Marine Science Affairs 



Table XI 1 1-1 — Funding for Marine Data Centers 



Activity Estimated Estimated President's 



FY 1968 FY 1969 budget FY 1970 



National Oceanographic Data Center 



National Weather Records Center » 



Great Lakes Data Center 



Smithsonian Oceanographic Sorting Center. . 



Total 2. 1 2.3 3.2 



" Supplemented by funds transferred from other agencies for reimburseble projects. 

 b Less than $50,000. 



The National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) , a facility established 

 in 1960 to serve inter- agency needs, is under the administrative management 

 of the Navy. Policy and technical review are provided by an advisory board 

 with representation from each of the ten Federal funding agencies and the 

 National Academy of Sciences. NODC is collocated with World Data Center 

 A for Oceanography and receives, compiles, processes, and stores ocean- 

 ographic data from both foreign and domestic sources and disseminates 

 these data to U.S. and foreign organizations and institutions engaged in 

 marine science activities. 



Some specific accomplishments during the past year were : 

 — continued procurement of advanced computer capability, including 

 a high-speed automatic plotter, a digitizer (analog to digital), an 

 aperture card camera, and equipment for converting digital data 

 from source documents directly to magnetic tapes; 

 — initiation of the National Marine Data Inventory (NAMDI), com- 

 piling detailed information from 600 cruises of U.S. research and 

 survey vessels in 1967 with the information converted to computer- 

 compatible form; 

 — significant reduction in the backlog of unprocessed data ; 

 — establishment of NODC liaison offices at Woods Hole and Scripps 



Oceanographic Institutions; and 

 — response to 2,200 information/data requests, an increase over 1967 

 of 35 percent. 

 Based on Council evaluation and approval, NODC budgets are proposed 

 to increase from $1.7 million in FY 1969 to $2.5 million in FY 1970. Planned 

 activities for FY 1970 include continued development of computer pro- 

 grams and software to be more responsive to requests for services; techniques 

 for handling large volumes of data from expendable bathythermographs, 

 salinity-temperature-depth recorders, manned and unmanned buoys, and 

 satellites; and new data bases, including those for subsurface currents, sea 

 ice, bottom photographs, and ocean engineering. 



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