Marine Science Affairs 



— facilitate better planning of water conservation measures for crops 



and management of municipal water supplies ; 

 — improve flood warnings to allow advance application of necessary 



control measures; 

 — improve routing services for maritime shipping to avoid hazardous 

 seas and storms, minimize cargo damage, and economize on op- 

 erational costs; 

 — increase the operational efficiency of U.S. commercial fisheries. 

 The identification and assessment of ocean resources and features through 

 systematic exploration will : 



— aid transportation and commerce, and foster safe navigation; 



— encourage development of fuel and mineral supplies off-shore ; 



- — improve effectiveness of our commercial fisheries; 



— provide basic knowledge for consideration of international legal 



questions related to ocean resources ; 

 — aid in establishing Federal-State development and regulatory 

 policies. 

 Both environmental observations and exploration should contribute an- 

 swers to major questions of science. 



Today, nearly all scientific observations of the seas are made by ships ; and 

 ships, complemented by submersibles, will continue to be primary vehicles 

 for geographical exploration of ocean resources and deep sea features. But 

 as spacecraft and buoys are deployed, their measurements will comple- 

 ment ship observations, especially in investigations of the dynamic properties 

 of the seas that change rapidly and are required for environmental predic- 

 tion. Ocean exploration is thus expected not only to increase in momentum 

 but also to change in technological content and breadth. 



Ocean Observations and Predictions 



About five percent of the Federal effort in marine sciences is devoted to 

 observations related to understanding and predicting the ocean environment, 

 largely dealing with time-dependent variables. The Navy, Envirorunental 

 Science Services Administration (ESSA), Coast Guard, National Aero- 

 nautics and Space Administration (NASA) , and Atomic Energy Commission 

 (AEC) fund these activities as shown in Table VIII. 1. 



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