class of spacecraft, to be launched during 1978, dedicated to 

 measurements of ocean surface dynamic parameters on a global 

 scale. 



During the 1974-75 Great Lakes winter navigation season, the 

 USCG and NOAA's National Weather Service and National 

 Environmental Satellite Service were participants with NASA in a 

 field program designed to obtain information on a Great Lakes ice 

 survey system. This program acquired ice-cover information for use 

 in the preparation of Great Lakes ice charts for distribution to ships 

 on the Great Lakes. The USCG provided the aircraft, flightcrew, and 

 instrument operators. NASA provided the Side-Looking Airborne 

 Radar (SLAR), lake-ice imaging system, the data handling and 

 processing system, the airborne data transmission systems, and the 

 training for the USCG personnel operating the SLAR instruments. 

 The data were sent to the Ice Navigation Center at Cleveland, where 

 USCG, National Weather Service, and NASA personnel interpreted 

 the data and prepared the pictorial and annotated graphic Great 

 Lakes ice navigation charts. 



Imagery from the satellites NOAA 2 and NOAA 3 continues to be 

 employed in the development of methods for mapping oceanographic 

 features. An experimental Gulf Stream area thermal-boundary chart 

 derived from very-high resolution radiometer (VHRR) infrared 

 imagery and USCG airborne radiometer flights was planned for 

 operational release in 1975. The National Weather Service, using 

 USCG communication facilities, is to initiate a Gulf Stream 

 information service for the public based on this product. 



By the use of a particular sequence of the NOAA satellite VHRR 

 infrared imagery, a large cold eddy was tracked along the edge of the 

 Sargasso Sea and Gulf Stream in March 1974, enabling a research 

 vessel to implant a special buoy with minimum time spend in 

 locating the eddy. 



A Navy experiment off the coast of Korea demonstrated the value 

 of Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) data in 

 locating ocean surface thermal features, thereby facilitating optimal 

 tactical deployment of acoustic sensors. 



On May 17, 1974, the prototype of the Geosynchronous 

 Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) system was launched 

 by NASA as the Synchronous Meteorological Satellite [SMS Ij. This 

 satellite is equipped with a visible infrared spin scan radiometer and 

 a data collection system. Initially the satellite was placed at 45° W 

 longitude to support GATE from September 23 through November 

 16, 1974. From its permanent station at 75° W, the full disk imagery 

 will provide data for a great portion of the Western Atlantic. 



NBS is investigating the feasibility of establishing a widely 

 available, low-cost, time-and-frequency broadcast service from 



81 



