OCEANOGRAPHY 23 



would be siipported by the Navy, the Department of Commerce, the 

 Department of Interior, the National Science Fovmdation, and the 

 Atomic Energy Commission, as a joint national entei-prise for the 

 •collection of scientific data on oceanography. 



Mr. Bauer. How many do you imagine would have the manage- 

 ment control of this data center? 



Mr. Wakelin, Tliis would have to be established through the Hy- 

 drographic Office under the direction of the Na^y with a panel of these 

 interested agencies and departments acting in an advisory capacity. 



Mr. Bauer, Purely advisory ? 



Mr. "Wakelin. I would expect that the Hydrographic Office would 

 provide the facilities and the housekeeping and that the advisory panel 

 would help the hydrogi'apher in determining how the data were to be 

 analyzed, how they were going to be represented on cards or other 

 means of storage and how they were going to be dispersed to inter- 

 ^ested parties on request. 



Mr. Bauer. Would this data to be collected consist of geophysical 

 as well as oceanographic data ? 



Mr. AVakelin. Yes. 



Mr. Bauer. You know that the Coast and Geodetic Survey are 

 charged with being the national repository of geomagnetic data by 

 statute. They are also the national repository of seismic data and 

 are in the geodesy and cartographic business. 



How would you marry the Coast annd Geodetic Survey and the 

 Hydrographic Office? 



Mr. AVakelix. I think that would have to be worked out with the 

 representatives of the Coast and Geodetic Sur^-ey who will be on this 

 panel. 



Mr. Bauer. That would require statutory action, would it not? 



The Coast and Geodetic Surv-ey are created as the repository by 

 statute. 



Let me ask you how would the Weather Bureau, which is under 

 tlie Department of Commerce, phase itself into the data that is col- 

 lected by oceanogTaphers, and deposited in Asheville? 



Mr. Wakelix. Certainly, the meteorological data for which the 

 Weather Breau acts as a repository in Asheville would have to be coor- 

 dinated with the purely oceanographic data at the data center. I 

 doubt that we would ha^^e to introduce a complete section of that 

 magnitude here at the Hydrographic Office. 



Mr. Bauer. Currently they are collecting at Asheville sea surface 

 temperatures and a lot of other data for the publication of manuals, 



Mr. Wakelix'^. I think this is con-ect. 



ISIr. BAn:R. In other words, what you have to come up with in the 

 plan from this interagency committee on the question of a data center 

 is how to many those three various groups? 



Mr. Wakelix. That is entirely coiTect. 



Mr. Bauer. Has such a plan occurred ? 



Mr. Wakelix. Not as yet. 



Mr. Bauer. Do you know when it is contemplated that this plan 

 will come forth ? 



Mr. Wakelix^. We hope to have a start on this at our next meetings 

 in June, during the first week in June. I do not know whether we 

 will get to this particular point at that time, Mr. Bauer. 



