Chapter VI 

 OCEANOGRAPHIC RESEARCH 



National efforts to protect the marine environment, manage and 

 use its resources wisely, and develop its potential to contribute to the 

 national defense require a detailed and sophisticated knowledge of 

 its chemistry, physics, geology, and biology. This chapter 

 summarizes the scope of Federally supported oceanographic 

 research and provides examples of significant recent results. 



Near Shore Processes and Coastal Zone Management 



The National Sea Grant Program of the National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration (NOAA] supports research in the 

 social and technical aspects of coastal zone management. Under the 

 auspices of this program, many marine localities are conducting the 

 first comprehensive assessments of their nearshore and onshore 

 marine resources. The Sea Grant Program is also supporting 

 corollary assessments of existing and necessary social, political, and 

 legal institutions required for the effective management of coastal 

 areas. Sea Grant technical studies are ainied at developing a basic 

 understanding of the principal natural and induced factors affecting 

 coastal areas. For example, information about the biological and 

 chemical processes of inshore waters gathered by Sea Grant 

 researchers is being used to aid protective management and 

 safeguard water quality. The dynamic processes that cause coastal 

 erosion are being studied so that processes and structures that aid in 

 producing shoreline stability can be evaluated. Perhaps the major 

 contribution by the Sea Grant program to coastal zone management 

 comes from the developing ability to respond quickly with research 

 and advice to solve local and regional marine problems. 



Remote sensing from aricraft and satellites promises to be a useful tool in 

 marine research. This image, made from the NOAA-2 satellite of the 

 Labrador/Newfoundland area, shows the ice pack streaming southeastward in 

 the Labrador Current. 



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