238 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1944 
it is equally usable at night, or in fog. Survey ships of the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey, using R. A. R., have surveyed continuously 24 hours 
a day for periods of 10 days at a time. 
Some statistics of a survey controlled exclusively by R. A. R. may 
be of interest. They are from an offshore survey in the vicinity of 
Nantucket Shoals off the northeast Atlantic coast of the United States. 
These surveys were plotted on one 1:60,000 scale sheet and two 
1: 120,000 scale sheets. Sono-radio buoys were used for receiving 
stations at 24 different locations. The surveying was done between 
May 2 and September 25, 1939. The area surveyed was 8,562 square 
statute miles (22,176 sq. km.), and the total length of sounding lines 
was 10,496 statute miles (16,892 km.) ; 5,506 bombs of various sizes 
were used, made from 3,511 pounds of TNT and 4,170 feet of fuse. To 
obtain the required temperature and salinity data, serial temperatures 
were observed at 135 different places. The positions of the sono-radio 
buoys were determined by taut-wire traverses, in connection with 
which ordinary buoys were used at 60 different locations, in addition 
to the sono-radio buoys. The total number of working days was 101, 
including 18 days used for placing or picking up buoys and running 
the taut-wire traverses for their locations. The survey vessel ran a 
total distance of 16,481 nautical miles (30,543 km.) for all purposes 
during the survey. 
