Chapter V 



MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL OBSERVATION 

 AND PREDICTION 



An important first step in being able to ascertain and predict the 

 impact of man's activities on the marine environment is the 

 acquisition of information about normal, or preactivity, conditions 

 and processes. This "baseline" of data can be used as a standard 

 against which changes can be measured and predicted. Such 

 forecasts are vital in the sound planning of our uses of the ocean and 

 their resources. A central theme in the national effort is, therefore, 

 the strengthening of our ability to forecast conditions in and above 

 the ocean environment. 



Mapping and Charting 



Graphic representations of ocean conditions are and will continue 

 to be important adjuncts to virtually all work that goes on in the 

 marine environment. Most of the data used on these products are 

 gathered by NOAA, the USCG, and the U.S. Navy for the Defense 

 Mapping Agency. NOAA is responsible for satisfying civil re- 

 quirements for mapping and charting the waters off coasts of the 

 United States and its possessions. The Defense Mapping Agency's 

 Nautical Charting Program responds to worldwide national security 

 requirements as well as to a statutory responsibility to support 

 worldwide maritime requirements. 



Last year NOAA's hydrographic survey ships worked off the 

 coasts of Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North 

 Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina, and Washington. Wire-drag 

 operations were conducted in the Chesapeake Bay and off the Texas 

 coast to locate underwater obstructions to vessel traffic. In 1974 - 

 1975 NOAA is conducting hydrographic operations in Alaska, 

 California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North and South Carolina, 

 and Washington. Wire-drag surveys will continue in the Gulf of 

 Mexico, Southeast Alaska, and in major east coast port areas. 



Prediction of tides and tidal currents by NOAA's National Ocean 



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