will concentrate on the unique set of GATE sur- 

 face and oceanic data. 



Promising or vital areas of research, not now 

 supported at an adequate level but involving basic 

 research that warrants increased emphasis and 

 support, are discussed below. 



Carbon dioxide in the oceans and biosphere. 

 This involves the measurement and analysis of 

 carbon dioxide concentrations to understand the 

 buffering of atmospheric carbon dioxide by the 

 oceans and the biosphere. 



Mesoscale atmospheric processes. Investigation 

 of atmospheric motions on the mesoscale through 

 comprehensive measurements from a mesoscale 

 network and associated analysis and research is 

 an important research area. 



Role of oceans in climatic and short-term varia- 

 tion. A sea-air interaction investigation is needed 

 to determine the role of the oceans in climatic 

 variation, in which emphasis would be on under- 

 standing and predicting year-to-year fluctuations 

 in climate rather than long-term trends. Initial in- 

 terest is in the fluctuations in the Equatorial Pacif- 

 ic Ocean because of their association with U.S. 

 climate. Basic research is also needed to develop 

 methods for parameterizing the effect of the sub- 

 synoptic variations on the air-sea transfers of 

 heat, water vapor, and momentum. 



Ocean dynamics and coastal processes. A com- 

 prehensive ocean wave and ocean modeling pro- 

 gram for the U.S. ocean waters should be devel- 

 oped. Involvement with the large-scale water tec- 

 tonic project— MODE and POLYMODE and 



NORPAX — should be expanded. A comprehen- 

 sive continental coast tidal program to look at the 

 nature and the rate of change in elevation and 

 position of the U.S. Continental Shelf region 

 should be developed. The study of polar motion 

 through the use of very long base interferometry 

 techniques in conjunction with NASA appears 

 promising. Bathymetric forms, their origins, and 

 their association with catastrophic submarine 

 events should be studied. 



Climate diagnostics. Empirical analysis of cli- 

 mate data and preparation of specialized climate 

 research data sets and sun-weather/climate re- 

 search are two important research areas concern- 

 ing climate diagnostics. 



Stochastic processes in hydrologic forecasts. For 

 the hydrology program basic research is needed to 

 extend the state of the art in the theory of stochas- 

 tic processes to represent more clearly space-time 

 variations in factors affecting the uncertainty of 

 hydrologic forecasts. This would involve uncer- 

 tainty in the atmospheric general circulation mo- 

 dels and in the input data to these models. It 

 would involve the development of techniques suit- 

 able for describing the space-time differences 

 between atmospheric forecasts and actual occur- 

 rences. Stochastic theory is needed to be able to 

 combine in space and time uncertain information 

 from remote sensing systems such as satellites, 

 aircraft, and ground-based radar with other infor- 

 mation now used as inputs to river forecast sys- 

 tems. Finally, basic research is needed in estima- 

 tion theory and state space modeling for nonlin- 

 ear, time-varying systems. 



NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS 



NBS Mission 



The National Bureau of Standards (NBS) was 

 established by Congress to provide the Nation — 

 its citizens, private enterprises, and Govern- 

 ment — with a national basis for physical measure- 

 ment. In today's highly technological society, the 

 Bureau continues to serve as the central reference 

 laboratory for measurements and standards for 

 the Nation. In addition, it has become a science 

 and technology (S&T) resource for Government 

 which can operate in a third-party manner and a 

 technical arm of the Department of Commerce. In 

 this latter capacity, it is broadly supportive of 

 productivity and efficiency in industry and Gov- 

 ernment, technological innovation and competi- 

 tiveness of business, and equity in consumer af- 

 fairs. 



All of these functions are dependent on the 

 Bureau's being first and foremost a research insti- 

 tution, because the quality of NBS services stems 

 from the breadth, vigor, and excellence of the 

 scientific research base. The Bureau's research is 

 carried out in laboratories located in Gaithers- 

 burg, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C., 

 and in Boulder, Colorado. The total full-time 

 permanent stafl' is about 3,600, with about 1,500 

 professionals, most of whom are physical scien- 

 tists. 



NBS was founded in 1901 in response to the 

 need for measurement and standards due to the 

 burgeoning commerce and industrialization of the 

 United States in the last part of the 19th century. 

 As science and technology proliferated and be- 

 came more sophisticated during the 20th century, 

 the breadth and scope of the technical and scien- 

 tific activities at NBS grew as well. Although the 



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