion will discuss these research program efforts
under the following categories: research necessary
for the understanding of the basic marine processes
and research for the improvement of functions
which constitute a MAREP system.
RESEARCH FOR UNDERSTANDING BASIC
MARINE PROCESSES
The National Science Foundation (NSF), the
Department of Commerce, and the Department of
Defense support a large variety of research pro-
grams directed toward an understanding of basic
marine processes that are considered important to
MAREP. Basic marine research programs relevant
to MAREP are funded at lower levels by the De-
partments of Transportation and the Interior, the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the
Smithsonian Institution.
The NSF provides funds for the accomplishment
of fundamental research projects in marine sciences
through a number of different procedures, attempt-
ing to provide an attack on problems over a broad
front that ranges from immediate to long-range
concern. From unsolicited proposals submitted by
individual investigators, the Oceanography Section
of the Foundation selects, through a process of re-
view by peers, those programs of the highest qual-
ity. For the Antarctic program, unsolicited propos-
als are selected through a review by peers and on a
review of their compatibility with available logistics
and of their contribution to international objec-
tives. A slightly varied procedure is followed by
NSF on the International Decade of Ocean Explo-
ration (IDOE) and on Arctic programs; specific
research efforts are selected, and most programs in-
volve teams of investigators from different institu-
tions. The IDOE program is designed to support
selected oceanographic research efforts that will
contribute to a better understanding of the ocean
environment, an understanding that would not
generally be expected through unsolicited individ-
ual studies in comparable time periods.
48
RESEARCH RELEVANT TO MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION
IN SEVERAL CATEGORIES PERFORMED BY FEDERAL AGENCIES
Physical oceanography
and marine meteorology
Biological and chemical
oceanography
Polar-area
marine studies
Coastal region
studies
Great Lakes
limnology
Research and develop-
ment on data acquisi-
tion for MAREP
Research and develop-
ment on data analysis
and processing
Research and develop-
ment on MAREP informa-
tion dissemination
z$^4^M4^X/W
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1 The research programs in this area are discussed
under biological and chemical oceanography.
2 Includes ship operation support.
Another procedure, initiated recently by NSF
under the newly created Office of the Assistant
Director for Research Applications, focuses on se-
lected projects of national concern. The program,
Research Applied to National Needs (RANN),
provides support for highly coordinated and di-
rected efforts by scientists in various disciplines and
institutions. Often the interdisciplinary aspects of
these RANN programs make it difficult to catego-
rize them into science disciplines. The marine sci-
ences are most heavily involved in programs de-
signed either to manage the regional systems in the
coastal areas or to measure the effects of trace con-
taminants in the environment.
The Department of Defense supports the Navy
Ocean Science Program which includes a large va-
riety of research projects covering the broad disci-
plines of physical, chemical, and biological ocean-
ography as well as marine geology and geophysics.
Although designed to meet specific military re-
quirements, projects of Defense elements provide
considerable benefit to the civilian sector. For ex-
ample, the U.S. Navy's development of ice fore-
casting techniques and establishment of an exten-
sive ice observational program in support of the re-
supply of Arctic stations have benefited industrial
and other civilian operations in the Arctic. Re-
search in basic processes of concern to MAREP is
also conducted by Defense through the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers and by the Advanced Research
Projects Agency.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin-
istration (NOAA) was created within the Depart-
ment of Commerce to be a national focus for:
• A unified approach to the problems of the oceans
and atmosphere.
49
AGENCY RELEVANT RESEARCH COSTS, BY FUNCTION
(in thousands of dollars)
Research directed toward improvement of
Understand- f N Agency
ing basic Data Communi- Data Information support of
processes acquisition cations processing dissemination research ' Total
FY72 FY73 FY72 FY73 FY72 FY73 FY72 FY73 FY72 FY73 FY72 FY73 FY72 FY73
Commerce ... 31,782 41,811 15,368 17,134 523 1,703 558 758 108 108 48,339 61,514
Defense 10,221 10,874 9,173 9,829 487 487 3,618 3,704 133 133 23,631 25,027
Interior 1,680 1,719 50 50 193 197 1,923 1,966
Transportation 2,759 3,903 4,139 5,855 6,898 9,758
AEC 6,679 6,048 6,679 6,048
EPA 3,314 3,684 420 700 3,734 4,384
NASA 2,212 4,027 2,212 4,027
NSF 20,399 18,840 20,399 18,840
Smithsonian . 250 425 250 425
Total 77,084 87,304 3U61 37,595 487 487 4,141 5,407 691 891 301 305 114,605 131,989
1 Where figures are not given, the funds for agency support of research are included under other functional categories.
• Better understanding, development, and conser-
vation of marine resources.
• Consolidation of efforts toward greater knowl-
edge of oceanic and atmospheric phenomena as
well as those of the solid earth.
• A balanced Federal program toward more effec-
tive environmental monitoring control.
The NOAA Environmental Research Laborato-
ries (ERL) are organized to conduct a portion of
the basic research in fulfilling these responsibilities.
The ERL provide a comprehensive study of man's
environment, ranging from the solid earth and
oceans to the atmosphere and near space. Research'
by ERL contributes in particular to our knowledge
and understanding of the physical marine environ-
ment. Marine research, designed to meet these
NOAA responsibilities, is also conducted by other
major components of NOAA including the Na-
tional Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the
National Ocean Survey (NOS). In addition, the
Office of Sea Grant of NOAA supports research
projects in marine sciences at institutions through-
out the United States in much the same manner as
NSF, but the Office focuses its support on the ap-
plied aspects of marine resource development, con-
servation, protection, training, and management.
Much of the research effort is relevant to improve-
ment of MAREP.
Basic research will be identified in the following
paragraphs under the subsections of physical ocean-
ography and marine meteorology, biological and
chemical oceanography, and projects in geographi-
cal areas of special interest.
PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY AND MARINE
METEOROLOGY
Physical oceanography within the Navy Ocean
Science Program is concerned with the physical
processes of the sea and their direct and indirect ef-
fects on naval operations. To understand, exploit,
and predict the capabilities of these processes, the
U.S. Navy needs to understand the structure of the
sound-speed profile in the ocean from surface to
bottom, the temporal and spatial variability of this
structure, the nature of the surface and of the bot-
tom, and the effect of all of these factors on sound.
The general inaccessibility of much of the ocean
makes it impossible at the present time to gather
enough physical data for a synoptic analysis of the
state of the ocean as the meteorologists are doing
with the atmosphere. As long as it is necessary to
depend on sparse sampling at sea, it is mandatory
that the Navy understand the cause-and-effect rela-
tions between solar and atmospheric driving forces
and air-sea response well enough to extrapolate the
relatively small data samples over wide areas and
to extend these analyses by reasonable prediction.
50
J
The complex interaction between the atmos-
phere and the sea frequently dominates the near-
surface antisubmarine warfare (ASW) problem.
Waves' generated by the wind stir the near-surface
waters, altering their sound-speed structure. The
same wind sets the surface water in motion as a
wind-driven surface current, causing the waves to
scatter sound at the surface. Air-sea interaction
studies, a major part of the Navy physical oceanog-
raphy program, are advancing our understanding
of the physical and chemical processes involved in
these interactions. All scales of activity, ranging
from molecular to global and from instantaneous to
climatic, are embraced. Specific objectives are to
understand and to describe the parameters in-
volved in the processes of energy exchange through
the sea surface, to determine the air-sea exchange
rates, and to understand the atmospheric influ-
ences upon the sea and the oceanic influence
upon the atmosphere sufficiently to make accurate
predictions.
The Navy presently sponsors a large-scale air-sea
interaction study in the North Pacific. The study,
initiated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanogra-
phy, is concerned with the premise that large-scale
changes in the circulation of the atmosphere and
ocean are closely coupled. Scripps' scientists have
established the existence of huge anomalous pools
of water in the North Pacific. Under Office of
New laboratory building of the Atlantic
Oceanographic and Meteorological Labora-
tories (AOML). (Environmental Research
Laboratories of NOAA)
Naval Research (ONR) sponsorship, the relation
between these anomalies in the upper region of the
North Pacific and climatic anomalies over North
America has been demonstrated. Research to date
indicates the probability of scientific breakthroughs
in the state of the art dealing with the prediction of
oceanographic and global weather conditions. Fu-
ture plans call for the expansion of this effort
under Navy (ONR) and NSF (IDOE) manage-
ment. Phase One of the expanded effort is a 9-year
program during which time a massive increase in
data buoy stations wilhbe initiated. Plans also in-
clude the use of the international oceanographic
data transmission frequency bands for communica-
tions. Anticipated funding for the project is $6 to
$10 million per year. Procurement and operations
of the buoy system will be coordinated with the
National Data Buoy Center (NOBC) of NOS.
Theoretical modeling of general ocean circula-
tion, including major current systems, has reached
the stage at which the need for experimental verifi-
cation of theory is comparable to the need for ade-
quate theory to account for the observation. Labo-
ratory models of time-dependent flows in rotating
basins can now predict the gross features of general
circulation.
51
27° 28° 29°
LATITUDE (DEGREES NORTH)
32°
Specific Navy objectives on small-scale water
motion studies are to develop techniques for meas-
uring the internal motions and to determine the
oceanwide distribution of energy spectra and classes
of motion. The scales of motion are of particular
importance to undersea vehicles and research sub-
mersibles because the associated changes in density
of sea water affect the vehicle buoyancy.
The physical oceanography program of the U.S.
Army is related to its Civil Works missions for
maintaining navigational channels, controlling
beach erosion, and providing protection from natu-
ral disasters. This program is concerned with the
physical processes and their interactions insofar as
they affect man and his environment. The purpose
of this activity is the understanding of forces and
their impact on engineering design and the result-
ant interaction on the environment.
The Department of Defense carries out geology
and geophysics research on phenomena which
affect marine environmental predictions of naval
interest. These studies are concerned with the mor-
phology and physical properties of the sea floor
and with the natural processes which are active
there.
The obvious effects of the sea floor on surface
wave motion have been studied for a long time. In-
corporation of these effects into operable prediction
schemes remains, however, as the goal of a substan-
tial research effort. In the nearshore area, the
Thermal structure of the surface layer of the
ocean (in degrees Celsius), important in
understanding sound propagation. (U.S. Navy)
characteristics of sea, surf, and swell are critically
dependent upon the nature of the bottom. In turn,
wave motion influences longshore currents,
beach formation, and rip tides; the sea floor itself
is influenced through wave erosion and by trans-
portation and deposition of sediments.
The prediction of acoustic behavior must take
into account the roughness and composition of the
bottom and of the acoustic properties of sediments.
Accordingly, much Navy research is directed to-
ward understanding sea floor morphology, sedi-
ment distribution, and physical properties of sedi-
ments. Studies range from those of the dynamic
tectonic and sedimentary processes to the minute
examination of sediment porosity and grain size. A
large number of seismic profiles, samples, sound-
ings, and bottom photographs have been accumu-
lated in support of this as well as other activities.
As we proceed into a decade of increased subsur-
face ocean operations, it is likely that the impor-
tance of marine geological research for environ-
mental prediction purposes will increase. It may
become important, for example, to predict the
occurrence of turbidity currents to conduct safe
deep submersible operations along the continental
margins. The Army Corps of Engineers has devel-
oped a related research program which, although
52
aimed at locating offshore sand and gravel deposits
for beach nourishment, may have important eco-
nomic and environmental aspects. Navy-oriented
research into the occurrence of manganese nodules
promises similar future economic benefits.
The Oceanography Section of NSF focuses on
individual scientific studies of processes occurring
in the ocean. These include the physical processes
that maintain the sea in motion, dynamics of
coastal processes, and scales of oceanographic tur-
bulence. Both the Oceanography and Atmospheric
Sciences Sections support research studies on the
ocean-atmosphere interface and on theoretical
fluid dynamics. A considerable number of interac-
tion studies are involved in the Global Atmospheric
Research Program (GARP), an international
long-term study to increase our knowledge of the
general circulation of the atmosphere and of the
physical basis of climate through an improved un-
derstanding of the air-ocean linkage. In FY 1973,
support will include the numerical modeling of
tropical and general circulations and the continued
analysis of data resulting from the Barbados
Oceanographic and Meteorological Experiment
(BOMEX) completed in 1969.
One of the major objectives of IDOE will be to
provide the scientific basis needed for improving
marine environmental forecasting. Long-term
major projects have been selected by NSF to
accomplish this objective. The Mid-Ocean Dynam-
ics Experiment (MODE) is designed to obtain a
better understanding of middle-scale dynamic proc-
esses such as geostrophic eddies and to elucidate
their role in ocean circulation and in global cli-
mate. The MODE will be carried out in the Atlan-
tic Ocean between Bermuda and the United States,
with efforts in FY 1973 devoted to planning, test-
ing of numerical models, and development of in-
struments. As noted, the Navy's study of large-scale
air-sea interaction in the North Pacific, will be ex-
panded as a joint program of ONR and IDOE.
The aim of these programs and the others to follow
in IDOE will be to support improved forecasting of
the marine environment.
Within NOAA, a number of major research pro-
jects in physical oceanography and related interac-
tions with the atmosphere are conducted by ERL.
These projects, along with their objectives and the
responsible Laboratory of ERL, are identified in
the following listing:
• Research on the structure and motion of the At-
lantic Ocean, conducted by the ERL Atlantic
Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratories
(AOML), designed to increase the understand-
ing of the physical, chemical, and dynamic prop-
Instrumented capsules for measuring mid-
ocean tides. (National Science Foundation)
erties and processes in the estuaries, the near-
shore, the Continental Shelf, and in the open
ocean areas of the Atlantic; such research will
facilitate prediction systems for various oceano-
graphic phenomena as required to improve the
marine science programs of NOAA.
Research on the structure and motion of the
Pacific Ocean, conducted by the ERL Pacific
Oceanographic Laboratory (POLL designed to
provide results for application to oceanic envi-
ronmental studies and to the specification of en-
vironmental service programs that are aimed at
promoting the effective utilization of the oceans.
The research objective by POL is pursued
through carefully designed field experiments and
through exploratory field studies that are de-
signed to relate to significant features of ocean
dynamics.
53
MODE - I FIELD EXPERIMENT
AIRCRAFT: MASS TRANSPORT MEASURING
FLOATS. XBT TEMPERATURE PROFILES
SHIPS: CTD & XBT
PROFILES, DATA
RADIOED TO &
FROM SHORE
LAGRANGIAN
SUBSURFACE
FLOATS TRACKED
BY SOFAR
SOFAR ARRAY. DATA
TO SHORE
ELECTRODES MEASURING
GEOMAGNETIC ELECTROKINETIC
POTENTIAL, MONITOR VARIATIONS
OF MEAN FLOW
SURFACE BUOYS
EULERIAN ARRAYS
RECOVERABLE LAUNCHERS TRACK
EXPENDABLE UPWARD-PROFILING FLOATS
35°
UNIT
ED STATES
BERMUDA
30°
1
\
\
MODE-1 STUDY AREA
25°
85°
80°
75°
70°
65°
60°
Configuration for the Mid-Ocean Dynamics
Experiment (MODE).
54
• Participation by AOML in MODE to obtain an
understanding of the interactions of large-scale
flow patterns and the complex smaller scales of
motion in ocean circulation.
• Operations of the Sea-Air Interaction Laboratory
(SAIL) of AOML that will provide field experi-
ments necessary for the development of models
of the energy exchange processes between the
ocean and atmosphere, leading to an improved
understanding and prediction of oceanic and at-
mospheric conditions.
• Dynamic oceanographic and seismological studies
by POL to increase understanding of the genera-
tion, propagation, and runup mechanisms of
tsunamis which will provide basic knowledge and
improve tsunami prediction techniques.
• Computer modeling research in dynamic ocean-
ography and meteorology by the ERL Geophys-
ical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) to de-
velop a comprehensive theory of the large-scale
circulation of the ocean. The successful incor-
poration of the theory in the form of numerical
models will be useful for pollution studies of
large water bodies, for long-range forecasting of
sea-surface temperature, and for joint air-sea
model studies of sensitivity of the earth's cli-
mate to large-scale atmospheric pollution.
• Research projects conducted by POL, including
investigations of near-surface circulations in re-
sponse to time-dependent wind stress, of experi-
mental and theoretical studies of wave interac-
tions on beaches, and of open-ocean measure-
ments of tsunamis.
• Continued reduction and analysis of NOAA
data from BOMEX by the Center for Experi-
ment Design and Data Analysis (CEDDA). Re-
duction of BOMEX data obtained by ship, air-
craft, and island subsystems is largely com-
pleted. Initial analyses have been oriented to-
ward scientific computation formation ; data
quality, noise, and error evaluation ; subsystem
intercomparison ; and specification of edit win-
dows, filters, lag corrections, and calibrations to
system standards. In EY 1973, analysis of the
core experiment data will be completed, find-
ings will be published, and the data will be
transferred to permanent archives.
Physical oceanography work in NMFS is con-
ducted largely from the Fishery Centers in Seattle,
La Jolla, Woods Hole, Mass., and Miami as well as
the Atlantic and Pacific Environmental Groups of
the Marine Resources Monitoring, Assessment, and
Prediction (MARMAP) Program in Washington
and Monterey. This work is directed toward under-
standing bioenvironmental relations in those areas
where the living marine resources are of impor-
tance to the United States. Oceanographic condi-
tions of major significance are: (1) variations in
the location and properties of water masses as they
influence the distribution and reproduction of
species; (2) variations in the location and strength
of currents as they influence the migrations of fish
and the distribution of planktonic organisms, espe-
cially the eggs and larvae of resource species; and
(3) current divergences, surface gyres, and wind-
stress transport as the driving forces of upwelling
and the resulting nutrient enrichment, primary bio-
logical productivity, and production of forage orga-
nisms of resource species.
Physical oceanographic investigations at NMFS
facilities include the following which are funded
under the MARMAP Program:
• Northwest Fishery Center, Seattle.
— Determination of currents, oceanic fronts,
water-mass characteristics, and plankton pro-
duction in the Pacific subarctic from oceano-
graphic surveys, calculated wind-stress trans-
ports, and current drifters in relation to the
migration and abundance of the Pacific
salmon.
— Description and forecasting of flow and
ecology in the groundfish area along the
northwest coast of the United States, based
on examination of the shifting location of the
nearshore divergence zone of the zooplankton
populations.
• Southwest Fishery Center, La Jolla.
— Examination of sea-air interactions, based on
historical records in establishing the thermal
structure of the upper waters in the North
Pacific in relation to the distribution of alba-
core tuna.
— Development of the means to predict Pacific
tuna distributions based on the currents,
water masses, and biological productivity as
derived from oceanographic, meteorological,
biological, and fisheries observations.
— Analysis of long-term, large-scale variations
in the thermal and circulation patterns of the
North Pacific from participating merchant-
ship observations.
— Description of the currents, distribution of
their properties, and examination of the dy-
namics of island wakes in the central Pacific
from oceanographic surveys for tuna fishing
interests and for other fisheries investigations.
• Pacific Environmental Group, Monterey.
— Relation of upwelling of the California coast
to variations in wind-stress transport.
55
— Development of a hydrodynamic numerical
circulation model for the eastern North
Pacific.
• Southeast Fishery Center, Miami.
— Determination of surface currents in the Car-
ibbean Sea, based primarily on drift bottle
data from a collaborative project in the
Cooperative Investigations of the Caribbean
and Adjacent Regions (CICAR) Program.
— Development of the dynamical oceanography
of the tropical Atlantic, based on survey data
from the International Cooperative Investi-
gations of the Tropical Atlantic (ICITA).
• Atlantic Environmental Group, Washington.
— Determination of the Continental Shelf cir-
culation off the U.S. Atlantic coast. The
analyses are based principally on the histori-
cal data files of the NOAA Environmental
Data Service (EDS) and on the data infor-
mation from research and surveys of the U.S.
Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy, the National
Environmental Satellite Service (NESS), the
National Weather Service (NWS), and from
the MARMAP surveys of NMFS. Variable
driving forces considered are : ( 1 ) the
strength of the Gulf Stream and its distance
Ocean currents predicted by global model,
assuming homogeneous ocean and actual-
bottom topography. (Geophysical Fluid Dy-
namics Laboratory, Environmental Research
Laboratories of NOAA)
56
from the Shelf; (2) eddy production by the
Gulf Stream; (3) wind-stress transport; (4)
coastal runoff; and (5) annual temperature
cycle.
— Development of the mechanics of circulation
of the Gulf of Mexico, based principally on
analysis of 2 years of detailed oceanographic
survey data from NMFS vessels and of antici-
pated data from the Engineering Experimen-
tal Phase (EEP) buoys, placed in the Gulf
during 1972.
Responsibility for coordinating U.S. multiagency
participation in the GARP Atlantic Tropical Ex-
periment (GATE) has been assigned to the De-
partment of Commerce; other participants include
Defense, Transportation, Atomic Energy Commis-
sion (AEC), National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
ministration (NASA), and NSF. The GATE pro-
ject is designed to study the meteorology of the
tropical oceans, with the objectives to gain a better
understanding of the general circulation of the at-
mosphere and to increase the ability of meteorolo-
gists to model and predict weather for extended pe-
riods into the future. An international array of
ships will be placed in the tropical Atlantic (from
latitudes 10°S. to 20°N. and from longitudes 40°E.
to 90°W.) from mid-June through September 1974
to measure the parameters required to achieve
these objectives.
In addition to the meteorology program, an
oceanographic program will be conducted. The
U.S. portion of the GATE oceanographic program
is being developed by a task group of the National
Academy of Sciences Ocean Affairs Board.
A GATE project office has been established at
NOAA, and scientists have been identified at univer-
sities and other laboratories to assume the specific
responsibilities for developing the detailed scientific
plans for GATE. The United States will continue
to provide long lcadtime on production hardware
items and will pursue the development of computer
programs. A U.S. trial-field program will be con-
ducted during the winter of 1972-73 to test hard-
ware and computer programs. In the late summer
of 1973, an international trial-field program is
planned to assure that items such as platforms,
hardware, and observing techniques to be em-
ployed by the participating nations are compatible
for the conduct of the principal observational
phase during the summer of 1974. Procurement of
production hardware will be accomplished, and
computer programming will continue in FY 1973.
The Coast Guard basic research program in
physical oceanography includes investigations of
the Arctic water masses and coastal studies. In sup-
port of the International Ice Patrol, research is
being conducted on water-mass exchange and on
currents affecting the occurrence and distribution
of icebergs and sea ice in Baffin Bay and in the
Grand Banks off Newfoundland. Another Coast
Guard research and development program, de-
signed to improve its capabilities to perform search
and rescue (SAR) missions, involves the investiga-
tion at sea of the response of various boat hulls,
rafts, and lifesaving devices to wind, waves, and
currents. In addition to these leeway studies, an in-
tensive research effort is being conducted to im-
prove the ability to predict ocean surface currents.
An operational system has been developed under a
Coast Guard research and development program
which permits surface current and volume trans-
port determination from aircraft. This system will
have application in pollution monitoring, SAR ef-
forts, and iceberg movement studies. Numerical
prediction models will be developed for surface
currents in simple and complex regimes of marine
environments. Existing prediction models can be
"tuned" or updated with the operational airborne-
measuring system.
The AEC supports research related to MAREP
through the development of a capability to docu-
ment, evaluate, and understand explosion-gener-
ated water waves resulting from nuclear detona-
tions at or near the surface of the ocean. Ongoing
efforts include theoretical studies on the shoaling
phenomenology of such waves and investigations
required to predict and to document the effects of
a water wave resulting from seismic activity caused
by a nuclear explosion.
BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
The biology and ecology of marine organisms are
relevant to such U.S. Navy interests as the fouling
and deterioration of equipment, underwater swim-
mer activities of the Man-in-the-Sea experiments,
and acoustic propagation. Knowledge of the nature
of the organisms, their physiology, their distribution
seasonally and geographically, and the means re-
quired for their control are needed to predict, pre-
vent,'or minimize their adverse effects on Navy op-
erations.
As a result of investigations on biological deterio-
ration, fouling, and corrosion, it is possible to pre-
dict the kinds of infestations which will occur in
waters of known properties and in particular geo-
graphic regions. Worldwide collections are being
made of marine boring and fouling organisms, and
their characteristics are being studied and archived.
Active and destructive boring organisms appear
abundant, even to depths of 2,000 meters.
57
A major program is being conducted on the
acoustical properties and behavior of marine orga-
nisms that actively or passively alter the operational
efficiency of the Navy acoustic systems. The active
members are those organisms that contribute to
background noise by their own acoustic-signal
emissions. The passive components are the large
mammals, schools of fish, and plankton that scatter
sound, appearing as false targets or background
reverberation or attenuating the acoustic signal.
Oceanic biologists record and analyze sounds
produced by marine animals, their geographic and
temporal distribution, and their behavior as it re-
lates to sound production. A concentrated effort
has been made to identify sounds of biological ori-
gin. An example is a recently published account of
a comprehensive 15-year study on underwater
sounds of biological origin. The research involves
206 species in 54 families of fish along the U.S. At-
lantic coast and off the islands of the Caribbean
Sea.
The objectives of the Navy research in chemical
oceanography are to determine the chemical con-
stituents of sea water and to elucidate ways in
which they react in the marine environment. The
diverse program in chemical oceanography includes
studies of organic and inorganic chemical composi-
tion, geochemistry, trace-element chemistry, physi-
cal chemistry, radioactive-isotope chemistry, and
exchange of chemicals at the air-sea surface.
LANTERNFISH
MYCTOPHIDAE)
K**,
BARREL EYE
iOPlSTHOPROCTIDAE-
MELAMPriAIDAE
IATCHETFI
5TERI OPTYC
I
Representatives of five families of swim
bladder-bearing fishes which are important
sound scatterers.
58
In FY 1973, the Navy has proposed research on
the fate and effect of open-ocean disposal of biode-
gradable shipboard wastes. Efforts are continuing
to relate parameters being measured for military
purposes to environmental indexes of water quality.
Thermal and chemical gradients suitable for re-
mote detection and quantification will be explored
in the FY 1973 to FY 1975 timeframe.
The necessity to evaluate fully the impact of con-
struction and dredging operations on the environ-
ment has impelled the Department of the Army to
develop a comprehensive research program which
evaluates the impact of construction activities on
the ecosystem. This program includes evaluation of
techniques for disposal of dredge spoil, creation of
manmade marshlands from unpolluted spoil, and
impact of protective structures on the ecosystem.
Also related to this effort is the study of nitrogen
saturation and its impact on the estuaries.
The NSF, through its Oceanography Section,
awards grants for research on the biota of the sea
and their interaction with the marine environment.
Such studies include the distribution, abundance,
nutrition, and behavior of living organisms as well
as the metabolism of marine organisms involving
respiration, nutrient uptake of plants, feeding hab-
its of animals, and elemental cycling rates.
U.S. Coast Guard efforts in chemical oceanogra-
phy are programmed toward oil pollution in the
marine enviornment. Top priority has been de-
voted to oil pollution baseline studies and to the de-
velopment of analytical capability that will help
the Coast Guard establish a monitoring system for
pollutants. Emphasis has been placed on shipboard
analysis, although in-house laboratory capability
development is underway to support this and con-
tract efforts. Current Coast Guard research and de-
velopment projects include investigation of natural
oil seeps, utilization of Ocean Station Vessels
(OSV) for pollution data collection, and construc-
tion of a harbor oil-pollution index.
The AEC supports oceanographic research that
is directed toward determining those environmental
factors which influence the movement of ra-
dioelements through the marine environment, pos-
sible radiation effects on marine biota and biotic
processes, and possible means and rates of return
for radioactivity to man through the marine food
chain and the basic ecological processes. Within
this broad research program are studies on prob-
lems related to operational activities such as the
impact of waste heat from nuclear power stations
on the ecology of the adjacent area at such sites.
The Commission has identified certain areas
within its marine research program which will be
accelerated during the next several years. These
areas include expanded research efforts in under-
standing the impact of thermal additions to the
aquatic environment, in increasing information on
the biogeochemical behavior of plutonium in both
freshwater and marine environments, and in pre-
paring ecological studies associated with the siting
of nuclear powcrplants.
The AEC thermal research program will cover a
broad spectrum of topics, ranging from the effects
of temperature changes on the biochemical and
physiological responses of organisms to the effects
on social behavior and predator-prey interactions.
Studies include both laboratory and field investiga-
tions. Studies on the behavior of plutonium in the
aquatic enviornment will be intensified, adding to
the understanding of the major processes that
affect its fate and transport in these regimes. Study
sites will include the major oceans, Great Lakes,
Columbia River, and former testing sites in the
Pacific. Broad-based ecological and radioecological
studies will be conducted at existing and planned
powerplant sites.
In addition, the AEC supports research con-
ducted by other Federal agencies as follows: the
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) of the Depart-
ment of the Interior in FY 1972 completed a study
on the ultimate fate of radionuclides in the Colum-
bia River estuary as part of its own activities to
predict better the time-space distribution of sub-
stances in estuaries that have large flows and
turnovers of water; the NMFS Atlantic Estuarine
Fisheries Center of NOAA at Beaufort, N.C., is
studying the cycling of trace elements in an estua-
rine environment, the energy relations in estuarine
ecosystems, and the influence of environmental
factors on the radiation response of estuarine orga-
nisms; and the NMFS Middle Atlantic Coastal
Fisheries Center at Sandy Hook, N.J., is investigat-
ing the sublethal effects of thermal additions on
marine ecosystems, the effects of temperature and
photo-period on fish spawning, and the effect of
temperature on activity rhythms.
The Office of Water Programs in the EPA has
projects in water-quality control technology and in
water-quality requirements research that are in-
tended to supply the description and prediction of
the types, concentrations, and movements of pollu-
tants in coastal waters and of the effects of pollu-
tants on life.
Within NOAA, NMFS conducts a variety of re-
search directed toward understanding the basic re-
quirements of species in commercial and recrea-
tional fisheries and identifying the impact of over-
fishing on the stock. This research involves studies
59
Double plankton-sampling array used to
collect fish eggs and larvae to determine the
distribution and abundance of living ma-
rine resources. (National Marine Fisheries
Service)
to: (1) enumerate and identify the animal and
plant life present in different ecosystems and geo-
graphical areas; (2) determine the population dy-
namics and life histories of marine and anadromous
species of sport and commercial importance; and
(3) identify the physiological processes of these ani-
mals and ascertain their environmental require-
ments for reproduction, growth, and survival. Re-
search also involves studies of the behavior of com-
mercial and recreational species in relation to each
other, to their environment, and to the gear man
uses to capture the species. These data are used in
conjunction with resource survey data to correlate
the results of assessment work and to make predic-
tions of future abundance of different species of
fish. Examples of studies underway are: (1) the
identification of races of stocks to ascertain geo-
graphic distribution ; (2) the identification of living
marine resources in the New York Bight, San Fran-
cisco Bay, Northeastern Gulf of Mexico, Puget
Sound, and Valdez Bay; (3) the characterization
of the life histories of organisms; (4) the physiolog-
ical processes and requirements of organisms; and
(5) the characterization of the behavior of por-
poises and menhaden to fishing gear and of sport
and commercial fishes to fixed platforms and artifi-
cial reefs. This research, at a cost of $10,313,000 in
FY 1972, was carried out in laboratories dispersed
along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico in a
coastal geographic distribution from Boothbay Har-
bor, Maine, to Port Aransas, Tex. ; along the
Pacific coast from Kodiak, Alaska, to La Jolla ; and
across the central Pacific to Honolulu. Major ves-
sels are assigned in support of research. An addi-
tional $2,345,000 was used for the operation and
maintenance of NMFS research vessels.
In FY 1973, an additional $1,650,000 will be re-
quired for ship operations. The funds include : ( 1 )
$700,000 for reactivation of the Miller Freeman
and installation of bow thruster; (2) $474,000 to
restore to full-time operation the Charles H. Gil-
bert and Delaware II; and (3) $476,000 for major
maintenance of other active vessels.
The NMFS is also conducting ecological re-
search to determine the effects of natural and
man-induced changes in the estuarine and marine
environment. At a cost of $3,562,000 in FY 1972,
efforts were made to : ( 1 ) develop the baseline in-
formation on the amount and rate of accumulation
of stable pollutants such as polychlorobyphenyls
(PCB), pesticides, and heavy metals; (2) identify
the pathways and rates of accumulation of contam-
inants in the various components of the ecosystem;
(3) understand the basic physiological implications
of man-induced pollutants; and (4) understand
the cause and prevention of red tide outbreaks.
The research data accrued are collated to develop
an understanding of the impact of contaminants on
the dynamic processes that operate in marine eco-
systems and to determine how adverse impacts can
be prevented or mitigated. The research was con-
centrated in nearshore waters of the coastal zone
and on sport and commercial species that spend
most or some of their life cycle in these waters. In-
cluded are : ( 1 ) studies to develop corrective action
in the New York Bight where for years there have
been massive dumpings of pollutants such as
sludge, chemical wastes, and munitions; (2) studies
60
in the Gulf of Mexico which concentrate on the
impact of water resources demands, for example,
irrigation, dredge, and fill activities; and (3) stud-
ies in the Pacific Northwest which focus on the
impact of oil spillage, mining effluent, lumbering,
and pulpmill wastes.
In FY 1973, the NMFS will require an addi-
tional $649,000 for further ecological investiga-
tions of the New York Bight as part of the NOAA
Marine Ecosystem Analysis (MESA) Program.
These investigations will be on the establishment of
ecological baselines to define the composition,
abundance, and distribution of aquatic species and
to correlate these with nutrient levels, contami-
nants, plant-animal life compositions, and other en-
vironmental factors in the area. Of equal impor-
tance will be the assessment of effects of stress on
aquatic ecosystems through field observations and
laboratory experiments to determine the physiologi-
cal changes caused by contaminants. Stresses from
ocean dumping in the New York Bight in relation
to disease problems will receive particularly critical
examination. Studies to achieve these assessments
will center on intensive biological surveys and on
other biological aspects of the ecosystem such as life
histories, population dynamics, food-chain rela-
tions, and contaminant levels in the living and non-
living segments of the system.
NMFS, in addition to its contribution to MESA,
conducts a program on control of contaminants in
marine fishery products with the objective of pro-
tecting the fishing industry and the consumer.
To achieve this objective, the following program
goals are defined: to delineate and monitor the na-
ture and extent of marine contamination in fish
and shellfish ; to determine the feasibility of remov-
ing contaminants from fishery products; and to de-
fine the consumption patterns of fishery products.
Program components include: ( 1 ) a survey of over
90 species of commercial and sport fish to deter-
mine as many as 16 toxic trace elements; (2) a sur-
vey of 40 fishery products to determine five trace
elements (essentially completed) ; (3) more de-
tailed surveys on specific species where potential
contamination problems are indicated; (4) specific
surveys for PCB and dichlorodiphenyl-
trichloroethane (DDT) contamination; (5) de-
velopment of analytical methodology; (6) studies
to determine the consumption patterns of major
fishery products in relation to the development of
realistic regulatory guidelines; (7) monitoring the
increase or decrease of contaminant levels in fishery
products; (8) studies to determine the chemical
form of contaminants in fishery products and their
availability to humans; and (9) establishment of a
national data bank. These activities were funded in
FY 1972 at a level of approximately $500,000.
The NMFS also helps support a large variety of
State investigations of the fish and fisheries of the
coastal and estuarine waters of the United States as
well as those of the Great Lakes. This grant-in-aid
support, on a cost-sharing basis, is part of the
State-Federal fisheries management program; the
Federal Government enters into partnership with
the States in a coordinated effort for the conserva-
tion, management, and development of the Na-
tion's fishery resources and the supporting aquatic
environment.
Of the total grant-in-aid program, about
$1,820,000 is used to develop basic understanding
of the living marine resources and their environ-
ment.
NOAA's Office of Sea Grant supports a number
of activities in the biological and chemical oceanog-
raphy category, designed to improve capabilities in
marine organism assessment at various institutions
around the country.
Research, contributing ultimately to long time-
scale predictions of the MAREP Services, is spon-
sored in estuarine ecology and tropical marine ecol-
ogy by the Smithsonian Institution. These investi-
gations are conducted at the Museum of Natural
History, at the Chesapeake Bay Center for Envi-
ronmental Studies, and at the Smithsonian Tropi-
cal Research Institute. In its effort to examine the
impact of man on the environment, the Smith-
sonian will expand the research program at the
Museum and the Chesapeake Bay Center. In addi-
tion, the program at the Smithsonian Tropical Re-
search Institute will be increased to assess the po-
tential consequences of building a sea-level canal to
provide a ship-transit route between the Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans.
PROJECTS IN GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS OF
SPECIAL INTEREST
Research activities are traditionally categorized
either by disciplines or by scientific objectives, but
deviations from these divisions are frequently nec-
essary to cover areas of special or unusual interest
or to cover areas requiring special approaches. The
polar regions and the coastal zone require special
approaches; the former is concerned with the be-
havior of ice and the extreme conditions of high
latitude, while the latter involves a multidisci-
plinary approach to understand the coastal proc-
esses. Interest in other special areas, such as the
Great Lakes, develops because of economic impor-
tance, crises, or unusual opportunity. For these rea-
sons, separate attention has been given to these
areas over many years.
61
The Arctic
For many years, the U.S. Navy has emphasized
research in the Arctic, first as one of the great
unexplored regions of the world and later as one of
strategic importance. More recently, the potential
of the Alaskan North Slope oil discoveries has
prompted increased activity as the need to know,
understand, and predict this hostile environment
becomes greater. The Navy mission to protect U.S.
interests on the high seas has taken on a new di-
mension with the successful passage of a structurally
reinforced commercial oil supertanker through the
Northwest Passage.
Arctic Ocean science shares the basic objectives
common to the Navy and to the national interests
in all oceans. The principal Navy objective is to
acquire a comprehensive body of scientific and en-
gineering knowledge essential to naval operations
in the Arctic Ocean and its approaches. Physical,
chemical, and biological interrelations of the ocean,
atmosphere, and maritime lands provide a frame-
work for investigations leading to knowledge that
will permit effective use of the Arctic. Such use re-
quires an understanding of the characteristics
unique to polar seas, such as the perennial ice pack
and its contiguous areas of seasonal ice, the peren-
nially frozen ground of peripheral lands, and the
pronounced ionospheric disturbances exemplified
by the aurora borealis. Development of all-weather
logistic techniques and training of personnel for
arctic living and operations constitute a continuing
objective.
The Naval Arctic Research Laboratory (NARL)
is a research facility located about 4 miles north of
Barrow, Alaska. Today as at its inception in 1941,
NARL is the only U.S. laboratory devoted to full-
time support of research in the Arctic. Its position
on the shores of the Arctic Ocean at the northern-
most limit of the United States presents unique op-
portunities to attain arctic research objectives.
From NARL, the Navy operates several field sta-
tions including research stations on ice islands. Re-
search at these stations encompasses programs in
gravity, magnetics, underwater acoustics, seismol-
ogy, micrometeorology, physical and chemical
oceanography, sediment-coring and heat-flow
measurements, ice physics, and ice drift. These pro-
grams have been supplemented by airborne studies
on the distributions and dynamics of pack ice.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency funds
research conducted by the Naval Oceanographic
Office (NAVOCEANO) in environmental proper-
ties of the arctic marginal sea-ice zone and in re-
mote sensing by laser techniques of the surface
characteristics of arctic sea ice.
Naval Arctic Research Laboratory, Barrow,
Alaska.
*" n
: J»
■■ ■■ ■■ ■■
III
'f f"
■>>'"""-
-1
/
62
A special case of air-sea interaction arises in
polar regions where ice cover is present, either per-
manently or intermittently. The energy-exchange
relation between the sea and ice and between ice
and the atmosphere is under investigation as a part
of the Navy arctic program in ocean science; re-
search on the relation will provide a data base for
reliable prediction and forecast. The USGS partici-
pates in this program through support of some data
collection and by mathematical analysis of ice
movement and fracturing.
These and other arctic programs have made sig-
nificant contributions to knowledge of the Arctic
Basin geology and crustal structure; of the rate of
ice formation, dissipation, deformation, and drift;
and of underwater acoustics. The arctic investiga-
tions by the Navy have produced many practical
applications, including improved survival tech-
niques, aircraft landings on ice, use of ice for camp
construction, over-the-ice vehicular movements, ice
breaking, ice forecasting, ice penetration by sub-
marines, and bathymetric charts of the Arctic
Ocean.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, through its
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Labora-
tory (CRREL) at Hanover, N.H., investigates en-
Configuration for the Arctic Ice Dynamics
Joint Experiment (AIDJEX).
gineering problems associated with the ice cover of
the Arctic Ocean. These investigations include an
understanding of ice-fracture patterns, ice fog,
physical properties of ice, and driving forces as they
relate to structures ; an improvement in bathymetry
charts and remote techniques for measuring ice
thicknesses that are required for ship routings; and
a means for detecting ice-surface roughness and ef-
fects of extreme wind velocities, both of which
affect the operation of air-cushion vehicles.
The U.S. Coast Guard is conducting experiments
to classify ice pressure ridges, the most formidable
obstacles to arctic transportation. A relation is
being sought whereby the thickness of ridges may
be estimated from the height of the sail portion.
The arctic program in marine research of NSF
will be concentrated in FY 1973 on the Arctic Ice
Dynamics Joint Experiment (AIDJEX) . The AID-
JEX Project is a cooperative venture between the
United States, Canada, and Japan, with several
U.S. agencies contributing both scientific and logis-
tic efforts. The principal objectives of AIDJEX are
to relate sea-ice dynamics and deformation to wind
and current stresses and to advance the knowledge
on the heat budget of the Arctic Ocean. In this
Project, five major research stations, forming a
closed area of about 100 kilometers on the side, will
be established as a network in the ice north of
Alaska. These manned stations will be supple-
A — Manned station
B— Unmanned station
C — Radar target
0 - Unmanned Submersible
63
merited by instrumented automatic buoy stations
for additional atmospheric and oceanographic in-
formation. The full-scale field project is planned
from March 1974 to August 1975. During this pe-
riod, stresses on the ice will be measured at the top
and bottom, deformations of the ice will be ob-
served within the network by aerial survey, and
surface pressures and near-surface atmospheric par-
ameters across the network will provide synoptic
information on weather systems crossing the area.
A practical result should be the improvement of
sea-ice forecasting techniques for use in northern
shipping and other operations.
Within NOAA, the Office of Sea Grant supports
a major environmental study by the University of
Alaska on the ecology of arctic waters. This is a
baseline study of the Colville River estuary and of
the nearshore waters just off the mouth of the
River.
The Antarctic
The U.S. Antarctic Research Program, spon-
sored by NSF, is directed toward increasing under-
standing of the antarctic environment and its dy-
namic phenomena and advancing international sci-
entific cooperation. Marine science programs de-
vised in the Antarctic Office of NSF are conducted
on the U.S.S. Eltanin, owned and operated by the
Military Sealift Command under contract to the
Foundation; on the Research Vessel (R/V) Hero,
owned by the Foundation and operated under con-
tract to the Hydrospace Research Corporation ; and
Research Vessel Hero in Antarctic waters.
(National Science Foundation)
on icebreakers operated by the Coast Guard. Par-
ticipants in these research programs include scien-
tists from universities and Federal agencies. Studies
on the Eltanin related to MAREP include those on
the assessment of living resources and on the ecol-
ogy of the southern circumpolar waters. Much of
the research in FY 1973 will be focused on the area
between the Kerguelan Ridge and the Scotia Sea,
the last large area of the ocean surrounding Ant-
arctica which has not been included in previous El-
tanin studies. Research efforts with the R/V Hero
will take place off the Antarctic Peninsula
and off the southern regions of South America,
concentrating primarily on biological oceanogra-
phy.
The Coastal Zone
The coastal zone, essentially that area at which
the sea and the land interact most significantly, is a
sector of enormous variability and contains the
most dynamic environmental characteristics found
on earth. Coastal science is a newly emerging envi-
ronmental science which combines the interrelated
disciplines of physical oceanography, hydrology, hy-
draulics, geology, geography, meteorology, biology,
and engineering as they apply to the coastal area.
The science also treats civil engineering, conserva-
tion, and scientific problems of the tidal-river wa-
ters of the coast.
64
The Department of Defense is concerned with a
highly specialized type of riverine warfare that has
resulted from the war in Vietnam. The geographic
area is generally defined as a network of rivers,
canals, streams, irrigation ditches, rice paddies, and
swamps. It includes heavily forested areas as well as
flat, open land. Of particular interest in riverine
operations is navigational information — water
depth, currents, and tidal effects — and meteorologi-
cal predictions of storms, sea state, swell, winds,
and surf in the immediate coastal regions.
Search, salvage, and recovery operations form an
integral part of the naval activities. Usually these
activities occur within the coastal zone and require
special considerations if they are to be executed
successfully. Environmental data about the pro-
spective search area must be obtained: actual and
predicted weather conditions; surface waves; mag-
netic conditions; bottom composition and topogra-
phy; type of beach, land, and land cover; underwa-
ter visibility; marine growth; temperature, salinity,
and density of sea water; tidal data; and distance
to available port facilities. These data are necessary
to select search strategies, equipment, and effective-
ness probabilities.
Construction on the Continental Shelf necessar-
ily involves detailed knowledge of the areas under
consideration — prevailing weather, currents and
tides, bearing capacities, earthquake and fault
zones, sediments, presence or absence of shipping
lanes and of commercial fishing grounds, and un-
derground cables and moorings.
With its wide range of responsibilities, capabili-
ties, and stringent requirements in the coastal zone,
the Navy is one of the most demanding consumers
of the practical and theoretical coastal science. To
meet these demands, various Navy offices contrib-
ute to the accumulation of coastal zone data. Navy
research in the area includes development of a
multilayer hydrodynamic model to predict currents,
water levels, and other shallow-water oceano-
graphic parameters; development and verification
of theoretical and empirical models to describe
nearshore oceanographic processes ; development of
techniques to permit a simplified display of infor-
mation ; and development of techniques to improve
nearshore survey operations.
Research programs relevant to MAREP are also
supported by the Army Corps of Engineers through
its Civil Works Program. Areas of investigation in-
clude coastal ecology, aquatic plant control, envi-
ronmental data collection, wind waves, shore proc-
esses, and dynamics of flow through inlet and es-
tuarine regions. In FY 1972, the Corps instituted a
major research program on spoil disposal, a major
problem in the maintenance of navigable streams.
Recognition that waste water had been polluting
the environment and contaminating the sediments
that were to be dredged led the Corps to initiate
studies in FY 1971 to correct this deficiency.
The Corps is serving as the lead agency in the
development of a comprehensive resource study of
Chesapeake Bay. This study includes the design
and development of a scaled physical model and
shelter to be located in Maryland. In addition, the
Corps is conducting environmental studies on the
Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, San Francisco
Bay, and Trinity Bay, utilizing physical models to
evaluate the impact of sedimentation and other
changes on the ecosystem of each environment.
The Corps has been serving as the lead agency for
an interagency committee of field elements study-
ing the Louisiana coast.
The Coast Guard Office of Research and Devel-
opment is conducting experiments to measure the
advection and diffusion of floating or suspended
pollutants in the shelf waters adjacent to U.S.
coastlines. Wind-induced surface water drifts will
be studied using dye techniques and aerial observa-
tions. The significant mixing mechanisms to be
measured are the Ekman circulation, Langmuir cir-
culation, and thermohaline instability. In addition,
water movement information will be provided for
various major harbors to enhance Harbor Pollution
Contingency Plans. The project involves collating
existing physical oceanographic data and making
field measurements to develop prediction models.
The leeway and diffusion of various types of oil
under varying wind and sea conditions will be stud-
ied to enhance the Coast Guard's ability to predict
the movement (advection and diffusion") of an oil
spill.
The NSF, through its Environmental Systems
and Resources Division, sponsors two programs on
MAREP research in coastal and estuarine areas.
The objective of the Regional Environmental Sys-
tems Program is to provide support for comprehen-
sive studies of environmental aspects, often con-
flicting, in several major areas. The Chesapeake
Bay study-area is an example of conflicting envi-
ronmental aspects. Because the Bay has many mul-
ti-purpose uses, research is directed toward provid-
ing benefits such as increased effectiveness in re-
gional planning for resource management and res-
toration of environmental quality in those areas of
the Bay which have experienced environmental
degradation. Studies being conducted are interdis-
ciplinary in scope, with interrelated economic,
social, and environmental research. Other regional
areas being evaluated for future support are Dela-
65
ware Bay, San Francisco Bay, and Long Island
Sound.
Another program by the NSF Environmental
Systems and Resources Division is directed toward
environmental aspects of trace contaminants, with
a broad aim of assessing the effects of contaminants
on the environment and of providing a basis for the
development of methods for their control. Some es-
tuaries and coastal areas, behaving as closed sys-
tems, provide good opportunities to study trace
contaminants. These areas are often important as
sources of human food and as breeding grounds for
commercially valuable marine species.
Another major program sponsored by NSF
under the IDOE is the Coastal Upwelling Experi-
ment (CUE), a study of processes involved in the
generation of coastal upwelling. The field experi-
ments will be conducted off the coast of Oregon
and will involve aircraft, moored arrays, and re-
search vessels. This CUE program will be aug-
mented in later years by the inclusion of chemical
and biological efforts.
The Department of Commerce initiated research
activities in estuaries and the coastal zone during
FY 1972. Research projects, conducted by NOS,
NMFS, and ERL of NOAA, include research on
estuarine flushing, on the physical processes
occurring along the coastlines and in estuaries, and
on the dynamics and ecology, of estuarine and
coastal waters with respect to living resources.
A major new initiative of NOAA is the Ma-
rine Ecosystem Analysis (MESA) Program. A
NOAA Plan for MESA has been developed to pro-
vide a concerted effort in key coastal areas by Fed-
eral agencies, State agencies, and the academic
community to develop information necessary for
the rational management of the coastal zone. The
objectives of this Plan are:
• To describe, understand, and monitor the physi-
cal, chemical, and biological processes of marine
environments.
• To provide information and expertise required
for the effective management of marine areas
and for the rational use of their associated re-
sources.
• To analyze the impact of natural phenomena or
manmade alterations on marine ecosystems.
The MESA Program will incorporate the facili-
ties, capabilities, and resources of most of the ele-
ments within NOAA as a means of permitting a
more effective and coordinated approach to gener-
ation of knowledge and understanding of marine
environmental processes. The Program will provide
comprehensive sampling and measurement of cir-
culation patterns, tides, estuarine flushings, wa-
ter-mass exchanges, physical and chemical proper-
ties, and sediments as they relate to the understand-
ing, maintenance, and enhancement of the marine
environment. The basic concept of MESA is its
focus on discrete marine areas which are in need of
immediate attention either because the marine en-
vironment has already been seriously damaged or
because it is threatened by projected uses. The New
York Bight, an area of increasing degradation, has
been selected as the first regional project area. Data
searches and project designs are scheduled for
Puget Sound, Delaware Bay, and off southeastern
Florida in FY 1973; these are scheduled as regional
projects in FY 1974. The regional project in New
York Bight is to be accomplished in four phases:
systems analysis and design to determine the origin
and fate of pollutants will be completed during the
FY 1973 to FY 1975 timeframe; early warning sys-
tems will be established during the FY 1974 to FY
1975 period; models for use in predicting modifica-
tion of the environment will be completed during
the FY 1974 to FY 1976 timeframe; and activities
will be undertaken to stimulate regional and State
participation and assumption of responsibility for
programs in their areas of jurisdiction during the
period FY 1973 to FY 1976.
The NOS since 1968 has conducted a pilot study
on the estuarine circulation in Penobscot Bay of
Maine as part of a study program to develop pre-
dictions of the flushing rate of estuarine waters. A
prediction model under development will be evalu-
ated as part of the program for conducting circula-
tion studies in other estuaries.
A research project of the ERL Marine Minerals
Technology Center (MMTC) of NOAA has the
objective of developing prediction techniques to as-
sess the effects of marine mining on the environ-
ment. Such capability will provide the technical
foundation to establish guidelines for operational
criteria and to recommend regulations for offshore
mining. Current efforts involve primarily state-of-
the-art studies and laboratory research aimed at the
most fundamental aspects of the prediction prob-
lem— the effect on marine life of turbidity and the
associated particulate matter dispersed as a result
of mining. An expanded program in FY 1973 will
permit field tests at the site of an active sand and
gravel mining operation off the coast of Massachu-
setts. Studies will be conducted on the interaction
that will be expected with time upon all three ele-
ments of a marine mine — material being mined,
surrounding water mass, and marine life — which
will follow from the most likely type of mining op-
erations. Research will be started on the develop-
ment of preliminary dynamic simulation models for
66
the prediction of this interaction over the economic
life of the operating mines.
The Office of Sea Grant within NOAA is cur-
rently supporting at academic institutions a num-
ber of MAREP-related projects that involve re-
search in the coastal zone and estuarine regions on
both coasts of the United States, in the Gulf of
Mexico, and in Alaskan and Hawaiian waters.
The Department of the Interior sponsors re-
search relevant to MAREP through the USGS
which conducts investigations and research in-
house, in cooperation with the States and other
Federal agencies, and through outside contracts.
This research work includes estuarine hydraulics,
changes in water quality, sediment transport and
deposition, thermal dispersion and its effects, use of
remote-sensing techniques, salt-water intrusion and
undergrpund encroachment, tidal discharges, rela-
tion of streamflow to salinity, and effects and dis-
tributions of wastes introduced into coastal water
bodies. Current field studies are largely completed
in the Port Royal Sound of South Carolina and in
the lower Columbia River; enlarged activity, in-
cluding mathematical modeling, will be continued
in a cooperative study of Tampa Bay in Florida
and in selected prototype estuaries.
The Great Lakes
The NOS Lake Survey Center of NOAA con-
ducts limnological studies on water motion, water
characteristics, water quantity, hydrology, and ice
and snow associated with the Great Lakes. The pri-
mary objective of this research is to establish the
present conditions of the Lakes and to define and
quantify the complex interrelations of the natural
processes occurring in the water masses and at the
air-water and water-sediment interfaces. Under-
standing of these relations forms the basis for fore-
casting the trends and for determining the effects
of manmade changes. Research consists of the
data acquisition surveys, data processing, analysis,
model formulations, and information dissemination
through publication of reports and papers. Since
1967, Lake Survey Center scientists have published
over 50 reports and research papers describing the
results of these studies. Emphasis in FY 1972 and
FY 1973 will be placed on support of projects of
the International Field Year for the Great Lakes
(IFYGL).
The IFYGL is a joint United States-Canadian
study of Lake Ontario within the framework of the
International Hydrological Decade. The broad goal
is to gain knowledge of the available freshwater
supply for widely diverse purposes such as domestic
and industrial usage, navigation, power, and recrea-
tion. The primary objective of IFYGL is to investi-
gate problems associated with hydrology, meteorol-
ogy, physical limnology, and geology of a large lake.
Completion of final planning for IFYGL was
accomplished in FY 1970. In FY 1971, initial de-
sign and procurement of prototype instrumentation
were completed; in FY 1972, activities included
testing of prototypes, final design of instrument sys-
tems, and instrument procurement, installation,
and intercomparisons.
The intensive coordinated data-collection pro-
gram of IFYGL is scheduled from April 1, 1972, to
March 31, 1973. Data management and analysis
will extend beyond this 1-year period. The follow-
ing kinds of studies are anticipated for IFYGL:
• Hydrological studies —
— Terrestrial water balance
— Atmospheric water balance
— Evaporation synthesis
— Lake levels
— Tributary levels
— Water-level simulation
• Limnological studies —
— Lake heat budget
— Flow-transport synthesis
— Atmospheric boundary layer
— Lake biological and chemical processes
— Coastal circulation
— Tributary streamflow and diffusion
— Materials balance — lake and selected tribu-
taries
— Lake circulation and diffusion
— Lake biological and chemical status
— ■ Fish populations
— Coastal biological and chemical status and
processes
— Tributary biological and chemical status and
processes
— Simulation of biological and chemical proc-
esses
• Special studies —
— Surface waves
— ■ Coastal levels — surges and seiches
— Lake-ice processes
— Lake-effect storms.
Many of these research projects will be conducted
by university investigators under contracts funded
by Federal agencies.
NOAA has been designated the U.S. lead agency
for IFYGL. Also participating arc the Departments
of Defense, the Interior, and Transportation, and
EPA and NSF. The latter agency is contributing to
IFYGL through support of university scientists and
use of aircraft from the National Center for Atmos-
67
INTERNATIONAL FIELD YEAR
FOR THE
GREAT LAKES
LAKE ONTARIO
To Detroit # Rawinsonde
-i — i- Land Lines
D Canadian Buoy
♦ U ,S. Tower
A Met. Station
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O U.S. Buoy
♦ Bedford Tower
▲ Island Station
.JL-Fixed Materials
Balance Stations
pheric Research which are flying special missions
over Lake Ontario during the Field Year.
As part of IFYGL, EPA is responsible for project
planning; field surveys and monitoring programs;
model development; and data management, analy-
sis, and interpretation in connection with the
chemical and biological program. Grants will be in-
itiated in FY 1972 to sponsor specific projects in
biomass and chemistry monitoring, nutrients
cycling, data analysis, and model verification.
In the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of
Sport Fisheries and Wildlife conducts a research
program on fish population assessment and limnol-
ogical characteristics of the Great Lakes. The
objectives of this research are :
• To determine changes in fish stocks in various
areas of each Great Lake, particularly changes in
abundance, size, composition, and age, and to
monitor fish stocks annually in different parts of
each Lake.
• To study seasonal, annual, and long-term
changes in major fish-producing environments of
the Great Lakes through continued and intensive
sampling of physical, chemical, and biological
conditions.
Locations of data collection stations and
proposed ship tracks for the International
Field Year for the Great Lakes (IFYGL).
The first survey of the Great Lakes fisheries was
made in 1871-72; subsequent surveys were con-
ducted under the direction of the U.S. Fish Com-
mission and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Pro-
grams in the Great Lakes were transferred from the
Bureau of Commercial Fisheries to the Bureau of
Sport Fisheries and Wildlife in October 1970.
The Office of Sea Grant within NOAA also sup-
ports Great Lakes research programs of relevance
to MAREP at the University of Wisconsin, the
University of Michigan, and the State University
of New York.
In the Great Lakes, the Coast Guard has been or
is presently conducting research programs con-
nected with extension of the navigation season.
These experiments deal with ice navigation, ice-
breaker design, ice formation, and ice reconnais-
sance. Individual projects include:
• Instrumenting icebreakers with strain gages to
measure ice forces on ships' hulls.
• Measuring physical properties of lake ice, includ-
ing ice strength, thickness, temperature, snow
cover, snow friction, and windrow formation.
68
• Developing a follow-the-wire navigation system
for ships entering narrow ice-infested channels.
This technique incorporates an energized electri-
cal cable on the lake bottom and associated sen-
sing apparatus on the vessel.
RESEARCH FOR IMPROVEMENT OF
MAREP FUNCTIONS
Those functions necessary to the operation of a
total MAREP program are data acquisition, com-
munications, processing, and dissemination. Re-
search programs directed specifically toward the
improvement of these functions are grouped in the
following discussion under two subsections — data
acquisition and collection and information process-
ing and dissemination.
RESEARCH FOR IMPROVEMENT OF MAREP DATA
ACQUISITION AND COLLECTION
The National Data Buoy Project (NDBP),
funded at $13,800,000 for FY 1973, is the largest
single research and development program in sup-
port of MAREP. The NDBP, established originally
under the direction of the U.S. Coast Guard, is
now directed by the National Data Buoy Center
(NDBC) of NOAA. The Center conducts planning
and analytic studies to formulate mission goals and
systems concepts and designs, develops, tests, and
evaluates data buoy systems. The mission of the
Project is to develop and demonstrate the national
technology to implement cost-effective data buoy
systems. The basic concept involves the use of in-
strumented, unattended buoys of one or more
types, moored and drifting, on the high seas, in the
coastal zone, and in inland water areas to collect
and to relay, in a timely manner, data on the ma-
rine environment to meet national needs.
A total "operational system capability" is being
developed for demonstration. This includes not
only hardware per se, but the necessary handling
facilities, material logistics, trained maintenance
and operating personnel, and deployment. The de-
velopment plan is based on an evolutionary or se-
quential strategy, designed so that knowledge
gained in each phase .will influence decisions in
subsequent phases. The demonstration of the feasi-
bility and utility of data buoy systems will be
accomplished by deployment of a prototype pilot
network of data buoys in the late 1970's. The prin-
cipal current activities include mission analysis, ex-
perimental hardware, and technology development
programs.
The NDBC approach to mission analysis is two-
fold. Optional developmental and operational con-
figurations are examined and systems hardware,
support facilities, and methodologies are compared
to arrive at the most cost-effective systems possible
under projected funding. Mission-analysis studies
are conducted for a large number of reasons, such
as to convert subjectively expressed user data needs
into objective requirements that can be used by de-
sign engineers, to compare alternative systems for
performing required tasks so that the optimal sys-
tem is developed and used, and to insure that the
benefits from a system exceed the cost to develop,
deploy, and operate the system.
A number of buoy configurations are either
under test or in development by NDBC. The Ex-
perimental Environmental Reporting Buoy
(XERB-1), an existing 40-foot discus buoy, has
been operating experimentally 125 miles east of
Norfolk since 1970. Six Engineering Experimental
Phase (EEP) buoys with hulls that resemble the
XERB-1 will be deployed in the Gulf of Mexico
beginning in the spring of 1972. Operation, test,
and evaluation of the EEP network will continue
through early 1974. Improved environmental sen-
sors will be used on EEP buoys and, as technical
development progresses, the platforms can be re-
trofitted with advanced components. Thus, the
EEP program can be used to evaluate existing buoy
technology, to develop systematic engineering data
for high-capability sensing systems and buoy design,
and to provide experience in the deployment and
servicing of buoys as well as in the gathering and
handling of environmental data.
Limited Capability Buoys (LCB) under develop-
ment are designed to accommodate requirements
for scientific activities such as GATE, which is
scheduled to begin in the summer of 1974. Poten-
tial applications for LCBs include: oceanic net-
works in combination with other buoy configura-
tions ; operational and research networks in limit-
ed-size bodies of water and estuaries; networks de-
ployed temporarily to investigate and report sea-
sonal phenomena; tactical deployment in the vicin-
ity of storms to measure critical environmental con-
ditions; and other research programs involving
air-sea interaction and atmospheric and oceanic
processes. In addition, the LCBs will provide a
baseline from which capabilities may be scaled up-
ward to a "medium"-capability buoy or downward.
The LCBs are to be optimized for communications
with satellites over ultra-high frequency bands;
however, early versions will use high-frequency
communications for test and evaluation in 1972 be-
fore commencement of the operation of the Geosta-
tionary Operational Environmental Satellite
(GOES) System.
69
In spite of major advances in the ability to
collect and to transmit marine data automatically
from the far reaches of the ocean, there is a lack of
complete understanding on the adverse affects of
the marine environment on oceanic-telemetering
data buoys and on the interrelations between the
environment and the buoy, its sensors, and moor-
ing. For this reason, the development of data buoys
in certain areas still requires further research and
development. The technology for telecommuni-
cations, data handling, and shore support appears
to be sufficiently advanced for application to data
buoys without extensive research and development.
The development of reliable sensor, moorings, and
buoy-handling capabilities poses the greatest tech-
nological challenge. Principal developments under-
way to improve buoy technology by NDBC in-
clude: two different sets of oceanographic instru-
ments which incorporate the latest technology; an
experimental arctic data buoy; liquid-fuel thermo-
electric generator; position-locating devices; lowest
special-capability buoys; and full-scale hull and
Engineering Experimental Phase (EEP) buoy.
(National Ocean Survey)
mooring tests. Other studies, laboratory tests, and
experiments being conducted include: an analytical
mooring-model investigation; scale-model buoy
tow-tank tests; sensor surveys; and high-frequency
and satellite communication studies.
In FY 1972, at a cost of $141,000, NMFS is de-
veloping specialized equipment in support of
MARMAP data acquisition: (1) the Remote Un-
derwater Fish Assessment System (RUFAS), an in-
strument towed from aboard ship to detect subsur-
face fish and shellfish concentrations; (2) remote
sensors for use on ships, aircraft, and satellites to
detect surface concentrations of fish and shellfish;
and (3) an undulating, continuous plankton re-
corder with associated environmental sensors and
data-recording system. An increase of $1,100,000 in
FY 1973 will be used for conducting tests to dem-
onstrate the feasibility of various types of sampling
gear to provide a survey capability and to acquire
Survey II type hydroacoustic samples. Tests will be
70
conducted on various types of bottom and midwa-
ter trawls to determine their efficiency in the assess-
ment of groundfish (including both crustacean and
finfish) and pelagic resources. Such data are basic
to resource assessment objectives. The development
of the hardware required for these tests will be
accomplished under contract, for which $800,000 is
requested. Increased funds in FY 1973 will also be
used for conducting tests to demonstrate the feasi-
bility of various sensors to provide the means for
remote underwater assessment of sport and com-
mercial species. These tests will provide an evalua-
tion of an advanced RUFAS II, employing hydro-
acoustic (sonar) techniques to detect and to assess
fish stocks. This advanced System improves the de-
tection range and operational depth of present sys-
tems. Tests also are planned for another new hy-
droacoustic assessment system, for example, one
with both a vertical- and lateral-scanning capabil-
ity. The combination of the RUFAS II and the ad-
vanced systems will provide a capability to assess
midwater and bottom-dwelling fish stocks by re-
mote-sensing means. The development of the hard-
ware required for these tests will be accomplished
under contract, for which $300,000 is requested.
Other research and development projects sup-
ported by NOAA for the improvement of MAREP
data acquisition and collection include the follow-
ing:
• Development of vertical- and horizontal-ranging
acoustical devices by NMFS and by the Univer-
sity of Washington, under a Sea Grant, to provide
qualitative and quantitative data on marine or-
ganisms, thus reducing the time, effort, and cost
of conducting resource surveys with traditional
fishing gear.
• Initiation of experimental studies by ERL on the
use of high-frequency backscatter from the sea
surface to determine the wave height, direction,
and velocity in real-time over thousands of
square miles of ocean surface.
• Improvement of the understanding of the gener-
Initial locations for National Data Buoy
Project Engineering Experimental Phase
(EEP) buoys in the Gulf of Mexico.
71
ation, propagation, and runup mechanics of
tsunamis by ERL through the deployment of
prototype tsunami gages linked with satellite te-
lemetry.
• Development, procurement, operation, and
maintenance of instrumentation by AOML of
ERL in support of oceanographic research pro-
jects and tropical meteorological research.
• Acquisition and installation of a data acquisition
system by NOS in connection with an expanded
estuarine dynamics program in which the basic
data inputs are obtained from an observational
network that meets the measurement specifica-
tions adequate to describe a given area.
In data acquisition, the U.S. Navy plans to de-
velop a modularized system for collecting salinity,
temperature, bathymetry, and subbottom profiles.
In remote sensing, a new effort has been initiated
at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in
Washington to use remote-sensing techniques for
military applications. This involves the use of air-
craft or satellite microwave, infrared, and radar
sensors to measure sea-surface temperature, salinity,
sea state, transparency, nutrients, radioisotopes,
trace elements, currents, internal waves, and air-sea
interactions. Automated meteorological sensors are
being developed for shipboard and aircraft use.
The increased operational requirements in the
Arctic have prompted the U.S. Navy to continue
an ice-surveillance program to collect data con-
cerning the distribution of various ice features and
conditions. The project, BIRDSEYE, uses airborne
visual-and-instrument techniques to provide ice ob-
servations. Two of the remote sensors currently in
use are infrared scanners and laser altimeters. The
infrared scanner provides strip maps of the ice sur-
face, permitting the delineation of various stages of
ice development and often providing the needed
information on ice thickness. The laser altimeter
permits accurate profiling of the ice surface, pro-
viding data on the frequency and size of ice fea-
tures such as ice ridges and water openings. Recent
experiments with Side-Looking Airborne Radar
(SLAR) systems which provide image maps with
good surface-feature resolution indicate the high
potential for these remote sensors.
The Spacecraft Oceanography (SPOC) Pro-
gram of NASA is relevant to the improvement of
MAREP Services. This effort is a part of the
NASA Earth Resources Survey Program, con-
ducted through the NRL and through NESS of
NOAA. Specific NASA research projects relevant
to MAREP include experiments involving acquisi-
tion and analysis of remote-sensor and correlative-
surface data for sea-surface temperature, ocean
Laser System Measures
• Wave Height and Length
Surface Wind Speed and Direction
Aircraft ocean-surface-measuring system
under development by the U.S. Navy.
color, sea ice, sea roughness, near-surface wind con-
ditions, coastal and ocean currents, sediment trac-
ing, and shallow underwater features. NASA also
supports image enhancement and data manage-
ment studies through the SPOC Program.
NASA also funds research projects which are rel-
evant to improving the assessment and prediction
of living marine resources through the development
of capabilities for data acquisition from space.
These research projects involve application of re-
mote-sensing techniques — including low-light-level
television, graphic imagery, spectrophotometry and
spectroradiometry, and microwave radiometry — for
the observation of biological and physical phenom-
ena such as chlorophyll concentration, biolumines-
cence, fluorescence from fish scales and oil slicks,
water color, upwelling, surface temperature, and
surface currents. NASA also supports projects re-
lated to improvements in the MAREP Service for
Water Pollution Assessment by emphasizing the re-
mote sensing of river effluents, water quality, and
sediment transport.
72
The mission of the meteorological program of
NASA is to deyelop and improve space technology
in both satellite and sounding-rocket systems for
use in exploring, understanding, and defining the
structure of the atmosphere and for use in predict-
ing its behavior, with particular emphasis on the
operational application for marine areas and over
land areas.
During 1972, NASA will launch an Earth Re-
sources Technology Satellite (ERTS) — the
ERTS-A — primarily to survey land areas with mul-
tiwavelength-visible remote sensors; the ERTS-A
spacecraft will also provide data on coastal proc-
esses, shallow-water bottom features, sea-ice condi-
tions, and other ocean phenomena. NASA plans
call for inaugurating a worldwide ocean-survey sat-
ellite mission in 1974-75. In FY 1973, NASA will
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Microwave image (left) from aircraft flight
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continue research on remote sensing, using NASA,
Navy, and NOAA aircraft and surface-truth from
ships; data analysis techniques for information
from the ERTS-A, SKYLAB, and Earth Orbiting
Satellite (EOS) spacecraft will also be broadened.
The Coast Guard has been conducting SLAR
experiments in arctic regions. These tests began
with the Manhattan cruise in 1969 and continued
during FY 1971 in conjunction with AIDJEX.
SLAR is being evaluated by the International Ice
Patrol as an iceberg-detection tool. The object of
these experiments is to develop a remote-sensing
capability to observe ice conditions, using SLAR.
73
infrared, laser, and optical-photographic tech-
niques. During FY 1972, the Coast Guard com-
pleted research on the sea-ice penetrometer, an air-
launched projectile that penetrates ice and trans-
mits deceleration data which are translatable into
ice thicknesses.
In connection with its research program on ex-
plosion-generated water waves, the AEC is devel-
oping sensor, recording, and readout systems to
measure and to document such waves.
The EPA is supporting a major contract study,
costing $420,000, for the design of a coastal water-
quality monitoring network. The purpose of the
study is to show how existent monitoring capabili-
ties can be organized into a unified network. The
study will be completed in three specific phases:
(1) a national overview; (2) case studies; and (3)
a national coastal-monitoring network plan. This
study will be completed by September 1972.
The EPA has also contracted for several studies
on oil-spill surveillance:
• Specification of an oil-spill surveillance system
that involves the real-time detection, alarm mon-
itoring, and recording of oil spills and that also
demonstrates the applicability of new techniques
and sensors, including remote sensing.
• Feasibility demonstrations of an aerial-surveil-
lance spill-prevention system for onshore facilities
adjacent to inland and coastal waters, using
available technology.
RESEARCH FOR IMPROVEMENT OF MAREP
INFORMATION PROCESSING AND DISSEMINATION 7
Within NWS of NOAA, a program is underway
for the development of automated techniques to
produce forecasts of the marine environment in
oceanic areas, in coastal areas, and in the Great
Lakes. A physical-statistical approach is generally
followed, although a dynamic approach (numerical
model) is used for hurricane storm-surge forecast-
ing.
Work is proceeding on the development of an
improved method of wind forecasting for applica-
tion to wave forecasting over oceanic areas. For the
Great Lakes, a wave climatology was compiled;
and wind forecast techniques are being derived for
Lakes Superior, Michigan, and Huron. In coastal
areas, the numerical model SPLASH — Special Pro-
gram to List Amplitudes of Surges from Hurricanes
— has been developed for forecasting the hurricane
ITOS 1 SRIR DIRECT
15 FEBRUARY 1971
0900 GMT
7 The specialized, long-range "Plan for Improvement of
Marine Environmental Prediction Techniques," being de-
veloped by ICMAREP, will include an appendix with an
extensive review of current agency research programs di-
rected toward the development of new or improved pre-
diction tchniques.
storm surges along the U.S. gulf and east coasts;
SPLASH is in experimental use at the National
Hurricane Center (NHC). Equations have been
derived for forecasting extratropical storm surges at
eight east coast cities.
In FY 1972, wind-forecast techniques for Lakes
Superior, Michigan, and Huron will be completed
and made operational. A wave-forecasting tech-
nique for the Great Lakes will be developed and
implemented. Further improvements will be made
to the hurricane storm-surge forecasting model at
NHC. Contract studies on a breaker-forecasting
74
Sea-surface temperature map for the Atlantic
Ocean off Southeastern United States (left),
derived from thermal imagery obtained from
satellite radiometer (right). (National Envi-
ronmental Satellite Service)
technique and on investigation of hazardous-wave
conditions over bars at the mouth of the Columbia
River will be completed. In FY 1973, efforts will
continue to improve those techniques developed
earlier. In addition, the scope of techniques devel-
opment work will be expanded to include sea-sur-
face temperature, vertical-temperature structure,
and ice forecasting.
The NESS of NOAA is developing techniques
for using satellite observational data in marine en-
vironmental monitoring and prediction. A histo-
gram technique, developed to derive sea-surface
temperature from satellite data, has been used with
the infrared data of the Improved TIROS Opera-
tional Satellite (ITOS) to generate experimental
surface-temperature maps. Comparison with avail-
able data from conventional sources showed root-
mean-square differences of about 2°C. The tech-
nique has been applied to produce special tempera-
ture charts over small areas of particular signifi-
75
Ice accretion hampers operations at sea.
cance to fishery and oceanographic investigations.
Techniques for mapping sea ice, developed for use
with satellite picture data, are being extended for
use with satellite infrared data. Increased emphasis
on these techniques is planned during FY 1973 be-
cause the infrared data permit mapping of sea ice
during periods of polar darkness.
Program expansion proposed by NESS in FY
1973 will include developing applications of very
high resolution and multispectral data from new
satellite sensors planned for orbiting spacecraft in
1972 and 1973. These sensors offer new possibilities
76
for cloud filtering to obtain higher resolution map-
ping of surface temperatures and ice on seas and
lakes. The new data will be applied to the detec-
tion and monitoring of oceanographic and coastal
phenomena such as shoreline changes caused by
storm action, shoal areas, sediment and pollution
transport, and possible evidence of marine biologi-
cal processes that would be significant for fisheries
and for water-quality studies.
As part of an expanded program by NOS of
NOAA in estuarine dynamics, research effort will
be directed toward the following long-term objec-
tives :
To establish a data processing system for data
analysis and interpretation that involves the de-
velopment and testing of mathematical models
whose purpose is to simulate the dynamic condi-
tions of the estuary. After sufficient verification
that the model can make valid dynamic predic-
tions, a small portion of the observation network
will be left in the area to form a permanently
based monitoring network whose purpose is to
assure quality control over the model-derived
forecasts and to sense abnormal circulatory con-
ditions whenever they arise.
• To establish an information dissemination system
capable of meeting the needs for effective multi-
ple-use management of more than 40 estuarine
and coastal areas within the next 10 years.
Potential users will receive two different types of
service products:
• Real-time alerts of unfavorable estuarine circula-
tion conditions, followed by forecasts of the rates
of disappearance of these conditions; and,
• Data atlases, historical records, and technical and
scientific reports for studies aimed at an under-
standing of the long-term rate processes underly-
ing the natural phenomena occurring in estuaries
and coastal areas and at a determination of engi-
neering design criteria for waterfront structures,
offshore permanent structures, offshore engineer-
ing projects, and vessels.
In FY 1972 at a cost of $100,000, the NMFS is
developing two items of specialized equipment in
support of MARMAP data processing: (1) an au-
tomated plankton sorter; and (2) automated
scale-reading equipment for determining ages of
fish. An increase of $200,000 in FY 1973 will be
used for development of the automated egg- and
larvae-sorting system. This automated system will
eliminate time-consuming handsorting, thereby en-
abling more efficient use of personnel. Such a sys-
tem will contribute materially to our capability to
manage data and will permit rapid movement into
data processing, analysis, and dissemination areas
of the MARMAP Program. The development of
the hardware required will be accomplished under
contract.
The Office of Scat Grant of NOAA is supporting
a number of institutional research projects to de-
velop environmental prediction models in marine
water quality, living resource assessment, and inte-
grated regional development. The Office also funds
information dissemination activities in support of
fisheries.
In the U.S. Navy, a development effort is under-
way for predicting and modeling dynamic oceano-
graphic and marine meteorological conditions. Par-
ameters of interest to the military include divergent
items such as sea-ice conditions, waves and surf,
winds, currents, ocean-thermal structure, and tropi-
cal storms. Development of improved or new pre-
diction techniques and models are being conducted
at the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAV-
OCEANO), the Environmental Prediction Re-
search Facility, and the Fleet Numerical Weather
Central (FNWC). Models cover the physical state
of coastal waters, estuaries, and the deep ocean. Nu-
merical environmental prediction models are being
updated to maximize utilization of satellite input
data. Integration of the multilayer hydrodynamic
ocean model with the atmospheric model to pro-
duce an interactive hydrodynamic air-ocean model
is planned at FNWC.
As part of the research effort by the Navy in ma-
rine pollution, computerized hydrodynamic models
are being adapted to additional coastal areas with
the goal of providing real-time assistance for pre-
dicting distribution in the event of an inadvertent
discharge of pollutants in estuarine or restricted
water bodies.
In conjunction with its research efforts on the
Great Lakes, the U.S. Coast Guard has established
an ice information and reconnaissance center in
Cleveland. Here, ice information is collected and
disseminated to shipping interests, to SAR units,
and to NWS.
The Coast Guard initiated a research program in
FY 1972 in support of a requirement to monitor
pollution by hazardous materials. This effort is di-
rected toward the development of a national pollu-
tion-response center and the provision for a rapid-
response investigative team on hazardous materials.
The EPA has awarded a contract for compila-
tion of a handbook on field-oriented procedures
and techniques. This publication is intended to as-
sist users in the rapid detection, analysis, identifica-
tion, and monitoring of spilled oil and hazardous
materials and in the assessment of damages to the
aquatic environment and adjacent shorelines.
77
Appendix
GLOSSARY
The following is a glossary of acronyms and abbrevia-
tions used in this Plan. The list is arranged alphabet-
ically by acronym or abbreviation.
AEC Atomic Energy Commission
AFB Air Force Base
AFGWC Air Force Global Weather Central
AIDJEX Arctic Ice Dynamics Joint
Experiment
AM/SSB Amplitude Modulation/ Single
Sideband
AOML Atlantic Oceanographic and
Meteorological Laboratories
ASW Antisubmarine Warfare
AWN Automated Weather Network
BOMEX Barbados Oceanographic and
Meteorological Experiment
CEDDA Center for Experiment Design
and Data Analysis
CEQ Council on Environmental Quality
CICAR Cooperative Investigation of the
Caribbean and Adjacent Regions
CINECA Cooperative Investigation of the
Northern part of the Eastern
Central Atlantic
CRREL Cold Regions Research and
Engineering Laboratory
CTD Conductivity-Temperature-Depth
CUE Coastal Upwelling Experiment
CW Continuous Wave
EDS Environmental Data Service
EEP Engineering Experimental Phase
buoy
EOS Earth Observatory Satellite
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
ERL
Environmental Research
Laboratories
ERTS
Earth Resources Technology
Satellite
ET
Electronics Technician
FAA
Federal Aviation Administration
FAO
Food and Agriculture Organization
(United Nations)
FNWC
Fleet Numerical Weather Central
FWC
Fleet Weather Central
FWF
Fleet Weather Facility
GARP
Global Atmospheric Research
Program
GATE
GARP Atlantic Tropical
Experiment
GESAMP
Group of Experts on the Scientific
Aspects of Marine Pollution
GFDL
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics
Laboratory
GIPME
Global Investigation of Pollution in
the Marine Environment
GIPSY
Generalized Information Processing
System
GOES
Geostationary Operational
Environmental Satellite
ICES
International Council for
Exploration of the Sea
ICG
International Coordination Group
ICMAREP
Interagency Committee for Marine
Environmental Prediction
ICSU
International Council of Scientific
Unions
IDOE
International Decade of Ocean
Exploration
IFYGL
International Field Year for the
Great Lakes
79
IGOSS
Integrated Global Ocean Station
NMC
System
NMFS
IMCO
Inter-Governmental Maritime
Consultative Organization
NOAA
IOC
Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission
NODC
ITOS
Improved TIROS Operational
Satellite
NOIC
LEPOR
Long-Term and Expanded Program
of Oceanic Exploration and
NOMAD
MAREP
MARMAP
Research
Marine Environmental Prediction
Marine Resources Monitoring,
NOS
NRL
Assessment, and Prediction
NRT
MESA
Marine Ecosystem Analysis
NSF
Program
NSRT
MMTC
Marine Minerals Technology
Center
NSSFC
MOCEM
Meteorological and Oceanographic
Equipment Maintenance
NWS
MODE
Mid-Ocean Dynamics Experiment
NWSC
MOEP
Meteorological and Oceanographic
OEP
Equipment Program
OMB
NARL
Naval Arctic Research Laboratory
OSC
NASA
National Aeronautics and Space
OST
Administration
NAVAIR-
OSV
SYSCOM
Naval Air Systems Command
OTSR
NAVOCEANO
Naval Oceanographic Office
POL
NCC
National Climatic Center
RANN
NDBC
National Data Buoy Center
NDBP
National Data Buoy Project
RAWARC
NDBS
National Data Buoy System
NEDN
Naval Environmental Data
RRT
Network
RUFAS
NESS
National Environmental Satellite
Service
SAIL
NHC
National Hurricane Center
SAR
National Meteorological Center
National Marine Fisheries Service
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
National Oceanographic Data
Center
National Oceanographic
Instrumentation Center
Navy Oceanographic/ Meteorolog-
ical Automatic Devices
National Ocean Survey
Naval Research Laboratory
National Response Team
National Science Foundation
Near-Surface Reference
Temperature
National Severe Storms Forecast
Center
National Weather Service
Naval Weather Service Command
Office of Emergency Preparedness
Office of Management and Budget
On-Scene Coordinator
Office of Science and Technology
Ocean Station Vessel
Optimum Track Ship Routing
Program
Pacific Oceanographic Laboratory
Research Applied to National
Needs
Radar Report and Warning
Coordination System
Regional Response Team
Remote Underwater Fish
Assessment System
Sea-Air Interaction Laboratory
Search and Rescue
80
SC/B Subgroup on Buoys (ICMAREP)
SC/IGOSS Subcommittee on the Integrated
Global Ocean Station System
(ICMAREP)
SC/MBM Subcommittee on Marine Baselines
and Monitoring (ICMAREP)
SLAR Side-Looking Airborne Radar
SOFAR Sound Fixing and Ranging
SOLAS Safety Of Life At Sea
(International Convention)
SOSC Smithsonian Oceanographic
Sorting Center
SPLASH Special Program to List Amplitudes
of Surges from Hurricanes
SPOC Spacecraft Oceanography Project
STD Salinity-Temperature-Depth
STORET Storage and Retrieval System
TG/CED Task Group for Collection,
Exchange, and Dissemination of
Real-time MAREP Data
(ICMAREP)
TG/MTD Task Group for MAREP
Techniques Development
(ICMAREP)
TIROS Television Infrared Observation
Satellite
TWX Teletypewriter Exchange Service
UJNR United States-Japanese Cooperative
Program in National Resources
Development
UN United Nations
USGS United States Geological Survey
VHF/FM Very High Frequency/Frequency
Modulation
WMO World Meteorological Organization
WSFO Weather Service Forecast Office
XBT Expendable Bathythermograph
■•'■ i'. s. <,oyi:knmi:nt "Hintinc; oirici 1 072 — 1.81 -333 (233)
81
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