assist in the prediction of ocean surface currents, development of an 

 oceanic circulation model, and the discovery of close correlation 

 between sea surface temperatures and temperatures down to 800 

 meters, indicating that remote sensors in satellites and aircraft may 

 become more important for future Navy operations and 

 oceanographic research. 



Accurate remote tracking of drifting surface buoys promises 

 increased accuracy in weather and oceanic condition forecasting. 

 Over-the-horizon radar may permit accurate forecasting of ocean 

 wave height and direction using backscatter techniques. 



The Navy's geophysics research program has contributed data on 

 sound velocities in deep sea sediments thus permitting more 

 accurate sound propagation models to be constructed. The ability to 

 conduct bathymetric surveys has been increased through the 

 correlation of airborne magnetic anomaly detections with surface 

 ship surveys. 



Chemical oceanographers have developed a better understanding 

 of the anomalous sound absorption characteristics of sea water 

 through studies of -the chemical rate constants of ion pairs in 

 seawater. A discovery of importance to future manned undersea 

 structures is the possible use of dissolved air in seawater for the 

 atmosphere of underwater habitats. Improved methods for tracking 

 radioisotopes in seawater to monitor intrusions of nuclear fallout 

 have increased our ability to monitor the oceans. A discovery 

 important to environmental quality was that the persistence of fossil 

 fuels, including spilled oil, is considerably greater than anticipated. 



Increased understanding of the biological processes by which 

 shipworms and barnacles attack structures promises increased 

 savings in maintenance costs resulting from destruction and fouling 

 by these organisms; studies of the bioluminescence of some marine 

 species indicate that this phenomenon may account for their 

 aggregations, which in turn cause marked sound scattering in 

 certain locations. The training of sea animals, principally porpoises 

 and sea lions, to do useful work has continued with greater 

 understanding of the unique capabilities of these animals. 



Two new small (300 gross tons/1075 displacement tons) 

 oceanographic research ships have joined the Navy in the past year. 

 They are the Gyre and the Moana Wave. Gyre will be operated for the 

 Navy by Texas A&M Research Foundation and Moana Wave by the 

 University of Hawaii. 



A major technological advance culminated in the recent successful 

 testing of the Deep Submergence Research Vehicle Aivin, whose new 

 titanium personnel sphere has doubled its safe operating depth to 

 12,000 feet. The use of titanium required special forming and 

 welding techniques that were developed by in-house Navy 



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