tary, computerized referral systems: ENDEX (Environmental Data 

 Index) and OASIS (Oceanic and Atmospheric Scientific Information 

 System). ENDEX provides references to environmental data; 

 OASIS, to published technical literature. 



The Barbados Oceanographic and Meteorological Experiment 

 (BOMEX) Permanent Archive was made available from EDS to users 

 interested in the tropical ocean and atmosphere, BOMEX, a 

 multiagency pilot experiment in a series of large-scale international 

 investigations carried out as part of GARP, wasji conducted east of 

 the island of Barbados in the summer of 1969. Tt^e atmosphere was 

 probed through intensive measurements of varibus meteorological 

 parameters — primarily temperature, humidity, ^nd wind from the 

 surface of the sea up to 6 kilometers; through shipboard and land- 

 based radar observations; and through aircraft and satellite cloud 

 photography. Daily ocean soundings down to 1,000 meters further 

 served to meet the objective of the BOMEX "Core Experiment" to 

 evaluate sea-air interactions. 



Oceanographic and meteorological data gathered by a joint 

 venture of eight petroleum companies over a 3-year period on major 

 storms and hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico were donated to EDS. 

 Data on wave forces, heights, and other parameters taken at six 

 offshore drilling and production platforms along the Louisiana 

 coastline are also now available to users. These include data on 

 Hurricane Camille, one of the most destructive storms ever to visit 

 the Gulf coast. The data on Camille are the most comprehensive 

 collection of oceanographic and meteorological data available for 

 such an extreme weather event, and are valuable in hurricane 

 research and offshore engineering applications. 



The Smithsonian Institution's Oceanographic Sorting Center 

 (SOSC) is a national facility for the acquisition of biological 

 collections. SOSC began in 1962 as a specimen-processing 

 laboratory: receiving, sorting, recording, curating, and distributing 

 marine and freshwater specimens to scientists throughout the 

 world. In recent years SOSC's capabilities and interests have grown 

 with the national concern for the environment, particularly the 

 increasing need for biological data critically needed for the 

 preparation of environmental-impact statements. Services available 

 at SOSC now include assistance in the design and implementation of 

 collection-oriented programs basic to biological monitoring, 

 baseline studies, data syntheses, distribution of ocean-bottom 

 photographs, and data analysis. 



Members of the Chesapeake Research Consortium (including the 

 Smithsonian Institution's Office of International and Environmental 

 Programs, the University of Maryland, and the Virginia Institute of 

 Marine Science) cooperated with the Baltimore District of COE in an 



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