Research Program (GARP) Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GATE), the 

 Arctic Ice Dynamics Joint Experiment (AIDJEX), and the Mid-Ocean 

 Dynamics Experiment (MODE) of the IDOE (see chapter VI). This par- 

 ticipation will provide operational experience for buoy technology developed 

 thus far. As presently planned, the data buoy program will begin a 2-year test 

 and evaluation of EEP buoys in the Gulf of Mexico during the summer of 

 1972, deploy experimental prototype limited-capability buoys in the Gulf of 

 Mexico during the fall of 1972, add advanced technology components for 

 test and evaluation in the summer of 1973, enter engineering development 

 of a pilot buoy network in the summer of 1974, and begin operation of a 

 pilot buoy network in the summer of 1976. 



The National Oceanographic Instrumentation Center (NOIC) serves 

 as a national center for test and evaluation of newly developed oceano- 

 graphic instruments and for calibration of operational instrumentation. Or- 

 ganized within the Navy's Hydrographic Office in the 1950's, It was formally 

 established by the Secretary of the Navy as a national center in 1 960, became 

 a full-fledged national center in 1 969, and transferred to NO AA in October 

 1970 under Reorganization Plan No. 4. 



The current NOIC program centers on precise simulations of the ocean 

 environment to test and evaluate the multiplicity of instruments being 

 developed for marine science applications. The NOIC Washington Navy 

 Yard facility includes tanks, flumes, and pressure chambers, with precise 

 control, test, and measurement equipment. 



Instrument calibration work for the International Field Year of the Great 

 Lakes (IFYGL) will continue through 1973. Also, a Gulf Coast Regional 

 Center in the NASA Bay St. Louis, Miss., complex will come Into operation 

 and provide instrument calibration services for the experimental buoy 

 deployment in the Gulf of Mexico as part of the National Data Buoy Project. 

 A Pacific Northwest Calibration Facility in Seattle is being planned under a 

 cooperative program between NOAA and the State of Washington. Both 

 the Bay St. Louis and Seattle activities will serve as Regional Calibration 

 Centers, providing rapid and economical calibration services to local area 

 users. 



Military users also depend upon civilian observational services for support, 

 but their worldwide scope of operations often creates demands beyond these. 

 To meet their special requirements, the Navy operates a substantial marine 

 observational program with ships and aircraft. This program, while con- 

 ducted primarily to fulfill military requirements, provides selected observa- 

 tional data to other agencies. 



Although the Department of Defense operates a large subsurface synoptic 

 oceanographic net, mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, high-quality obser- 

 vations are insufficient from most ocean areas. To correct this, selected 

 commercial and naval ships have been equipped to make additional obser- 

 vations, and improvements are constantly being made in instrumentation. 

 In recent years, the Navy has introduced new and more precise devices — 

 for example, Near-Surface Reference Temperature (NSRT) devices and 

 Airborne and Surface Expendable Bathythermograph (AXBT and SXBT) 

 equipment — to provide higher quality data. As more naval and civil vessels 

 participate, data coverage will be improved. Approximately 70 civil, fishery, 



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